Home › Forums › Explore Media › Acrylics › dried clouds with hard lines I can’t blend. Golden. help _
- This topic has 32 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 7 months, 1 week ago by Charlies Mum Administrator (Maureen).
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March 18, 2024 at 7:03 pm #1543485
Hi all, my name is Carol from NH/Fl. I’m painting a gift request from daughter of the Cross at Crucifixion (empty) but that is not the problem. My base, some deep and dramatic clouds up into lighter ones where a burst of sunlight will appear….dried so quickly that they can’t be blended now. Lines of demarcation and not pretty. Do any of you have any ideas? I haven’t tried Gel medium yet, not sure if I should. The paints are Golden and not very thing. They are the jar type and not new but not opened either. Maybe because my canvas is too large? too late now though. It’s like 18×24…larger than I’m used to. (16×20 usually). ANY help would be appreciated. For her birthday in three weeks. UGH. Thankyou for any ideas that you have…I need to mist/soften this puppy up quickly! I may as well post the pic here. This is it so far. Early stages Cheers
CarolAnn
March 19, 2024 at 2:52 am #1543509Hi CarilAnn, I deleted your email. You are advised not to post your email here, it opens you up to spammers and scam merchants. If people need to contact you they can click on your avatar and send you a Private Message (pm). You get an email notification for wetcanvas.
Do you refer to Golden Open paints? I am sure someone will come forward with suggested retardants you could use to slow drying.
Doug
We must leave our mark on this worldMarch 19, 2024 at 6:14 am #1543533Hi Carol …. I found your thread and have moved it to the Acrylics forum so people might see and offer help.
I don’t, generally use Golden, but all acrylics work basically the same way.
You can’t soften and blend what’s already hardened, but you can paint over. Keep a spray mist bottle handy if you want to blend on the canvas. If you need to thin the heavy-body paint you can use water or glazing medium…. I generally just use water but too much could cause adhesion problems.
If you want to soften edges you can use a fan brush, lightly loaded to work back and forth over the edges.
I’m sure others will offer help too.
Cheers, Maureen
Forum projects: Plant Parade projects in the Florals/Botanicals forum , WDE in the All Media Art Events , Different Strokes in Acrylics forum .March 19, 2024 at 6:45 am #1543537Thanks for helping Carol, Maureen, I’m strictly watercolour and gouache.
Doug
We must leave our mark on this worldMarch 19, 2024 at 7:41 am #1543542Hi Carol,I would try i thin white glaze on the areas where the different colours meet
Dave
March 19, 2024 at 8:19 am #1543546Blending acrylics can be tricky, especially on a large scale. I don’t think I ever get sky painted in one go, I have to go over it to get the look I want. I usually use a big brush and thin paint and try to work quickly. Let it dry and repeat if necessary.
C&C always welcome. Michelle
mkmcreations.com
Every painting is a new adventure.March 19, 2024 at 6:00 pm #1543602Thankyou to both of you…Doug and Maureen. I’ve been a bit confused finding my way around. It’s been a while since I’ve done a painting and I’d suffered a roadblock already. I don’t want to go much further as I don’t know if it will all come together ….. if I’m being too particular, or if this isn’t going to meld in with the rest of the process if that makes sense. Trying to scrub a glaze over the lines of demarcation. The light over the dark isn’t ‘bright’ I know lolll. Maybe I should try the dark over light. Maybe someone will see this and chime in. Thanks again
CarolAnn
March 19, 2024 at 6:05 pm #1543603Oh thankyou! I do have some golden heavy body gel medium I could use. I also have a bottle of ‘white blend’ and one of ‘clear blend’. I have hope here! Thankyou
CarolAnn
March 19, 2024 at 6:10 pm #1543604Thankyou Lavender. This is probably what I will do….if I can’t make the blend. I can see this painting working but I lost all confidence along the way. It’s just been so long since I’ve done one and shouldn’t have expected to not have to make adjustments. Thankyou again for your advice. hahaaaa I want to give a smile but most of these emojis are too googly eyed and don’t express my feeling. lollll
CarolAnn
March 19, 2024 at 11:41 pm #1543617Golden regular acrylics (not Open acrylics) dry faster than most other acrylics because they don’t have retarders added – imo that lack of adulterants is a sign of high quality. But you can very easily extend blending time by using a clear slow-dry medium or retarder of any brand (liquid, or paste/gel). I do that all the time – I use a slow-drying medium and very little (or no) water all the time to get almost oil-like blending.
It sounds like you have Grumbacher Clearblend…I think it’s no longer made but it should be perfect. Whiteblend for pale opaque mixes that already have white in them.
March 20, 2024 at 3:41 am #1543627Hello CarolAnn. Like Sea Dangler, I think the solution is to use glazes. I use acrylic glazes to soften clouds and foliage. The initial marks I make are bold and hard, but repeated overlaying of acrylic glazes around edges softens those edges. It’s hard to say for certain but I have a caution that overlaying white around the junction of the colours could result in a pale band at that area. But not knowing how you intend to deal with the background it’s hard to say.
I use a clear acrylic matt glazing medium combined approx fifty-fifty with the paint and then diluted as I think fit with water. Don’t wish to insult your intelligence but repeated thin glazings are better than a couple of heavy glazings.
PLEASE how do I make these dreadful yellow things go away? OMG there's even more of the awful things now.
www.instagram.com/john_humber_artist
www.instagram.com/john_petty_letterformMarch 20, 2024 at 9:21 pm #1543692thankyou, yes, that is exactly what I have! However, it has dried and I dread re-mixing those colors to repaint this. I tried mixing a tiny bit of white into the clear and really blended (forever and it did give it somewhat of a more misty look. I may have to remix one of the two colors not blending and work that color into a blend. Maybe I’ll have the guts to post it when I’m done loll
CarolAnn
March 20, 2024 at 9:23 pm #1543693hmm that makes sense. I do have liquitex and golden matt varnish I believe….probably not the same thing?
CarolAnn
March 21, 2024 at 5:00 am #1543715I think that the problem is that the shapes in the painting don’t resemble clouds.
March 21, 2024 at 9:02 am #1543741Don’t worry, I’m sure we all have these times when things aren’t working like we hoped. I know I do! Sometimes you just have to keep trying. You’ll figure out which techniques you like best and also things often take a few layers to look right.
C&C always welcome. Michelle
mkmcreations.com
Every painting is a new adventure. -
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