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Because I often pour my watercolor paintings, a process much like batik dying, I get many questions about masking.

Here is my little stock of information about removable  liquid masking:

1. Mask must be stirred because it separates. But if you shake it you get bubbles which leave holes where paint can reach the paper. Putting a marble in the bottle and rolling it around is the best low bubble stirring method I know of.

2. Use teclon brushes. Never use a hair brush no matter how old because the mask sticks to it and then you might as well be painting with a stick.

3. Wet your brushes and rub them over a bar of soap before dipping them in mask. Resoap often.

4. Never apply mask to wet or even slightly damp paper. Never paint near wet mask.

5. Don’t be stingy. The thicker you apply the mask, the easier it will be to remove it. Apply to coats of mask to large areas to avoid small holes in the mask.

6. If you are combining liquid mask with masking tape, or other forms of mask, apply the tape or paper first, then seal the edges with liquid mask.

7. You can mask over paint, but the mask will lift some color when you remove it. This can be an advantage if you want to lift very small areas of paint.

8. Never use a hair dryer or the sun to dry a masked painting because the mask may permanently adhere to the paper if you do.

9. Mask should be removed within a few days.

10. Use a rubber cement pickup to remove the mask. In a pinch, painter’s tape, or a ball of dried mask will do the trick.  Look at the paper at a tilt to show up the shine of any tiny bits of mask left on the paper.

9. Pre-wet any previously masked area before painting there as residual mask may keep the paint from behaving the way you expect it to. Mask will always change the way the paper accepts paint at least a little bit.

10. Make sure you remove all masking when you are finished. Removable mask is not meant to be permanent. It is not archival and it will eventually make a mess.