Friday, August 20, 2021

All Dried Up

 

I know I've been complaining about the humidity for days now but when I was packing up my watercolors to go on last week's house sitting adventure I noticed that the gouache set I bought last year was looking rather pitiful.


It used to look like this. It was nice and creamy and a lot of fun to paint with. We keep two dehumidifiers going in the downstairs so it should have been no surprise that they dried up. I don't think the lid was airtight. 



I tossed them in the trash before I left and since The Mister hadn't taken out the trash in the craft room I dug them out again when I came home and tried using them like watercolor. I am glad I did because they worked great and were lots of fun to play with. 




I'm not the only one having dry paint problems. The Mister has been very frustrated with his latest paint by number set for the same reason. Several of the colors in the little pots are dried out and water did not bring them back to life. He's been subbing them out with some acrylic I had but it's too thin and needs many coats to cover the numbers. We are trying different things to thicken it up but so far nothing's working. Bummer. 


 

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8 comments:

  1. BetsyAugust 20, 2021 at 1:39 AM

    I was thinking that with the humidity there they should still be moist, and then you mentioned TWO dehumidifiers. Makes sense now. We have the one we had in our trailer last winter going non-stop in the basement. I usually empty it twice a day. It's been SO humid here all summer. I thought it was just me not being used to it but long timers tell me this is the worst summer for humidity in quite a long time.
    So...double whammy. We're used to about 10-20% humidity and here it is, worse than normal. It's usually 80-90% when we wake up and sometimes gets down to 55% or so, but normally in the 70% range. Bleh.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. WanderingcatstudioAugust 20, 2021 at 10:24 AM

    That is frustrating! I hadn't used my watercolour tubes for years and when I went to use them, they were solid. I had to toss them because I couldn't even get them out of the tube!

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  3. Gemma's personAugust 20, 2021 at 11:24 AM

    Painting is one of those things that waits for no man nor woman.

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  4. Delighted HandsAugust 20, 2021 at 11:39 AM

    Sorry for the dried up problems with the paint-that's good to know with the paint-by-number kits, too. No delays, I guess, in working with them. Could you spray the gouache well with water and then seal them-do they reconstitute like watercolors do?

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    Replies
    1. AraigneeAugust 20, 2021 at 1:48 PM

      I tried it but they didn't. I think they have too chalky a base. They are interesting to play with in this state though so it's not a total loss. They weren't exactly cheap.

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  5. kathy bAugust 20, 2021 at 3:40 PM

    What kind of paint is it ? Fireman uses paint by number acrylic and thins it with water. isn't it fun to watch paint dry? NO!

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  6. Far Side of FiftyAugust 20, 2021 at 9:45 PM

    I recall that with the paint by numbers in some kits...that isn't fair1 Well your use of your dried paints seems to work:)

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  7. MeredithAugust 21, 2021 at 4:05 PM

    Sorry the Misters paints didn't work but your look great even all dried up. Stay safe.

    ReplyDelete

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