Challenges of staining colours

Ever notice that some paints are more difficult to lift or leave stains on your plastic palette.  Once applied on paper, these colours will sink quickly into the fibers of the paper making it difficult to “lift” or remove.

Some colours such as phthalo blue or dioxazine violet stain quite heavily.  No amount of sizing can change the fact that the paint is difficult to lift.  Apparently many of the staining pigments are synthetic organic or inorganic pigments.  It appears that recent manufacturing methods produce pigments that are more staining and less transparent.

It might take some time to learn which colors are staining. To speed up the process you can easily test them by painting squares of color on paper  and allowing them to dry completely.  Then run the paper under water and use a clean brush to gently scrub the paint swatches and rinse off the paint. Any colors that sit on the surface of the paper will come off, but those that sink into the fiber of the paper will leave a stain.

The easiest way to identify a staining colour is to read the labels on paint tubes.

Today's artist find is Dan San Souci

Have a great week,
Danielle