Masque turns to sticky goo!

[stodbw]

Because of my job, I get to paint for about 2-3 hours a week. Last night I went into my studio to try to work for a least 15 minutes and was rudly shocked.

I have been using the pink cheap masque since day one without any problems whatsoever. I would leave it on for weeks wth no ill effect.

Several months ago I purchased the masque pen -- the blue stuff for $16.00 (USD) --- used it on a half sheet I am doing and it left it on (there is water in this scene) for almost 2 weeks now.

When I touched my painting last night, this masque had turned into a sticky runny mess that has absolutely runined my painting. I can't get this junk off. As I sit here at work in my office my painting is in my refrigerator at home --- hoping that the masque will turn hard again so I can remove it.

My studio is a constant 70 degree summer and winter --- I have no idea why this turned into evil goo ????

NOW --- has anyone had this same experience --- and do you have any suggestions as to how I can get this 'stuff" off my paper? When you wipe it it just spreads like butter --- YUCK!

Have a good day . . . and

TIA

Grayeagle

[olliewood0702]

I'm wondering if you got a hold of a "bad" batch of something. I absolutely LOVE my masque pen and have not had ANY trouble with removing it. Although I have never left it on for two weeks I doubt that should have anything to do with it. Sorry that I can't help you.

[laudesan]

Geeeeeeesh........what bad luck........

I have used blue masque pen for agesnow, and I have left it on for longer than I should..

I can honestly say it gets HOT here, BUT I have never experienced what you have going on..

I have no idea why it happened, or how to get it off, the fridge sounds like a good idea tho'..

I would take it back to the shop and ask then to exchange it!!!!!!

[stodbw]

Thanks --- apparently no one else knows what to do about it either because not too many responded and I understand that.

I will let you know how the refrig ---- thing works out. I think if the chemical would get hard enough I could scrap it off.

See ya

Grayeagle

ps I'm going to stick to my pink cheap stuff --- and throw the blue stuff out

[madmum]

Sorry, Grayeagle, I can't imagine what happened! I use the masquepen all the time, and leave it on for days and even weeks without a problem! Maybe there was some kind of chemical reaction to something, or it was a dodgy batch?

Did leaving it in the freezer not help?

I think you should take it back to your supplier and take the ruined painting, too. You could also email the makers and ask if they have any ideas. This is their website, and there is a "Contact Us" link http://www.cruddas.btinternet.co.uk

Ruth

[Ottersong]

GReyeagle, did it act normal when you first put it on? Curious in case this happens to me because I use it a lot, so far I love it. think I will try putting it on a test piece and leaving it for two weeks to see what happens. The grey stuff bonds forever. I just bought a jar of the regular frisket and it is so thin it wont load in my pen so need to return it. Also got a jar of Pebeo that has turned to latex so have to return that too.. Seems like a lot of bad product out there right now.

Marymc

[stodbw]

Ruth ---- actually making the painting COLD for an entire day "helped".
that is to say, with a lot of rubbing I was able to get most of it to roll to the end of the painting ---- I kept pushing it with across the paper because it refused to pick up --- and then I cropped the sticky side of the paper off.

Some of the heavier parts of the masque (tree truncks that got heavy with masque) I was able to pick up with an XACTO knife --- I have never seen anything like this before --- wet rubber cement.
Thanks for the link --- I am going to email them to see what they say.

Marymc, Yes, it acted like it always does when I put it on. There was no suggestion of any trouble. Maybe the smart thing to do is test each new bottle on a piece of scrap paper by letting it set for a couple weeks. NOW --- I have had almost all masques discolor the white of the paper by having it sit too long the one of the problems you have by not being able to paint for 2-3 hours a week --- but I always could paint over it to cover it up, or make the area look like it should have been tinted "bownish".

Never tried the "gray stuff' but I used to always use the "pink stuff' --- you know I have used bottles of that stuff and I cannot tell you it's name --- LIQUITQUE --- or something like that (????).

Anyway, lesson learned the HARD way --- I am trying my best to redeem the painting, but I am having trouble.

I guess alcohol (rubbing kind) would ruin the gesso in the paper????

Thanks and talk to ya later,

Grayeagle

[Regina McMullan]

I missed this thread earlier, but saw your reference in Lake Superior, MI to mask that wouldn't harden.
I had a similar experience yesterday. On Sunday I put mask on a small landscape I was painting en plein-air. I blocked a white house, snow fields and a few other areas. I had to leave it overnight because of darkness, bad dogs (mine) and other obligations.
Yesterday I painted washes over the mask which had it's usual tacky dry touch. When I tried to remove the mask, it just smeared - as you described.
I was using the pink stuff. This was a bottle I have had for years, and I've used it with no trouble in the past.
What I did differently was not shake it (based upon comments I've read on WC). I had limited supplies with me on location and didn't stir it either. I thought that carrying it around had probably mixed it well enough. Today, I had gotten past the irritation sufficiently to give the bottle a good shake and test it. It still won't dry.
I'm in Colorado, and our humidity has been around 35%. Drying time is not a problem.
I've concluded that the pink stuff has just gotten old. I'll test my mask fluid before ruining another painting.
What I did learn though is that, with limitations, you can get the sticky goo off. I tried Carbona Stain Devils formula for chewing gum and glue. It did remove the goo. It also made the paper like a sponge. A later wash to deepen the sky color left a halo over my mountains. I added another mountain range behind the San Juans I had been painting (to incorporate the halo) and cleaned up the house with gouache. So I salvaged things after a fashiion. But this sure takes your heart out of it.
My earlier scrubbings (with an assortment of ineffective chemicals) had taken a toll on the paper and painting as well. Most of the dirt in the snow is from this and a half hearted attempt at alpine glow and shadow following this whole fiasco.
I don't know if the Stain Devils formula would let you salvage a brush clogged with mask or not, but I'd try it as a last ditch effort.
Finding your thread at least let me know that I'm not alone.

[stodbw]

I have come to the conclusion that the turning to goo is due to age. I have never had this problem before and I have not experienced it again since I threw away that tube of masque.

Using a chemical would be the last thing I would do because it would remove the gesso that keeps the paint from sinking too quickly into the paper --- as you found out with your halo.

My painting is here in my studio stuck to the wall with a thumb tack to remind me to be careful using masque.

Sorry about yours --- I quess we are kindred masque people

Grayeagle

[Eliz]

Hi!

I just saw this thread. I had the same thing happen to me once, where the masking fluid turned to the texture of used chewing gum. Ick. It had only been on for two days. Weirdly, I've used the same bottle before and after with no problem. All I can think of is that I was painting in plain air, a cool day so it didn't overheat, but it was exposed to dirrect sunlight for a couple of hours. Maybe that did a chemical change of some sort?

I was able to get most of it off with repeated very light strokes with a kneaded rubber eraser. It sort of disolved into the eraser rather than peeling off like normal. It ruined the eraser, but that was a small price to save a painting. Thankfully, I had just used it in fine lines, no large areas!

Liz

[auntchristine]

I have come to the conclusion that the turning to goo is due to age.

Ah, you came to the answer yourself in time As this stuff ages, less of the gooey stuff sufficiently mixes with the wet stuff and as a result you get more wet than goo and it just won't lift. All of the masking fluids regardless of brand, if left to age unused just won't mix up properly to be useful.

The only way to know if your fluid will still mask is to test it out first on a scrap sheet of the same paper you're painting on.

How do I know? Same thing happened to me just this week when I returned to painting and used my colorless fluid and it stuck in some spots but not others and lifted from some spots but not others.