Colorless Art Masking Fluid with Watercolor Paints

The use of colorless art masking fluid may seem odd to a beginner artist who has just started using regular art masking fluid. Standard art masking fluid is usually and often visible to the novice artist who does use this medium to mask off white areas of a painting. Its colorless partner can often elude such an artist and go unnoticed until it is too late to remove it from the painting. This is why one must keep a mental note of where this masking fluid has been applied for removal later on in the painting process.

Masking fluid in general is to cover an area in a painting, usually watercolor, to keep other paints from going outside the lines...so to speak. It keeps white areas white and painted areas from being diluted from colors that are applied later. Colorless masking fluid gets its name due to the fact that the artist can see through it so that they do not accidentally put a color where they did not want it. It also helps in stark highlights to accentuate the painting.

Application of the colorless masking fluid is the same as its counterpart. Using brushes, calligraphy pens, bamboo pens, embossing stylus (gently applied), and many other tools will all create different illusions the artist will want to convey to their audience. The stiffer applicators can make the minute details stand out in a painting, while sponges and cloths can cover large areas to protect. It is easy to use too much colorless art masking fluid with it being clear. Therefore, use colorless masking fluid sparingly in your painting.

Gradiants - gradual changes of one color from dark to light - can be achieved through careful removal and reapplication in highly detailed watercolor paintings that are not diluted with too much liquid. This takes much patience, but the end result can be amazing. Thus, colorless art masking fluid outshines the other as it allows you to see how the painting is progressing as you continue painting.

The standard rubber cement eraser does well at removing masking fluid from the watercolor painting. Caution should be taken as the dried fluid may try to take up part of the paper or paint with it. Again, make certain the paper or paint is completely dry before removing the dried fluid. You can use an x-acto knife to remove art masking fluid by gently pressing with the edge of it against the outline of the dried masking fluid. This procedure is not recommended unless you are skilled at this sort of thing.

To achieve a loose or transparent appearance in a watercolor painting, one might want to mask off areas previously painted areas, yet not quite to the edge of them. This will allow other paints to overlay those areas exactly where the artist wanted them to go. This is another bonus to using the colorless masking fluid in watercolor paintings. Oceans can be made to really look like oceans. Water covered rocks barely below the surface in a stream will 'look" like they are really below the water.

With patience and time, a novice painter of watercolor can become as good as a professional with or without the use of any masking fluid. Yet, the precision painting that can be done with the use of colorless art masking fluid is limitless when one does their best to discover the many ways in which it can be used. Mediums in watercolor are helpful in so many ways to created stunning artwork for anyone to see.