BeckerArt FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter May 7th. Brush Fix

Published: Tue, 05/07/19

Hello

Welcome to the FLOAT-YOUR-PIGMENT Newsletter #207 Brush Fix

It was great to get back to my weekly classes after a month off. A bunch of my students came back from Florida so both classes were nice and full... it was great seeing what everyone was painting and doing while I was away in North Carolina and France. It's great to hear that many of my students have been in a number of exhibitions and shows. Way to go!

This coming Thursday there will be a Lake Region Watercolor Guild critique/meeting. 2 artists will be critiquing works brought in by members... the critiques will be done by Tony Armendariz and Ken Call

I have so many things in the works at the moment but the one thing I am hoping to get finished writing and edited by the end of this month is my BeckerArt 66-day Sketchbook Challenge, Learning to sketch from your Mind's eye. I've been working on this book for 2 years now and think it will be a great learning tool for artists that want to learn how to draw from their mind's eye. More info to come in coming months.

Yes To Class at the Civic Center in Libertyville, Thursday, May 9th 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm

Yes To Class at the BeckerArt Gallery in McHenry, Saturday, May 11th 9:00 am to 11:30 am

Brush Fix

In last week's newsletter I showed you what happened some of my brushes on the way back from France. My brushes were in my suitcase in a Ziploc bag along with a bunch of pencils, pens and a bottle of masking fluid. When I got home and opened my suitcase I found that inside the Ziploc bag the masking fluid leaked on everything in the bag and dried up on the brushes. See image below.

I went online to see what I could find but didn't find anything except to boil them when I need the hairs to go back to a point.

I went to my local hardware store and bought a few things that I thought may take the masking fluid out of my brushes. I bought some Acetone and Goof Off and both those products did not work. I also tried WD40 with no success. Then I used GooGone and it soften the masking fluid and made it gooey and it then dissolved off the hairs. I then had a problem of getting the oily hairs back to not being oily. I then used a General Pencil product called The Masters Brush Cleaner & Preserver. It worked okay to get the brush very clean but didn't totally get the oily feel out of it. I am still trying things to see what will work on getting the oily hairs to feel non-greasy.

The brushes are clean again and have no masking fluid dried to them anymore. Next, I will have to paint with them again to see if they will work the same as before... that will be coming in a future newsletter.

Check out my video below on how I took the masking fluid out of my brushes.

Take good care of your brushes and they will take good care of you!

David

BeckerArt GooGone Brush Fix

My brushes after they were all messed up with dried masking fluid on them all.

After my brush fix I think I saved my brushes. I still need to find something to get more of the GooGone totally out of the brush hairs.

WORKSHOPS and DEMOS in 2019

NEW! Dillman's Acrylic WORKSHOP, Lac du Flambeau, WI, June 3rd - 6th
For Information Click Here

Dillman's Festival of Artists DEMO, Hibbing Minnesota June 7th

For info Click Here

Morris Watercolor Guild CLASS, Liberty ARTS Festival, Morris, IL. July 20th

For information Click Here

Vermont Art Event WORKSHOP Classes, VT, July 29th - August 2nd,
Information to come

Cheap Joes WORKSHOP, Boone NC, Sept. 9th - 13th
For Information Click Here

Dillman's Watercolor WORKSHOP, Lac du Flambeau, WI, Sept. 23d - 26th
For Information Click Here

Question of the Week

Questioned Asked: I've been told that I should mix my blacks and not buy a tube of black... what is the difference between mixing a black and using a black right out of the tube.

Questioned Answered: I was taught at the American Academy of Art to always mix my blacks but the school never told me why. As a teacher, I went on the search one year to find out why I was not supposed to use black right out of the tube. The answer I found out was that teachers wanted students to mix their blacks so they would get a richer more colorful black. I later in my teaching career went to a Wyeth exhibit in Rockland, Maine and there I saw a watercolor that Wyeth had painted and it was painted with nothing but Blue and Black. This painting blew my mind and after studying up on Wyeth I found out he made some of his own colors and he actually made his own Black watercolor paint. Since I saw that painting I decided that I would use a black right out of the tube and if I add colors to that black I find it to be just as colorful as one that I mix with a Dark Blue, Alizarin and a dark Purple. So my answer is to do as you wish, and if you need your Black to be colorful either mix it or add color to your tube black.

If you have a question that you want answered, write me at david@davidrbecker.com

Artist of the Week

Stephen Scott Young here is an artist I have never heard of but I spotted his work on the web, loved it because it reminded me of Winslow Homer and then I looked him up on Wikipedia. See his bio Here

BeckerArt Brushes

Make no mistake, these are great brushes

Click Here to Purchase BeckerArt Brushes

For any other info please email me at david@davidrbecker.com