- Image via Wikipedia
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How to save paint – artists manual
by Ruth Read
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When you are done with the painting session, you must snap the lid on tightly. Then to save paint – you put it into the freezer. When you want to paint next time, just pull out the container with paints about 20 minutes before you need them. The paint will be soft. I have reused paint like this after 6 months.
Be sure that you wait at least 10 or 20 minutes before trying to open the frozen plastic palette. If it is frozen it will snap and no longer be any good.
I also save all the paint that is left over by putting it into the freezer. Then when I decide on the next subject, I can start a new palette but use from the old one. I use a palette knife and scrape the old paint onto the new paper.
Be sure to clean the palette knife each time.
If you have to leave the painting for a few hours, you do not have to put it in the freezer unless you have a painting medium mixed into the color you have mixed. A painting medium is something like Liquin.
There are a lot of mediums. I sometimes use liquin. If you have used liquin or another medium, you could either put it in the freezer, or use a little linseed oil to cover the mix with medium mixed into it. Just use a clean brush and paint a film over your mix. This is not a bad idea to cover each of the colors, but not necessary.
Liquin is a medium used to help your paint flow and it will also help the painting dry faster.
Another interesting thing I found; that it can take forever for some colors to dry. I find that Red takes the longest to dry. Of course I like to paint with a lot of Red.
I hope this helps.
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Photo “Paints” – courtesy of jeannatheodd
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Links to related posts:
- How to make your own color wheel
- Color black by Ruth Read
- Show me how to paint flowers by Sri Rajes
- Art Tips and Tricks
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- Manipulating Paint (chrisbellinger.wordpress.com)
- Tips for Using The Masterson Sta-wet Palette (socyberty.com)
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{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm thats a pretty cool trick. I think you can do the same thing with batteries to make them last longer.
The best way to save paint is to snap the lid….put a small cellophane on top to tightly seal it and put a little medium on top. Keep the paints in refrigerator.It will last long with the medium on top.
This is a great piece of work. Not every time one can get to see such kind of great stuffs. It a treat to the eyes. Keep up the good work.
In this age it makes sense to conserve and reuse everything – from fuel to plastics and now even paint! Very practical tip. Does the refrigerator trick work with things other than paints? What about pens and sketch pens that I may not use for a long time?
That’s a pretty interesting tip. I never would have thought to put it in the freezer. Thanks a lot! It’s also interesting that colors seem to have different drying times. I don’t think I’ve painted enough to realize that!
These are such useful tips.I was really not aware that there are ways in which one can save paint.Thanks for enlightening us on this topic
Does this work for other types of mediums besides oils?
Hi, I am not sure that this would work with pens or other paints, just oils. My mother will sometimes add a little linseed oil on the paint before she snaps the lid. She found that cellophane was nothing but a mess. She only uses the oil if she will be leaving the paint for more than 6 months. That is not often.
Also I asked her and the fridge does not work. It needs to be in the freezer. I will ask her if she has other tips for other paints.
Thank you for the Great tip Richelle, I am sure many artists who work with oils will appreciate this kind of money/paint-saving advice!
How to save acrylic paint
Hi, my daughter Richelle asked me about how to save paint other than oil paint.
So I have an artist friend years ago that told me the following:
If you are going to paint with acrylic paints, it is best to use one of those containers with the snap on lids. It will come with a thin sponge in the bottom. The idea is to keep the sponge wet so that you can squeeze out your paint on the sponge and the paint will stay moist. The sponge has to stay very moist.
That is great except everyone was having trouble with black mold growing in the sponge.
I will never forget how simple the remedy for this was! Just add a drop or 2 of bleach into the water and soak the sponge in it. Not so much bleach that you can smell it. Don’t forget to add bleach when you add water. This container will keep in the fridge.
You can adjust the amount of bleach if you see mold.
Since I rarely use acrylics I will have to take her word for it and I can’t remember her full name. I think her first name was Judy.
This is a great blog entry, i like this website.