Masking Fluid Techniques

In my experience, it doesn’t matter if you dab it on or stroke it on as long as you apply it evenly and quickly. Don’t try to paint more on once the masking fluid has dried because you’ll just pull up the mask. Don’t be afraid to let it get a little thick, which is better than too thin, especially with a brush because you may end up with brushstroke lines of paint if you paint over it 🙂

Again, the best way to clean up is as quickly as possible, dish soap is just fine since it’s best to use a cheap brush you don’t care about anyway. Like dollarstore kiddy painting brushes, that sort of thing 🙂 Definitely do NOT use any of your nice painting brushes heh heh

I know this isn’t relevant to painting sculptures but if you ever use masking fluid on paper, don’t leave it on longer than you need to because it can become bonded to the paper and pull up some of the paper when you pull it away.

Hope that helps!

you’re welcome! ^_^

Sorry.. just saw this thread (in the future you guys are allowed to post questions like this in the “PYO” forum, I’ll see them faster that way and other painters can benefit too. 🙂 )…

I’ve had very good results using the masking fluid on the horns of my kirins. I just put it on very thick in multiple layers- that way when it comes time to peel it off, it is more likely to stick to itself and pull off as a mass rather than be a pain to get off.

Quill and anyone else curious:

The same thing goes for applying it to eyes! Thick is good. Try to only get it on the surface of the eye! When you let it run into the edges of the eye it actually gets in all those little nooks and is much harder to remove from the eye because it catches on the backs of the eyes. It’s never fun to try and pull little flaps of white from all around the edges of the eyes… makes it look messy.
If your masking fluid is -really- runny, try chilling it (do NOT freeze) for a bit in your fridge, then applying. It should thicken it a bit. IF not then get a glob on your brush, let it just barely dry, then apply it to the eyes.

Always use an old or junk brush, and clean it well with water and some normal hand or dish soap ASAP afterward.

(I’ll add this info to the FAQ shortly)