Masking, eh! How do I implement that with my painting? Well, here we go with the guide. This is a clever method of making good effects on your work which is easily achieved. With this you can cover and protect various segments of your painting while you paint other areas.

You can be faced with quite complicated, intricate, detailed work, with a background that needs filling in. This often seems an impossible task. To paint round every little bit of your subject would take up much time and it could be hard to get the paint even and not patchy, and you would need to be using a very fine brush.

I would strongly recommend before you begin your background, that you go ahead and mask out your subject. This makes life so much easier! Then paint your background easily, don’t worry about going on top of the masking. You will have achieved a nice flat background. Nice clear outlines will show when the mask is removed and the underneath will still remain white.

So, the masking often produces clear and sharp shaping, but it can also be relatively subtle, textured, or patterned. It is a very useful medium to use for landscapes with watercolours. As you will appreciate if, for example, you are drawing trees and all their spreading branches. What a help this would be, to mask out the branches with a brush with a fine point.

What will I require? You will need some watercolours, plus a piece of watercolour paper, a 2B pencil, masking tape, masking fluid, an old, fine, round brush to apply the fluid and another one for putting on the paint.

Masking tape is a self adhesive tape which you can buy in different widths. Not only is it tough, but it is also strong. It will fix firmly to canvas or paper. It will also stick fast and there is no problem when you want to remove it.

So, say you are wanting straight lines, the tape would need to be pressed down very strongly, as you wouldn’t want your paint creeping underneath it and the paint used would have to be a thick colour. When you tape it, it can produce a very hard edge, but you could always tear or cut it to gain a softer edge. Allow the paint to dry before attempting to remove the tape, if at all possible.

This could be difficult if you happen to be painting with oils. I wouldn’t go as far as to recommend it. You could so very easily have smudges. The only way round this would be to stand away from the painting and carefully lift one end of it.

So, this masking fluid can be employed to signify detailing or just to protect the detailing from the paint wash. It is like a rubbery type of fine film once it is dry, but it is not hard to remove. To apply this, you could use a cocktail stick, pen or brush. Very good for blocking out sections.

Why not try it out, first, on a piece of paper? The results could be quite surprising, but let your paint dry before you paint over the mask. When you have ascertained that this is dry, try removing the mask just with a clean finger or a soft type of rubber. All you will have remaining is the plain white beneath.

You do need to have an old brush for applying the fluid as the texture tends to ruin brushes, particularly the bristles, so they need a good wash afterwards. Sometimes it can also spoil your paper. If you apply it to a rough texured paper it may not be removable as it can stick in any cracks, but you can use this on any smooth paper with any paints.

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