Hullo Liz, I have found that if I use my bare hands I often contaminate the surface of my pictures. So I just don’t use my hands, I have watched many artists use their hands and have no trouble with oils from them! I am just not so lucky. I use a stencil flat dauber brush to apply my wax finishers. I have used plastic gloves if I am emulating a process I am trying to duplicate it from a video or instructions for a tutorial. Nitrile or latex gloves work for keeping your surfaces clean, it’s what I use. Thank you for sharing your alternative to Dorlands wax. I have used saddle wax as a substitute too. But Dorlands is not as expensive here in California. Glad that you are showing your viewers a different method of protection.
Wow, I’ve purchased special wax for my watercolor paintings and now find that the tub of Annie Sloan is safe to use! Yay! My furniture phase has passed, so now I can use it for my paintings! Thanks for the tip!
it works in just the same way. I cannot guarantee that it is acid free, so if you are concerned about your painting lasting 100 years, I would not use it 😆
Thank you, ive been "curiouser, and curiouser" about this stuff. Good to know it doesn't melt, it was 112°F + in Texas this summer. So glad its cooled off, still in the 90s (F). Have a great day....or night....lol
Petroleum jelly / Vaseline applied same way waterproofs my art envelopes. Readily available and cheap. My research found that, as it’s not water soluble, Vaseline has no pH. When left on paper it gets absorbed. I found you can quicken the process with a hair dryer. Seeing the similar “greasy” stains on the copier paper I’d wonder about painting on the reverse after using any of the waterproofing / coating products.
I’m not 100% sure what it has. Maybe the beeswax has been purified in some way, or the resin and solvents neutralise it so it doesn’t oxidise and darken??@@colleenmcchesney1482
Hello Liz, thank you for this video and showing us alternatives to Dorlands wax. In Germany, it is hard to get Dorlands wax. So I wondered, if I could use wax varnish for oil paintings from Schmincke. It’s terribly expensive, but easy to get… 😅 I also found some „water based cold wax“. Would a water based wax smudge the watercolors?
I don't have experience of either, to be honest. The Schmincke sounds like it would not be suitable. It has a lot of mineral spirits in it and might be pretty unpleasant to use. The water based cold wax sounds more promising. The best thing is to test a sample and see if it smears the watercolour. Even if it does you could always do a quick coat of spray varnish and one dry, but the wax medium over the top. It is really hard to advise without knowing more!!
Annie Sloan is the only good safe wax, as far as I know. Annie's website should say but I know that there is no smell that is so indicative of mineral spirits waxes. It should also slightly darken the colours. Going to try it on a page😂. We dont get Dorlands or the French chic. The Annie Sloan costs a fortune here being a import, as everything 😢
I’ve used Annie Sloan too. I contacted their tech department for an article I was writing a few years back and they would only say it was ‘near neutral’ pH. They really didn’t want it recommended for fine art. It has low odour thinners, but they wouldn’t say what. I think they were concerned about liability. I tried this wax, as it was all I could get locally, and it’s great. Fir a journal, I’m happy to try anything, as experimenting is part of the process.
Hullo Liz, I have found that if I use my bare hands I often contaminate the surface of my pictures. So I just don’t use my hands, I have watched many artists use their hands and have no trouble with oils from them! I am just not so lucky. I use a stencil flat dauber brush to apply my wax finishers. I have used plastic gloves if I am emulating a process I am trying to duplicate it from a video or instructions for a tutorial. Nitrile or latex gloves work for keeping your surfaces clean, it’s what I use. Thank you for sharing your alternative to Dorlands wax. I have used saddle wax as a substitute too. But Dorlands is not as expensive here in California. Glad that you are showing your viewers a different method of protection.
If you have sensitive skin too, a brush is a good idea. Dorlands is my favourite, but I save it for paintings rather than the journal!
Wow, I’ve purchased special wax for my watercolor paintings and now find that the tub of Annie Sloan is safe to use! Yay! My furniture phase has passed, so now I can use it for my paintings! Thanks for the tip!
it works in just the same way. I cannot guarantee that it is acid free, so if you are concerned about your painting lasting 100 years, I would not use it 😆
@@LizChadertonArt I use it mostly for cards to be mailed to friends, so no worries. Thanks for the warning!
@@joyceshields9156 perfect
Thank you, ive been "curiouser, and curiouser" about this stuff. Good to know it doesn't melt, it was 112°F + in Texas this summer. So glad its cooled off, still in the 90s (F). Have a great day....or night....lol
Glad it was helpful! That’s hot!
Petroleum jelly / Vaseline applied same way waterproofs my art envelopes. Readily available and cheap. My research found that, as it’s not water soluble, Vaseline has no pH. When left on paper it gets absorbed. I found you can quicken the process with a hair dryer. Seeing the similar “greasy” stains on the copier paper I’d wonder about painting on the reverse after using any of the waterproofing / coating products.
I would never have thought of that. Does it not stay sticky in some way? I’m going to have to try this!
I love Dorland’s! I use it on all of my w/c paintings.
I love how it deepens the colours
I use the Dorland’s Wax but I have wondered if just regular beeswax could be used as well. Thanks for sharing this wonderful information!
regular beeswax may yellow with time
@@LizChadertonArt Ahhh, alright because of no preservatives?
I’m not 100% sure what it has. Maybe the beeswax has been purified in some way, or the resin and solvents neutralise it so it doesn’t oxidise and darken??@@colleenmcchesney1482
Lovely as always 😊
Thank you! 😊
Great idea. I don’t like spraying
I don’t mind spraying, if that’s what is needed. I just love this finish 😊
Hello Liz, thank you for this video and showing us alternatives to Dorlands wax.
In Germany, it is hard to get Dorlands wax. So I wondered, if I could use wax varnish for oil paintings from Schmincke. It’s terribly expensive, but easy to get… 😅
I also found some „water based cold wax“. Would a water based wax smudge the watercolors?
I don't have experience of either, to be honest. The Schmincke sounds like it would not be suitable. It has a lot of mineral spirits in it and might be pretty unpleasant to use. The water based cold wax sounds more promising. The best thing is to test a sample and see if it smears the watercolour. Even if it does you could always do a quick coat of spray varnish and one dry, but the wax medium over the top. It is really hard to advise without knowing more!!
Annie Sloan is the only good safe wax, as far as I know. Annie's website should say but I know that there is no smell that is so indicative of mineral spirits waxes. It should also slightly darken the colours. Going to try it on a page😂.
We dont get Dorlands or the French chic. The Annie Sloan costs a fortune here being a import, as everything 😢
I’ve used Annie Sloan too. I contacted their tech department for an article I was writing a few years back and they would only say it was ‘near neutral’ pH. They really didn’t want it recommended for fine art. It has low odour thinners, but they wouldn’t say what. I think they were concerned about liability. I tried this wax, as it was all I could get locally, and it’s great. Fir a journal, I’m happy to try anything, as experimenting is part of the process.