Grafix Incredible White Mask Liquid Frisket
 |
Rating:
by Gregory Conley, B.A. in Studio Arts
|
|
There's really no other way...
If you've ever had a picture in your head that had some rather complicated light colored shapes on a darker background, and, you realized you were going to paint this in watercolor, you will come to appreciate the qualities of a liquid frisket. For years I used Grumbacher's Miskit Frisket. That bright orange frisket in the expensive, tiny bottle that usually dried out before it had seen too many uses.
My past experiences with the old orange frisket have generally been disastrous. The worse being a full-sheet painting I started of an historical landmark house at a nearby farm in the metroparks. After masking the house and picket fencing I completed the entire background, out buildings and foliage. When I went to remove the mask, the top couple ply's of my Arches #140 CP paper came up with it, leaving a fuzz trimmed silhouette of a neat old house. I mean the paper RIPPED. Disheartening, to say the least.
I had stopped using frisket until about four years ago when I did have one of those pictures in my head, a bed of daisies on a complicated fuzzed out background of buildings, yard and shadows. I went out to my local Pat Catan's and bought some Incredible White Mask liquid frisket.
|
In "Backyard Daisies" (15" x 22") I made extensive use of liquid mask to keep the white of the daisies against a wash of colors. (detail)
|
"Violet Tree"
© copyright 2000 Greg Conley
|
Grafix® Incredible White Mask Liquid Frisket
What struck me first was the price, which was less that I recall paying for Miskit. The main feature is the formulation of the White Mask frisket itself. It is easy to keep emulsified, it is thick and creamy like a thin white glue. With the proper dampened brush (I use a synthetic) it's brushing qualities are something like a moderately thinned acrylic. My only concern was the color, white. Would I be able to see it well enough to work with it?
For testing I used a 2/3 full, bottle of Incredible White Mask in the "Trees w/frisket" lesson. The bottle may have been a year old and it had held it's consistency in the well sealed bottle. The paper was Arches 140 lb. rough watercolor paper. A GOOD paper. Application was easy in spite of the rough surface. I dampened my #5 synthetic brush and an Incredible Nib. I toss the nib into my water bucket until I need it. Holding the bottle in your left hand and dipping and painting with your right hand seems the easiest way to go. You want to work fairly rapidly and cut your lines as cleanly as you want them to appear when you finally remove the frisket. What you do is what you'll get. I find the Incredible nib best for organic shapes with thick and thin lines and texture effects.
|
| |
Seeing what I was doing was no problem, you may have to concentrate a bit more because of the initial lack of contrast, but as the frisket dried it darkened up and I could see where any corrections were needed. Where it really shines is in how well it holds up to the abuse of re-wetting, overpainting and scrubbing washes, not to mention the heat stress of a blow dryer. The painting was blow dried over eight times before it was time to remove the frisket. Using a natural rubber pickup it rolled off cleanly without lifting any of the actual paper fibers with it. Perfect! You can't ask for more than that. By the way, air drying is always preferred over blow drying when drying your liquid frisket. But I do it anyway.
I have also had good success in masking over previously painted washes, doing so in successive layers. I would like to explore more possibilities with this technique. And, if you are really bored, it's cool to coat one of your fingers with the stuff, and peel it off when it dries.
www.WatercolorPainting.com recommends Grafix Incredible White Mask Liquid Frisket for all your watercolor masking needs. It is simply the best and most reliable liquid mask I have used to date.
Greg Conley, 2003, 2005
|
|
|
