June 13, 2008, Newsletter Issue #186: Ridges in the paint

Tip of the Week

Some of us like ridges in our painting and some don´t. It really depends on the painting. If you are blocking in a colour, say a shirt on a teddy bear and you get ridges your painting won´t look as good as it would if it were nice and flat ready for the addition of colour for light and shade. To avoid the ridges don´t overload your brush with paint. What is on the outside of the bristles of your brush is what is causing your ridges. When you lod the brush, be sure each hair of the brush is evenly coated with paint and not all scooped up on the outside. Hold you brush upright and press the bristles into the paint and pull through the paint to get the brush loaded. When you feel there is enough paint inside look at the outside. lots of paint there? Wipe gently across a paper towel and remove it. It will cause ridges. This applies to whatever brush you are using - flat or round. If you don´t want ridges then you don´t want excess paint on the outside of your brush.
Also keep in mind how many strokes of the brush you are taking to get the blocking done. Use the biggest/widest brush appropriate for the job. A big brush for big areas, and use the whole brush not just the tip or the edge. remember your stroke work and press down on the brush to open the bristles and have the paint flow to the pice from the inside of the brush, not the outside.

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