You are an artist who paints animals using traditional methods like watercolors.
You nail the entire painting except the whiskers, which look shabby and thicker than they should be. Worse, you completed the painting without realizing that the whiskers of that animal are now not seen.
And many such oops! Moments, right?
Well, I have an answer to these problems and whether you are team masking fluid or team white pencil, I can guarantee that after reading this blog, you will have all the right reasons as to what to buy and use for the whiskers…
So let’s dive in…
Why am I confidently writing this blog?
I have used both, Winsor and Newton’s masking fluid and Brustro’s white pencil to show those white whiskers on the animal. And there is a struggle, a real struggle, but hear me out. I will take your three minutes to tell you which one saved me from a problem and which one created a problem.
So before diving into the properties of these two characters, let’s introduce both the heroes properly.
What is a masking fluid and how does it work?
A masking fluid is a fluid that can be milky white in color or transparent (depending upon the manufacturer) and whose viscosity is such that you can use a brush to spread it on paper.
Once applied, it dries fast and you can easily paint over it. So whether you want to show spots on a bird or a fish and in this case, whiskers; once the masking fluid is applied, you can paint without taking any stress of accidentally painting over it.
Removing it can be a task but if done correctly, you get the white area of the paper which becomes the brightest white area, helping to make your painting look realistic.
Then why are we even discussing a white pencil?
Well, the answer is, that a white pencil gives you more control over the strokes. Those nice sharp strokes.
So let’s compare them in a tabular form.
Feature | Masking fluid | White pencil |
Usability | Requires some amount of mastery as fast working is required | Easy to control, after all it’s a pencil |
Effectiveness | For very thin whiskers, one needs a tool which will do the work otherwise one can end u getting in even thickness of whiskers | Subtle highlights, need to draw again and again for whiter strokes |
Durability | Masking fluid may dry and become a solid ball if the bottle remained open. Also one has to careful remove it as it may damage the upper layer if too much force is applied | Safe for any stage of painting, just make sure that the tip is pointed. |
Other uses | Can be used other areas like to show spots | Limited to lighter details and highlights |
Level of realism | high | subtle to low |
So how do you choose?
Are you a fan of realistic paintings?
Then masking fluid is your tool. Just make sure that the tool that is used to apply the masking fluid is also pointed enough. Usually, I have seen artists using a small numbered brush to apply the fluid. Now the only problem here is that if you do not clean that brush immediately after the use, the fluid forms a layer on the brush making it unusable for next time.
Removing dried masking fluid can also be a task if a lot of pressure is applied as it will scrap the paper layer and some adjacent area creating shabby lines on paper. So then one has to paint again to cover that area which may look patchy.
If you are looking for subtle details, the white pencil is your tool. Here, you do not have to worry about the uneven strokes. Also if needed, it can be rubbed off but this has to be done skillfully as you may disturb the paint.
One point which did not mention in the table was affordability. A very good quality of masking fluid can be costly as compared to a white pencil.
To summarize,
Experiment! Use both tools if needed because the end goal has to be that the painting should turn out well. I personally have started using white pencils more often because that is my preference.
But masking fluid remains on my shelf which comes very handy for marking the spots.
So let me know if this blog helped you to decide what to buy and what to use as per the realism level needed for the painting. Share your thoughts, and insights about these two materials, and share images and the blog with the artist who asked for advice from you about how to show those whiskers on the animal.
Happy Painting :)
PS : Watch how I painted this lion cub in watercolor here
コメント