MORE TIPS AND TRICKS YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED!

See last week's post, too...it was the
beginning of this series of

pointers for mixed media artists!

An old trick to see with new eyes:
To check your accuracy, view your work in a mirror. This will give you a fresh look rather than simply turning your piece upside down.

Hair of the brush:

Natural bristle or sable brushes getting scruffy? Inexpensive hair conditioner might bring back some spring to the bristles. 

Reuse old magazines (and more!) as paint palettes:

Use a magazine that you have finished reading (or an old phone book!) as a palette for your acrylic paints. The glossy paper won't absorb the paint and after you are finished your session, just flip over a page or two.
Old muffin tins and/or plastic ice cube trays hold separate colors of acrylic paint, too. Find them for cheap at thrift stores. Styrofoam egg cartons are free!

And: Whether you're finished with your painting or are just half way through, you can put your palette of wet acrylic paint in the refrigerator and it will stay fresh up to 2 weeks!

And: Use aluminum foil as your acrylic painting palette while painting and cover the paint with another sheet of aluminum foil when you are finished. Open it in a week and you'll see the paint is still usable.

Baby wipes are great for cleaning oil paint off your hands and tools. And they’ll help moisturize your hands!

And: Add about 10% Liquin Original (medium). Not only will you get more out of your paint, but the painting will dry faster, allowing you to re-work sooner.

Having trouble with the caps on your paint tubes getting stuck and hard to open? Place a small square of Saran Wrap over the tube before replacing the cap. It keeps the paint

from drying on the inside of the cap and sticking to the tube. Much easier opening!

And: To prevent paint from drying out prematurely because of cracked caps, save extra caps from those tubes that are still in good condition when you’ve used up your tube. That way, you will always have a cap ready to replace the bad one when that happens.

Stop with all the paper towels!:
Cut up old, stained t-shirts into small pieces. Excellent for drying brushes, erasing off wet paint when needed, cleaning your palette. Helps to save the environment.

 

Next week I'll even have pictures illustrating
more hints and suggestions

for artists using many media.