by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes
Howdy and Welcome!
This week's
WOYWW was the perfect impetus for me to re-org some supplies.
I decided to consolidate ALL of my acrylic paints. So I went 'shopping' in my craft studio, my basement studio, and my travel art kits. It's amazing what kind of 'haul' resulted just from my own paint supplies!
I did not count the paints yet, but there were a lot!
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The 'Haul' of acrylic paints - all 4 containers together.
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Although I'm not yet done with testing the bottles to weed out the dried up paints, and adding Retarder to the wet bottles, I did manage to sort what I found into basic categories. There were plenty of containers and bins to group my 'haul' into logical categories. That's how I think - in categories - and how I work in my studio.
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Two shoeboxes of tube acrylics - with Arteza metallics separate
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There are 2 shoeboxes for the basement paints. These are the tube acrylics that I use in gelli plate printing in the basement at my mini' wet studio. But now that winter is approaching, it's too cold to work in the basement. So these 2 boxes are stored upstairs until warmer weather in the Spring/Summer. Then I'll take them to print downstairs again.
The remainder of this haul is bottled paints. These are stored in a large white basket that I fit into a shallow wheeled tray. This 'tray' is one of 3 tiers of the 'Busy Box' from The Container Store. I actually put casters on all 3 tiers so that I can roll supplies around instead of carrying them (I'm a weakling). The basket JUST fits in the Busy Box tray with enough empty space around the perimeter to store the Neutrals (gray, black, white, cream).
Inside the large basket, I grouped the paints into 4 categories. There are 2 levels with 2 categories on each level. On the top level are my most often used paints - these are my homemade glazes/washes with Cools in Left basket and Warms in the Right basket.
Underneath the glazes are the unaltered paint bottles. These I also grouped into Cools and Warms. They are all brands of cheap and expensive bottles of acrylics. Some bought at craft stores, some bought at hardware stores. After the testing is complete, I'll put the rolling tray back on the floor to roll the paints near my table whenever I get the urge to paint.
Meanwhile, my fave paints, Golds, are all together in a drawer on top of my table within arm's reach. I tend to use gold paints most often.
DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT I DISCOVERED?
Something I found interesting when testing the bottled paints was that most of the dried up paint bottles were the expensive paints! I was surprised. The cheap paints from the hardware store are still nice and fluid. Nevertheless, for ALL the bottled still wet paints, I'm adding Retarder and a few drops of distilled water to keep them juicy. I'm also adding a square of GLAD Press 'n Seal wrap under the cap of each bottle. This trick works great to keep all my mediums moist and wet glues from drying out. So now it's time to retrofit my paint bottle lids. Fyi, I keep my glue sticks in ziploc baggies - all except the one glue stick that I'm using for the 'current' project.
P.S. Not included in this 'haul' are my Ranger Distress inks, paints, stains, re-inkers, stamp pads, handles. I have already re-organized them. I moved them out of a drawer (that kept falling and spilling contents on the floor). I now keep Distress brand separate on top of my large rolling Ikea Alex unit (I scored three - already assembled with wheels - SUPER cheap at a going out of business sale) behind my chair. They're in easy reach OFF, not on, my table, that I'm trying to keep clear for working on the 'current' project only. Ha! Wish me luck!
YOUR TURN
Do you ever paint with fluid acrylic paints? Have you tried gelli/monoprinting? If, so what are some of your fave tube acrylic paint brands? What other colorants do you use in your monoprinting adventures?
Thanks for stopping by. Please comment - and don't forget to check out / enter my current Giveaway!
Peace,
LuLu
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