Home › Forums › Explore Media › Watercolor › The Learning Zone › Glycerin overload? WC wont dry.

Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • January 17, 2020 at 6:23 am #482758
    joevdb
    Default

        Hi all:
        I finally started putting my tubes of mostly Cotman WC into pans–what took me so long?.
        1. I got it all organized and decided to add a drop of glycerin to each based on a blog of video that discussed glycerin’s power to aid in rewetting.
        2. Came back an hour later and made a quick color chart of dabs of paint to help me see where each color was.
        3. I picked up the paint with a wet brush, painted and realized the glycerin was largely on the surface, not mixed well.
        4. Worked harder to rewet the pans, and got a purer color on the brush in most cases. The initial swatch looked OK when it went on, but maybe more transparent than I anticipated.
        5. the following morning came down to see how the chart looked looked.
        6. Most patches STILL STICKY. :(

        I am afraid I ruined half of the paint I own. I love WC because it dries quickly. Is there any hope the glycerin will settle into the paint? I’m going to do another test this am to see, but I thinking I need to repair every pan of paint. And these darn half pans are SO small.

        Should I just toss the paint in the pans that haven’t dried and start over? Is there a way to save these. Will time heal all errors?

        [FONT=Trebuchet MS][FONT=Georgia]JoeVDB [FONT=Georgia]contemporary urban landscape painting

        January 17, 2020 at 7:50 am #933973
        Que Sera
        Default

            If the glycerin is still sitting on top, try touching the corner of a piece of kitchen roll into each pan to soak it up, then stir the paint with a cocktail stick.

            I stick to water for rewetting, using a pipette to place a good drop of water into each pan well before I start painting. In my travel palette I had a blob of W&N Artists Burnt Umber that had dried out so much it fell out and looked like a pebble. Water and waiting brought it back to life. I use an old synthetic brush to mix my puddles of paint before painting with my better brushes.

            In all these things we are more than conquerors.

            January 17, 2020 at 5:38 pm #933974
            Pigment Pusher
            Default

                Hello.

                I’ve only been painting watercolor for a short time, this is my 3rd year, but my first experience with glycerine was as yours.

                I didn’t like how WN artist tubes rewet and and so I added two drops of glycerin to the dry pans. It didn’t soak in well. Then I remembered reading glycerin is hygroscopic and so I topped off the wells with water and sealed for 24 hrs. then allowed to completely dry. The first subsequent use and the paint stayed wet on paper for a long time and appeared exceptionally vivid. Gradually the effect vanished with more use and my WN palette continued to rewet nearly as good as my Daniel Smith palette. Even the WN raw umber, which looks horribly shriveled and cracked, it still rewets surprisingly easily.

                Your paints should be fine. Keep using them.

                Happy painting.

                Earth without art is just "eh".

                January 17, 2020 at 8:04 pm #933971
                Clifton K Prince
                Default

                    I’ve heard in several places that, relative to other brands of watercolor paint, the Winsor and Newton brand deliberately makes their paints to be LESS re-wet-able than most other brands. Not sure I can fine the specifics, but, it’s worth bearing in mind, and maybe some other forum members will have more scientific details about it.

                    -----
                    Certified Closet Management Engineer, Slung Watercolor Society of America

                    January 18, 2020 at 5:48 am #933970
                    joevdb
                    Default

                        Thanks for the messages all. It seems to have gotten significantly better after a second day of mixing and rewetting. Almost no sticky spots from the stickiest. Glossy spots have diminished too.:clap:

                        [FONT=Trebuchet MS][FONT=Georgia]JoeVDB [FONT=Georgia]contemporary urban landscape painting

                        January 19, 2020 at 7:17 am #933972
                        Monichetta
                        Default

                            I’ve never had paints all set properly overnight. After 3 days I might start to worry if they were still sticky in places, but it’s never happened. Not in warm weather or chilly.

                            Aside from the brands (like M Graham) that seem designed to never dry out on purpose! Some of the handmade watercolours sold on Etsy act like this also.

                            Leave em be for a while, I bet they come good.

                            'Art is an experience, not an object.'
                            ~ Robert Motherwell

                            January 19, 2020 at 12:50 pm #933975
                            calvin_0
                            Default

                                I’ve heard in several places that, relative to other brands of watercolor paint, the Winsor and Newton brand deliberately makes their paints to be LESS re-wet-able than most other brands. Not sure I can fine the specifics, but, it’s worth bearing in mind, and maybe some other forum members will have more scientific details about it.

                                winsor and newton arent that differ to other brand when come to re-wetting… cotman paint on the other hand is a differ story. i find cotman paint re-wet very poorly.. but the artist grade, is the same as holbein artist watercolor..

                                for ease of re-wet, nothing beat honey base paint like mission gold, m graham and sennelier.. I been using some mission gold paint lately and i have a really hard time to adjusting to their rewetability.. even from a dry watercolor pan, i often accidentally pick up too much paint due to how easy they reactivate..

                                January 19, 2020 at 2:50 pm #933969
                                fivespices
                                Default

                                    Calvin 0:

                                    Can Mission gold mixed with M Graham and Sennelier? Do they have the same binder? Thanks

                                    January 19, 2020 at 7:43 pm #933976
                                    calvin_0
                                    Default

                                        Calvin 0:

                                        Can Mission gold mixed with M Graham and Sennelier? Do they have the same binder? Thanks

                                        as long as they are watercolor or traditional gouache, they can be mix together regardless if they are gum arabic base, honey base or aquazol base.

                                      • Author
                                        Posts
                                      Viewing 9 posts - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
                                      • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.


                                      Lost your password?
                                      Register