Painters Recipes

Now you can get all the recipes that I’ve offered in past newsletters. Of course the number of recipes will constantly grow, but having them all in one place will help you find that favourite one. They come from fellow painters so please send me your favourite quick and tasty recipe.

Paint Storage Idea from Sheila Uppal, London England

Sheila is painting a cupboard with drawers in which she will store her paint. It is from Ikea, but Sheila is personalizing it with a very special touch that I've asked her to share with you. The colours of the drawer decor corresponds to the paint colours stored inside - brilliant! Then on the sides of the cabinet, she will paint faux panels with her favourite patterns.

From Liz Bishop, Rimrock AZ

When I trace a pattern onto tracing paper, I trace everything that will be basecoated with an extra fine blue sharpie.

Then I trace the next step in red. I started doing this because my students had a hard time getting hard lines where one color backed up to another. And sometimes the could not see little things that really made a difference. Say with leaves, if some overlap each other, it won't matter when tracing or basecoating. So the general shape of all the leaves is traced in blue and all the specific lines are done in red.

When basecoating, if I get one of those hard lines made with too much paint in the brush I just take my finger and lightly brush from the edge into the painting area. This keeps the edge clean and gets rid of the ridge.

White Graphite of a Light Background
from Sally McAloon, Maryland USA

After transferring the pattern with light graphite, if you find it doesn't show up, try this trick. Just wipe over the pattern with household dust and the it will stick to the graphite and darken the lines. I think we have finally found an excuse to not dust the house!

To Resize a Pattern
from Sue McGurl at Steph's Folk Art Studio in Smoketown Pennsylvania

Simply divide the size of the piece that you want by the size of the pattern you have, then multiply by 100%.

For example, to reduce a pattern that is 15" long to fit a piece that is 12" long, divide 12 X 15 then multiply by 100% (12 ÷ 15 X 100% = 80%)

Scan the pattern at 80% and it should fit perfectly.

Or let’s say your pattern is 12" and you want to enlarge it to 15" - (15 ÷ 12 X 100% = 125%) Scan the pattern at 125% and will be enlarged to the right size.

Where was this great idea when I would spend a fortune at the photcopy shop re-sizing patterns by guess and by golly!

Bee Bee's for Easy Paint Mixing
from Donna Frintzilas, New York

Donna purchases stainless steel bee bee's from her local craft shop and drops one or two in each bottle of paint. Give the bottle a shake and the paint mixes together in half the time! I tried it and it works great - wonderful for those extra thick colours.

Karen from Columbus Ohio advises to Please remember to use stainless steel bee bees, as she discovered rust in her paint with the non stainless ones that she used.

Can't find the bee bees in the craft store try Daisy 4.5 mm steel air gun pellets for $1.94 in the sporting goods section at Walmart. They are in a locked cabinet, so you have to ask for them.

Another painter said she tried those small glass stones you put in vases for flower arranging, and they worked great too.

Brush and Tool Organizer

My good friend Sonja Sindell from Florida shared this tip with me and was kind enough to get some for me.

This is an ice tray that makes ice cylinders to go into your water bottle. It stands about 4" tall and has 30 openings that are perfect for storing your brushes and tool. Sonja got them at Wal-Mart in Tampa but they can also be found at "Bed, Bath and Beyond" ( in the kitchen department)and other large kitchen specialty stores. I can't tell you how these trays have helped me to keep my painting table a little more organized.

Getting the Paint Out

I have a wonderful product line called Melaleuca. The item that gets my acrylic paint out is their PRESPOT product.

From Nancy A Schleicher,Napa, Ca.

In response to your query on removing acrylic paint from clothing - yesterday I had on light tan slacks and got black green acrylic paint on them. I thought it'd never come out. I tried some Deco Magic Brush and Jewelry Cleaner by DecoArt on it. First I rubbed it with a clean cloth and got most of it out except for one small spot, so I got an old toothbrush and scrubbed, blotting occasionally with a white paper towel. It all came out!

From Sandra in Dorion Quebec

With regards to your quest for a Stain/paint remover, the one I have wonderful results with is J.W.etc’s SAFE-STRIP PAINT AND VARNISH REMOVER. Apply remover to the stained area, let is about fifteen mins. Then rub with your fingers , repeat if necessary. I have removed acrylic paint that had been washed dried many many times. It is environmentally safe does not hurt your hands.

If you get Ultra Gloss Enamels on your clothes
From Rosemary Reynolds,Deco Art Inc.

Our design dept. suggests a product called, "OOP'S". It has even been know to take out dried Patio Paint from clothing. But Rosemary advises that you test the product on and inside seam or hem to see how it will react to the natural colors or fibers in the clothing.

Sandy Scales, Manassas Virginia

When tracing my pattern onto my surface, I always secure the pattern to the surface with a couple of pieces of blue tape or other low tack tape to keep the pattern from shifting during tracing.

I don't remove the tape from the pattern until I am finished with the painting, just in case I need to retrace again.

Before removing the pattern from the surface, I use the smallest end of my stylus to puncture four holes in the pattern (one in each corner). Then with a chalk pencil, I make a circular mark thru the hole in the pattern onto the basecoated surface. In stenciling, these marks are known as registration marks.

Throughout the painting of the project, I can reposition my pattern by using these registration marks. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the pattern lines up with the tracing perfectly.

Have tips of your own to share !!!... Send them on to me for future newsletters and we can add them to the "Painters Corner"