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Thursday, September 8, 2011

fixing liquitex medium with talc

Morning folks- thanks for tuning in again to another brave, daring episode of Kings Minis- brought to you in spooky technicolor.  Last episode we left our hero hanging from a cliff pondering mediums... well, actually not, but lets pretend we did.  On with the show...

Now I have said that I find Vallejo matte medium to be the best for the crazy medium heavy blending techniques I use.  Well, thats all dandy, but it only comes in tiny little dropper bottles.  Handy, but expensive in the amounts I use.  I love the stuff.  If it was edible I would probably snack on it.

Enter Liquitex....
Now Liquitex products are pretty good- if you are a 2D artist you will swear by them as a graphic medium... however, as a miniature medium the Matte medium dries far too glossy to build up highlights and shadows- the light you paint with is reflected and it makes it hard to see whats going on.  I kept thinking this was a shame because you can buy it in 473ml bottles for about the same price as 2 Vallejo droppers.
Well heres the good news.  Talc.
I caught an offhand comment by Jen Haley the other day on youtube (http://www.paintrix-miniatures.com/)  that festered in my mind last night.  Matte medium is just gloss medium with talc in it.  Well, if thats the case, perhaps Liquitex simply does not have enough talc in it.  Bingo.

Tried a quick test today using various mediums and mixes of industrial talc (non perfumed) that I had handy from resin casting.  Its true.  Adding talc kills shine on medium.

YES!*


(*Thats me trying to capture the volume of the exclaimation issuing from my lips in the biggest font blogger will let me.  Kinda not quite got there IMHO).

It works.  It works well.  Cheap, truely matte medium in bulk volume.

Ta Ms. Haley.  You little brush goddess, you.

So I made up a master mix of 1:8 talc to liquitex and thinned with distilled water with liquitex flow aid (1:10 as per instructions).  I am going to test this out once I have some painty time.

Huzzah!

2 comments:

  1. lawful_evilSeptember 13, 2011 at 4:40 AM

    Sounds promising, I've been searching for an affordable matte medium for a long while. Two questions, though: When you say 'talc', do you mean plain old woolworths brand talcum powder (I hope its so easy) and can we get a clarification/accurate breakdown of the proportions of your mix?
    Was it 1:8 talc to liquitex diluted with (water+flow aid) at a ratio of 1 part (talc + liquitex) to 10 parts (water+flow aid)?

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  2. Delaney KingOctober 4, 2011 at 9:45 AM

    Nope- it must be industrial talc... you dont want those other chemicals in your mix- the perfume could be acidic, for example. Uhg!
    You can order industrial talc from casting supplies and art supplies.
    Only, be careful when your filling your bottles that your neighbours cannot see you... weighing white powder into packages looks really suspicious.

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