Qor® Modern Watercolor

Published by Golden Artist Colors, Inc. / Issue 31

® Welcome to Just Paint #31. If you regularly read Just Paint, you know our New! QoR Modern Watercolor passion for what we do extends well beyond paintmaking. Our mission is “To grow a sustainable company dedicated to creating and sharing the most imaginative and innovative tools of color, line and texture for inspiring those who turn their vision into reality”. Sustainability for me and this Company is being a valued Corporate Citizen -- valued by our employee owners, local community, arts community, and global community. This concept has so many threads connecting what we do, but most of all it means making sure our products and processes are safe for each of these communities. This responsibility also means ensuring you have the necessary information to use our professional products safely. By Ulysses Jackson are the challenges that formulators This past July, we discovered that 654, 2 ® A tube of paint is opened, pressure is live for – problem solving and fl. oz. bottles of QoR Synthetic Ox Gall constant improvement! were delivered to retailers with an excess applied, material comes out and it just of MIT, a preservative that at this excess works. It is this consistent function of QoR Watercolor – The Beginning level can cause allergic skin reactions in a product that allows artists to focus susceptible people. We immediately recalled on larger issues such as what to paint How exciting that Mark Golden the product from retailers and distributors and how to achieve it. As both an artist brings research from the Art and put an announcement on our websites. and a Formulator, I am still amazed Conservation field regarding a We asked retailers to do the same for artists every time I open a tube of paint and unique raw material and requests the that may have purchased the material. We brush it out. I get caught up in the feel, GOLDEN Research and Development have since made necessary changes in our function, and more importantly how Lab investigate it. At this point our processes to ensure that all future batches could this be improved, or function final use for Aquazol® was not defined would be at the safe and recommended level better? Before I started studying and could have turned many different of preservative. If the product was used in directions as a final target product a painting, there is no other concern for its coatings and their formulation, the performance. mystery of the experience was all I was yet to be determined. In fact, we As of the date of this publication, all knew. After seeing behind the scenes initially had four distinct product ideas bottles recalled are off retailer shelves. But, it is even more exciting and amazing. in process and culled down to the if you have this product, call GOLDEN Now that I have been researching most promising, banking the others Customer Service at (800) 959 6543 coatings for a decade with Golden for later investigation. so that we can expedite the return and Artist Colors, the possibilities appear The first step in understanding replacement of the material. Lot numbers to be endless. any new raw material is to conduct a are: 365254, 366319, 366408, 366626. The development of QoR Watercolor technical literature search. Often there As a leading paint maker in our industry falls under this category, allowing for is little more than a technical data sheet we take the quality and safety of our and an MSDS from a raw material product very seriously and I apologize for an expansion in options for artists, and causing our customers any inconvenience. offering a new field of research and manufacturer. To say that technical In 34 years of making artist colors, we discovery for GOLDEN. With this data sheets offer scant information have never had to recall a product for safety expansion into new territories came is almost always an understatement, reasons. In the future we will continue to significant and nuanced formulation and it is usually up to the Formulator do everything to assure that our products challenges. The types of challenges that to tease additional information out are correctly manufactured and labeled for keeps one scouring technical literature, of the manufacturer with pointed their safe use. walking around with preoccupied lines of questioning and long chains If you have questions, please contact me looks, and staring at the ceiling during of e-mails. This can be daunting as at [email protected]. the night thinking about the next series there are several thousands of raw Mark of trials to be set up. However, these materials created and currently offered

Issue 31 page 1 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. to the coating industry. Fortunately, Aquazol® Binder Gum Arabic Binder Aquazol® Binder Gum Arabic Binder with Aquazol this was not the case as Conservators have written many papers detailing its working properties and long term aging characteristics. Because Conservators are confident that this material will not crosslink or degrade over time, and are increasingly using it in a wide array of Conservation practices, it afforded GOLDEN some initial sense of a material that would meet the rigors of our in-house testing. Some of the uses of Aquazol included fills for sculpture and pigmented fills in oil paintings. Conservation scientists utilize this material as it allows them to build up a surface before in-painting, and if an error is made, or a later Good Film Poor Film/Cleavage Good Film Poor Film/Cleavage conservation treatment is needed, Binder trial of 10 mil paint film on 2DX cards. Binders contained same pigment load. the Aquazol fill can be removed with water or a wide range of polar organic remarkably accurate as we try to referred to as Critical Pigment Volume solvents. Based on these previous areas foresee as many of the potential Content (CPVC). Pigment loading of research, we gained the confidence performance issues as possible, and below this amount means that there to attempt to pigment the system remove them before an artist ever gets is excess binding potential, while and see where it lined up with other the material in their studio, with hopes being above this amount means that resoluble resins. of furthering the sense of wonder and materials get chalky, bronzed, or Aquazol is offered from the mystery mentioned before. In order to have significant pigment lift once manufacturer at various molecular do this, we rely on scientific research, dry. Due to the controlled molecular weights, each of which has unique constant application testing, feedback weight and high electron density in qualities and benefits. To determine from artists, and previous knowledge of the functional groups of Aquazol we the appropriate version and blend raw material interaction from expected that more pigment could fit we first dissolved a sample of each other projects. in, and were pleasantly surprised as in water to create a clear base. Then Some of the areas that require to how much we could load into this with these clear bases we mixed in attention and balancing in a good material. Each pigment is different pigments of varying chemical classes formula are shelf stability, freeze/thaw and the maximum loading is affected at a few different load points to gain stability, flexibility, drying rates, re- by its pigment chemistry, surface an understanding of the raw material’s solubility rates, pigment chemistry, treatment, morphology (shape), and attributes. At the same time, we pigment interactions, pigment loading, surface area. This means that for each included other resoluble resins as resistance to microbial growth, of the 65 different single pigments in controls. The outcomes were exciting rheology, liveliness on the paper, the QoR line, we had to determine and showed that this resin system had brightness, the ability to mix with other the maximum amount of pigment very good inherent wetting properties watercolor brands, health and safety the binder would allow and then test and good film forming attributes. issues, the ability to layer, the ability to surrounding load amount to find the These results led us to the creation of a lift, as well as many more. tight rope of being bound just enough. full line of Aquazol bound paints, In the development of QoR Each pigment has its own personality. now known as QoR Watercolor. Watercolor, we wanted working Some are very friendly and can be Determining QoR Properties – qualities similar to traditional stabilized easily while others are very stubborn and offer up some form of The Challenges Begin watercolors, while offering the unique attributes of a synthetic binder. If stability issue that must be addressed. If only it was that easy: simply mix we were to make these materials too These attributes vary widely some binder, pigment and water and different, artists who were used to depending on the chemistry of the send it out into the world to sit for traditional watercolor would not be pigment family, and additional surface various durations of time in artists’ able to achieve the techniques they rely treatments applied by manufacturers. studios and remain usable. The fact on. Yet, if it was not different enough, Instability can be exhibited in the that this is rarely the case, leads to it would be just another watercolor. form of significant separation, which job security for us Formulators and Pigment loading was an area we is the notorious thick layer of clear R&D Lab staff. The reality is that that comes out of a tube. Other times there are many aspects to formulating thought that Aquazol would allow some benefits. Every binder has instability can be seen as flocculation a line of colors that one has to take that can occur where pigments have into account. It has been said that if a maximum amount of “gluing” strength, which means that it can an affinity for one another forming a Formulator is doing their job well, agglomerates over time. the artist will be unaware. This is coat every pigment particle and the spaces in between. This is usually Continued on page 6 Issue 31 page 2 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Paint and Paper: Making a Watercolor

By Cathy Jennings greatest impact upon both the process they use no animal-based products in of painting and the look of a finished their watercolor papers. Even under the Watercolor paper is an active part watercolor. umbrella of “hard sized,” the amount in the creation of a painting, for of surface sizing and therefore the way a watercolor artists paint with their paper Sizing - Internal sizing is often added to the paper pulp before a sheet is paper reacts to watercolor paint differs rather than simply upon it. For this from company to company, even reason, which watercolor paper an artist made, strengthening the paper and increasing its durability. However, between different paper types from a selects influences both the painting single paper mill. process and the finished painting. it is the external sizing applied to Paper choice can be as personal as the paper sheet toward the end of its Surface texture - Texture also color palette and subject, and it is manufacture, which is most important. directly influences how the paint acts not unusual for a painter to have a Sizing keeps paper from soaking up on the surface and unlike sizing, is an favorite paper surface from a specific paint like a paper towel soaks up spilled easily seen difference. Traditionally, manufacturer. Other painters might coffee. The surface sizing on a sheet of watercolor painters are provided with change the paper depending upon the well-sized watercolor paper allows the three options: hot (or not) pressed, cold subject to be painted, for the paper’s paint to flow fluidly from the brush pressed, and rough. Hot pressed is the qualities impact the painting process. and keeps the paint on the surface. This smoothest surface, cold pressed has a medium ‘tooth’ or texture, and rough Good Watercolor Paper in turn provides time for the artist to manipulate the paint through creation is, well, the roughest. The images below Archival watercolor paper is stable, of washes, glazes, and brushstrokes as were painted on cold pressed, hot durable, evenly textured, and stands needed. External sizing also helps with pressed, rough, and handmade rough up to the abuse of brush and paint. creating hard edges and maintaining papers. The hot pressed paper allowed Most artist-grade paper is 100% cotton brilliance when the watercolor paint for sharper detail in the blossom, while and manufactured on cylinder mold dries. Most watercolor papers are the tooth and bumpiness of the cold machines, although it is possible to “hard sized” to provide an optimal pressed and rough surfaces created a pay a bit more for handmade paper of amount of sizing for the application of more varied petal surface. equal or superior quality. There is an watercolors. Too much sizing and the With paper texture, the great international standard for the ‘weight’ surface will resist paint. Too little sizing variety provided by paper mills or thickness of a paper, and the most and the paint will feather and sink into becomes both most exciting and most commonly used weight is 140 lb / 300 the surface, instantly creating soft- confusing: exciting because there are gsm (pounds per ream, or grams per edged splotches of dulled color. so many options to choose from and square meter). Depending upon how confusing because those options are ‘wet’ an artist paints, the paper might The traditional sizing for watercolor very subjective and there is no standard or might not need to be stretched to paper is animal gelatin, for it provides marker of what makes a hot pressed, prevent cockling or buckling as the the perfect balance between absorbance cold pressed, or rough texture other moist fibers expand during application. of and resistance to the paint. Paper than tradition and the label provided mills like Arches® continue to use Sizing and Texture by the paper mill. A ‘hot pressed’ gelatin sizing. However, alternate from one paper mill might be close Next to fiber content and thickness, materials are also being used, and the in texture to a ‘cold pressed’ from sizing and surface texture have the Fabriano® paper mill advertises that another, or a ‘cold pressed’ similar to a

(Left to right): QoR® Modern Watercolor on Arches® hot pressed 140 lb / 300 gsm, Arches® cold pressed 140 lb / 300 gsm, Fabriano® Artistico 140 lb / 300 gsm and Twinrocker™ handmade rough, 200 lb / 400 gsm.

Issue 31 page 3 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Blue (PB29, semi-staining, semi- transparent, and granulating) gathered in greater density in the paper’s valleys while Quinacridone Magenta (PR122, staining, transparent and non- granulating) did not. Both examples were painted on Fabriano cold pressed traditional white watercolor paper. When a mixture of transparent and granulating pigments is used, the results can be even more unexpected and beautiful. Texture Variety from Different Mills Since each paper company has its own processes and recipes for paper, products across production lines are not identical. The examples below provide comparisons between rough- surfaced papers from Lanaquarelle®, Twinrocker™ (handmade), and Arches watercolor papers. The layers of glazing Fabriano® cold pressed traditional white Fabriano® cold pressed traditional white ® ® were created with QoR Quinacridone paper, 140 lb / 300 gsm, QoR Ultramarine paper, 140 lb / 300 gsm, QoR Quinacridone Magenta (PR122, transparent, staining) Blue (PB29, semi-staining, semi-transparent, Magenta (PR122, staining, transparent, and Viridian Green (PG18 semi- granulating) non-granulating) transparent, semi-staining). The Lana ‘rough’ surface. In addition, since it is liquid paint in particular ways that rough has an overall evenly rough possible to paint on either side of good vary depending upon the nature of the texture, and was the least heavily sized watercolor paper, each sheet provides pigment and the application process. of the examples. For this reason, edges two textures from which to select. It is Transparent paints react less with of washes are a little softer and color more important for the painter to pay paper texture, creating a smoother layers more muted. The hard sizing attention to the way texture and sizing appearance. On cold pressed and on the Twinrocker allows the paint interact with his or her painting process rough papers, sedimentary colors will to remain clearly separate even with than to become obsessed with labels. granulate, collecting in denser pools multiple layers, creating sharp edges and the most vibrant color of the three. Texture and the Nature of the Paint in the ‘valleys’ and creating dapples. Tapping the paper while the paint The Arches rough provides the clearest The absence or the presence (and dries encourages this separation. textural variety of these three examples, depth) of the hills and valleys of These differences can be seen in the and color more intense and edges surface texture also interacts with the example above, where Ultramarine sharper than in the Lana. This indicates

Rough Lanaquarelle® watercolor paper. Five Rough Twinrocker™ watercolor paper. Five Rough Arches® watercolor paper. Five layers layers of glazes with Quinacridone Magenta layers of glazes with Quinacridone Magenta of glazes with Quinacridone Magenta and and Viridian. and Viridian. Viridian.

Issue 31 page 4 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. it is also hard sized, but not to the contoured forms, or heavy detail. wash as the pigment has more time to extent of the Twinrocker. The slightly Falling between hot pressed and settle at the bottom of each stroke while granulating Viridian paint is settling rough, cold pressed paper has a the wash progresses down the paper. A into the valleys on the paper surfaces medium texture with enough ‘tooth’ “hard sized” surface allows the painter and creating dappled optical mixtures to allow controlled washes yet not so a tiny bit more time when applying a of the red and green that highlights the much that it interferes with tight details wash, lessening these striations. In the rough textures of these papers. and linear brushwork. Cold pressed same way, if lifting paint is necessary to Some basic differences can help guide provides the most flexibility in terms reclaim a lighter area, the transparent paper explorations. The smooth surface of what it offers a painter, which is layer of sizing between the paint and of hot pressed paper takes linear strokes perhaps why it is the most popular the paper will help the painter do so. and tight detail beautifully. However, surface today. Each movement of a wet brush over the surface, however, loosens the surface it also encourages paints to bloom and Sizing Gives a Little More Time puddle, and large flat washes can be sizing and reduces the barrier between harder to create on hot pressed paper. The traditional approach to creating paint and paper. In addition, a hot pressed surface might a smooth wash is for a bead of paint to Take Out Your Watercolors have small areas on its surface that flow down from a previous brush stroke and Play! to the bottom of a new brush stroke as absorb paint more heavily, creating a There are a variety of subtle widely spread speckle. the wash progresses down the paper. This repeatedly creates a temporary differences under the umbrella of “hard Rough surfaces have the greatest puddle of paint across the paper. sized,” and “hot pressed” or “cold texture, perfect for broken washes and Staining paints may create streaky pressed” or “rough.” Painting with a fluid expressive approaches and styles washes as the pigment stains the paper paper is the only way to truly know that encourage paint separation like twice where paint strokes overlap or the which paper’s surface sizing and texture that in the glaze example. However, puddle sits. Sedimentary or granulating best merges with your own individual rough surfaces can be unfriendly paints also can become streaky in a painting rhythms and processes. toward tightly rendered smoothly

Arches® cold pressed molded side Arches® rough cold pressed

Hansa Nickel Indian Quin. Quin. Diarylide Indigo Ultra. French Cerulean Cobalt Viridian Yellow Azo Yellow Gold Gold Yellow PB15:3 & Blue Ultra. Blue Teal Green Medium Yellow PY73 & PO48 & Deep PY83 PBk7 & PB29 Blue Chrom. PG50 PG18 PY73 PY150 PY150 & PY150 PO48 PV19 PB29 PB36:1 PR206

Issue 31 page 5 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Continued from page 2 lowest level possible to control the hard, slow-to-rewet material. We tested To test for pigment instability, we rheology of the product, while not different ratios of various volatile and use accelerated aging techniques in masking the inherent personality of semi-volatile humectants in a range which samples are stored at elevated pigments within the system. of climate settings before finalizing a temperatures for long durations, During the development of QoR, blend and level that was suitable for as well as repeated freezing and we asked watercolor artists about their each color. thawing cycles. If a stability issue is needs. Time and time again we heard The ability to rewet dried noticed, a dispersant package has to that clean, bright colors were desirable. watercolor is also affected by the be constructed that allows for stable Another topic that came up frequently binder. This requirement must be spacing of pigment particles in the was concern over lightfastness. During easy to accomplish and permanently paint system. There are a wide range the colorant selection process, we achievable. If a binder was to crosslink of dispersant options available but first looked at known stable, lightfast or permanently coalesce, the ability the chemistry of the raw materials pigment chemistries, from which we of water to dissolve the paint would we picked had to not only allow for selected the cleanest and brightest be reduced. To insure the QoR line stability in our system, but also had pigments offered. Additionally, offered the permanent re-solubilization to be compatible with other brands of Aquazol has an inherently less amber desired, we ran QoR through various Gum Arabic based watercolor. color than Gum Arabic at equal solids, accelerated aging techniques (QUV allowing for some additional brightness UV-A cycles, and 510 Mj/m2 Xenon of colors in the system. Arc UV exposures at various thicknesses In watercolor, where the bulk of from 40% reflectance on watercolor paint techniques use more stain-like paper to 10 mil thick drawdowns on washes, pigment grind is critical to 2DX card sock), then tested rates of the color qualities of the paint. Grinds rewetting versus an unexposed control. were specified in relation to the color Additionally, to verify that heat alone space and brightness of each pigment. would not negatively affect solubility, These are verified lot to lot using we tested samples that were stored a grind gauge which is in essence a at 120°F for prolonged durations. micro ramp. In the processing of QoR We observed continued and easy re- Watercolor, tight mill specifications are solubilization after 1 year of storage in followed. Mill passes are repeated until this extreme condition. a predetermined grind for each color is QoR Watercolor was tested on reached. These grinds are in relation to lacquered card stock at a thickness the natural particle size of a pigment. of 10 mil for film formation and Properly stabilized Flocculation and For example, earth colors are inherently adhesion. The ability to form a good and dispersed. stability issues. coarser, while synthetic organic film even at excessive thickness for pigments, such as Quinacridone watercolor will allow the artist who Rheology (feel) of watercolor is an Magenta, are much finer particles, prefers to work with more opaque interesting aspect, as the main use of requiring a finer grind. passages additional confidence. In these the material is designed to be thinned Along with studio climate conditions techniques, artists can use the paint significantly with water; any attribute with minimal water and/or add QoR that can assist with this is seen as a and substrate absorbency, humectants control the drying time, as well as allow Titanium White for a more gouache positive. In QoR, most of the rheology like effect. As the pigment load is high of each color is based on the natural palette management of Watercolors. Some of these water loving materials in QoR, it will allow for faster covering pigment interactions within the of underlying layers. Additionally, product. However, having a material are also designed to remain in the cured product aiding in rates of we observed good adhesion to many that is shear thinning allows for ease substrates that would typically not be of squeezing out of the tube and also rewetting with water, as well as offering additional plasticization to the binder. acceptable for traditional watercolors allows the material to mix with water such as frosted Mylar® or acrylic sheet. without effort. Then as the paint Unlike other paints, watercolors are sits on the palette, it should slowly unique in that equally as many artists After significant lab resources and set up again. The range of this shear use them direct from the tube in the approximately 1,500 trials were thinning needs to be controlled, while wet form of the product, while others produced we are pleased to offer this still allowing each pigment to have its squeeze the tube out, allow it to dry new product line. It is our hope that own natural consistency. We looked and work by rewetting the dried as artists begin to experiment with at a wide array of thixotropic (shear cake. This means that having our QoR, they find that they are able to thinning) thickeners that could offer product rewet similar or easier than accomplish not only the paintings not only control over viscosity and Gum Arabic based watercolor was a they could make with a traditional rheology, but also would not negatively significant concern. A fine balance watercolor but also push the limits, affect re-solubility and mixing. Of must be struck because too much exploring the dynamic range and course it also had to be compatible with humectant can make materials overly differences QoR has to offer. other brands of product if intermixed. sticky at elevated humidity, while not These materials were then used at the having enough will result in a very

Issue 31 page 6 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Value of Plastics as Acrylics on Plastics a Painting Support By Mark Golden By Vaikunt Raghavan, Ph.D. when the surface tension of the liquid is Artists have been using plastics as Basics of Wetting and Adhesion low compared to the solid. a substrate for their work since their development as a consumer material. When a liquid comes into contact When the contact angle (θ) is Early plastics were heralded with such with any solid, new interfaces or zero, the liquid will tend to spread acclaim that they were awarded special boundaries are generated between spontaneously across the surface of the honors during the London 1862 these dissimilar materials. Although solid indicating perfect wetting. World’s Fair. These nitrocellulose many factors exist which will promote When the contact angle (θ) is large plastics were used in constructions or inhibit adhesion of the acrylic (greater than 90°), the liquid will tend by artists Naum Gabo and Antoine paint onto the solid plastic, the most to bead upon the solid indicating poor Pevsner in their work of the early 20th important element is the ability of the ® wetting. This happens when the surface century. The Bakelite plastic (derived liquid to ‘wet-out’ the solid onto which tension of the liquid is high compared from phenol and formaldehyde) it is painted. When we see a drop of to the solid. became sought after in the 1920’s for water bead up on plastic, we are seeing incorporating in the art deco fashions the dynamic of surface tension played Simply stated, for adequate wetting and high tech radios and gadgets of out. What is a bit confusing is that, out of a liquid onto any solid, the the 1920’s through the 1950’s. With not only does the liquid have its own surface tension of the solid must be advancing knowledge of the science and surface tension (liquid/air interfacial higher than that of the liquid. production methods in the 1930’s and tension), but the solid onto which it is especially spurred on by the energies A coating must not only adequately placed also has its own surface tension and uniformly wet out the surface, committed to assist in the war effort (solid/air interfacial tension or ‘surface during the 1940’s, a wide range of new but also adhere well to that surface. plastics that were previously only in energy’ in solids) as well. In fact, it is Therefore, in addition to spreading research stage were quickly reaching the surface tension of the solid (Ɣs) wetting it should also have good which attempts to spread the liquid commercial production status. “adhesional wetting (WA)” which is across the surface. Two forces work to defined mathematically as The excitement of these new, oppose this spread. One is the surface W = Ɣs + ƔL - ƔsL lightweight, translucent, moldable tension of the liquid (ƔL). The higher A materials soon became the stuff of the surface tension of the liquid, the This equation tells us that in order to nightmares as some of these early greater the liquid’s attraction to itself. maximize adhesional wetting (WA) one plastics degraded, some to gooey masses This attempts to reduce the surface must keep interfacial surface tension and some crumbling to dust. Given ƔsL as low as possible. the history of mid to late 20th century area of the liquid. The other opposing plastics with a profusion of cheap toys force is called the interfacial tension If I’ve lost you at this point, don’t and consumer products that seemed (solid/liquid - ƔsL), which attempts to worry, but the fact is that artists are minimize the area of contact between to fail once the package was opened, 1 constantly having to deal with the plastics began to lose their appeal. the solid and liquid. issues of one surface wetting out Finally, with growing concerns over When the contact angle (θ) is small another to create good contact and non-renewable resources consumed (less than 90°), the liquid will tend to subsequently good adhesion of their in the production of these materials, spread across the surface of the solid materials. This is especially evident and plastics filling our landfills, (not to indicating good wetting. This happens when artists are using materials that mention cheap polyester suits) the story continues to be an uphill battle for these valuable materials. Figure 1. Solid-liquid Surface Interaction Today, there is an even wider range of plastic alternatives on the market - some actually delivering on the original promise of these materials as a valuable resource for artists. It is so tempting for artists to see every surface as a potential ƔL substrate for painting. As we examine the use of plastics as a support for painting, Vaikunt Raghavan, Ph.D., Chemical Engineer and head of the ƔS ƔSL New Product Development group at GOLDEN, explains the science to POOR WETTING GOOD WETTING achieve adhesion onto these surfaces. We will also attempt to sort out the different plastics that artists come in 1 The balance of these forces may be mathematically expressed as: Ɣs = ƔsL + ƔL (cos θ). contact with and evaluate positive and The contact angle (θ) is the angle at which the liquid contacts the solid (Figure 1). negative aspects of each for painting. This contact angle is a measure of “spreading wetting” of a surface. Issue 31 page 7 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Figure 2. Surface Tension Plot for Various Plastic Substrates

Surface Tension Range of Waterborne Acrylic Paints, Coatings & Inks (approx. 42 - 47 dynes/cm) 40

30 ® type wraps ™ , ® ™

20 , Perspex ® ® ® type wrap ™ , Old Saran ® , Lucite ®

10 , Makrolon Surface Tension in Dynes/cm Surface Tension ® ® Epoxy PolyEthylene Terephthalate (PETE) PolyEthylene Terephthalate Mylar Polyester, PolyVinylChloride (PVC) PolyVinylChloride Sintra Vinyl, PolyStyrene (PS) Styrene, Styrofoam PolyUrethane (PU) Urethane (PVAc) PolyVinylAcetate PolyEthylMethaAcrylate (PEMA) PolyEthylen (PE) Plas-Tex LDPE, HDPE, PolyCarbonate (PC) Lexan PolyPropylene (PP) PolyTetraFluoro- Ethylene (PTFE) Teflon PolyMethylMethAcrylate (PMMA) Plexiglas Moden Saran 0 SUBSTRATE PLASTICS are quite dissimilar in nature. Most of considerable surface tension closeness relative to the surface tension of a us have seen examples of our paints or overlap within the narrow band liquid, the better its wettability will be, pooling up on the surface or creating between the plastic substrates (20 to 50 and the smaller the contact angle. little rivers on top of what we thought dynes/cm) and the waterborne acrylic Adhesion strength is generally would be a continuous film. Or how dispersion polymers (39 to 47 dynes/ determined by the properties of a base many of you have used our Acrylic cm) as shown in Figure 2. Adhesion material and its interface. Optimizing Flow Release or some other flow between paint and the substrate is adhesion strength can be accomplished additive to get your paints to lay down dependent on many factors such as by modifying these interfaces physically or penetrate better into a surface? differential surface tension, differential and chemically. In formulating What you’ve experienced is simply the expansion to hot and cold, differential waterborne acrylic paints, the use of tension between the forces listed above. modulus (a measure of stiffness), surface acting modifiers (surfactants) Sort of makes you wish you paid more shrinkage during drying/cure, the is essential in driving down the attention in science class, doesn’t it? effects of solvents in the formulation, surface tension of the liquid paints. Adhesion to Plastics chemical structure, etc. Yet the These materials can take the acrylic most important factor determining Surface tension actually has its own dispersion polymer’s surface tension adequate adhesion is the differential down between 26 to 31 dynes, allowing unit of measurement called dynes or surface tension. The absence of a dynes per centimeter, expressed dynes/ wetting out of many difficult to large difference between the critical coat surfaces. cm. Clean, well prepared metal surfaces surface tension of the paint and plastic have high surface energies in the order substrates often results in poor surface Improving Coating of 400 to 1800 dynes/cm (Aluminum adhesion or even complete failure. Compatibility ~500, Copper ~ 1300, Nickel ~ 1800). Cleaners, Degreasers They are wetted easily by acrylic As a general rule, acceptable bonding polymers that have relatively low adhesion is achieved when the surface Surface contamination is the most surface tension in the order of 40 to 50 energy of a substrate (measured in common reason for premature coating dynes/cm. Wetting of plastic surfaces, dynes/cm) is approximately 10 dynes/ failures. There are many cleaners and on the other hand, is much more cm greater than the surface tension of degreasers available that are specifically complex than wetting metal surfaces. the liquid. In this situation, the liquid designed to remove dust, dirt, loose Plastics being non-porous, non-polar or is said to “wet out” or adhere to the particles, trace oils, waxes, grease, low-polar, hydrophobic, and being low surface. For this to happen, either silicones, films, oxides, additives, surface energy materials are difficult to the surface tension of the substrate plasticizers, mold release agents and adhere to not just for artists, but also or the paint must break loose of the even fingerprints! They range from low within the automotive, electronics and logjam in Figure 2. An illustration of VOC products to 100% solvents. Some medical industries. the surface energy of a hypothetical plastics such as flexible vinyls have very plastic substrate for good adhesion slow evaporating plasticizers that make Plastic surfaces and paints are both to waterborne acrylic is presented in coating with acrylic paints a problem as polymeric materials and thus have Figure 3. As shown here, the higher they can release those plasticizers to the similar surface tensions. There is the surface energy of the solid substrate surface leaving a sticky surface mess.

80 Water Surface Tension = 73 dynes/cm 70 ƔS >> ƔL = GOOD ADHESION Coating 60 surface tension reduced 50 through Surface Tension Range of Acrylic Paints, Coatings & Inks (approx. 42 - 47 dynes/cm) formulation 40 Substrate 30 surface tension S L = GOOD RELEASE increased Ɣ << Ɣ 20 through treatment Surface Tension in Dynes/cm Surface Tension 10

0 HYPOTHETICAL SUBSTRATE

Primers, Tie-coats • As a tie-coat between coating coating to find many small areas to & Additives layers attach to. This can be dramatically influenced by the viscosity (thick to Primers typically consist of a reactive • As an additive to the paint thin) and rheology (flow properties) chemical or binder mixed in a solvent. Improving Substrate Compatibility of the paint. Too thick a paint will It is either brushed or sprayed onto not penetrate into the tiny recesses of the substrate surface. The solvent Plastic’s surface preparations and/or the etched surface. Paints with poor evaporates, leaving the active material modifications can greatly improve the flow properties won’t easily move into behind. Depending on the type of acceptance of paints. Bond strengths and around the bumpier profile of primer, the surface may be ready to and functional performance can be the sanded surface. As a general rule, bond immediately or may require dramatically improved by increasing thinner products will typically provide time to dry thoroughly. Primers are the water-loving (hydrophilic) and better penetration and therefore, better commonly used on PET (Mylar®), surface energy characteristics to adhesion to the plastic surfaces. Polyurethanes and silicones. promote adhesion, thereby adding value to the product and the process. Tie-coats typically act as a chemical Chemical Bonding bridge between the plastic and the Surface Roughening There is only limited chemical paint. They may simply be an adhesion This is a simple and easy method bonding between the typical plastic promoting agent in low concentration for artists and quite effective for many and the liquid acrylic paint. A plastic dispersed in solvent/water. It is usually plastics. Though it does not change resin is considered polar if its charge applied as a very thin coat. The the surface tension of the plastic can be measured as positive or negative. application of a tie-coat directly to substrate, the improved bondability If a polymer has no charge, we say it the plastic’s surface may eliminate the comes from increasing the number of is non-polar. Many plastics are non- need for a scuffing process which often mechanical interlocking sites. Abrading polar, so the opportunity for adhesion results in visible scratch marks. a surface gets rid of films, scales and is really limited. Unless polyethylene Silanes are a popular class of oxides, increasing the area available or polypropylene are specially treated adhesion promoters used if the plastic for bonding. It is important before (such as flame treatment), their has appropriate functional groups. abrading to first degrease the surface, surface energy is so low as to severely Special classes of additives known as as it might be more difficult to remove limit adhesion. Polyethylene sheeting chlorinated polyolefins (CPOs) are also wax or oils from the spaces within the becomes a great surface for making used as adhesion promoters for paints, etched surface. After abrading with fine acrylic skins that can easily be coatings and inks on plastics such as grain sandpaper or emery cloth, make lifted off after drying because of the untreated polyethylene, polypropylene sure to remove all loose particles with poor adhesion. or thermoplastic polyolefins (TPOs). a brush or compressed air and then Acrylic Plastics (PMMA), ABS These CPOs are used in at least degrease again to remove all residual plastics and Polycarbonates are three ways: oils and mold release agents. examples of polar plastics and therefore, • As a primer between the substrate The sanded or etched surface will typically have higher surface energy and and subsequent coatings provide opportunities for the acrylic improved adhesion for acrylic paints.

Invention Commercialized Commercial and Aging Dynes/cm Preparation Notes Derivative Products Properties

Cellulose Nitrate 1862 1872 Pyroxyline, Celluloid, Poor 42 Becomes brittle, cracks Laquer, Nitrocellulose

Polyvinyl Chloride 1872 1928 Vinyl, Sintra®, Poor 33-42 Isopropyl alcohol Soft PVC (Vinyl) (PVC, PVdC) old Saran™ to good based cleaner exudes plasticizer, type wraps -- Tie-coat hard PVC can be recommended protected with UV inhibitors and pigments

Polymethyl 1877 1933 Plexiglas®, Good to 41 Isopropyl alcohol Good adhesion Methacrylate Lucite®, excellent based cleaner of acrylic paint, (PMMA) Perspex® slightly polar surface increases adhesion of paint

Polystyrene 1839 1937 Styrene, Poor 34-41 Must be Becomes brittle, (& foamed Styrofoam™ totally covered crumbles polystyrene) to reduce embrittlement

Polyamide 1935 1938 Nylon Good 33-46 Abrade surface, Adhesion of paint Isopropyl alcohol difficult based cleaner

Polyethylene 1898 1939 Modern Saran™ Fair 30-31 Isopropyl alcohol Difficult to wet type wrap, based cleaner surface, better HDPE, LDPE, as a release PE, Plas-Tex® material for creating acrylic skins

Polyethylene 1929 1941 PET, Polyester, Good to 41-44 Isopropyl alcohol Good adhesion Terepthalate Mylar® excellent based cleaner especially when abraded

Acrylonitrile 1948 1950 ABS Fair to 35-42 Isopropyl alcohol Slightly polar Butadiene good based cleaner surface increases Styrene adhesion of paint

Polyurethane 1937 1952 Urethane, Good to 36-39 Abrade surface, Need to PU excellent degrease with abrade surface acetone for adhesion

Polypropylene 1954 1957 PP Poor 29-30 Isopropyl alcohol Degrades under UV based cleaner

Polycarbonate 1953 1958 Lexan®, Good to 34-46 Isopropyl alcohol Slightly polar surface Makrolon® excellent based cleaner increases adhesion -- Tie-coat of paint recommended

Epoxy 1927 1947 Fair to 33-52 Abrade surface, Polar surface good degrease with increases acetone adhesion of paint

Issue 31 page 10 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Other Treatments for results. Those would certainly include •SpecialChem4Adhesives-Adhesion Guide Improving Adhesion of the acrylic, polycarbonate, polyester http://www.specialchem4adhesives.com Coating to Plastics (PET), urethane plastics and some of •The Loctite Design Guide for Bonding the hard PVC Plastics. Other plastics There are a range of treatments Plastics, Vol. 6 in common use for artists include a used to improve the adhesion of http://www.henkelna.com range of vinyls and surfaces made with paints to a range of plastics. These polypropylene plastic. Technologies •Plastic Surface Modification – Surface require industrial methods to process are constantly being advanced to create Treatment, Decoration, and Adhesion, these substrates. The treatments new plastic combinations and surface Rory A. Wolf, Hanser Publishers, include Flame Treatment2, Thermal treatments for improved compatibility 2010. Treatment3, Corona Discharge4, with coatings. These new materials will Plasma Treatment5, Chromic Acid •Formulating with Eastman waterborne allow artists to explore an increasing Etching6, and Adhesive Abrading7. CPO adhesion promoters array of working possibilities. Yet it There are several other treatments such http://www.eastman.com is clear that not all plastics are created as iodine and sodium and techniques equal and although they all may be •Adhesion Bonding-Industry Resources such as surface grafting, transcrystalline tempting, make sure you’re choosing & Connections growth, gamma radiation and UV the material for the right reasons. http://www.adhesionbonding.com exposure that have been successfully Sorting Through the Plastics •Enercon – Plasma surface employed to increase surface energy treating systems of plastics that find mention in the Tempting as these flat, light, semi- http://www.enerconind.com literature. These are mostly used rigid, transluscent or transparent on difficult to wet substrates such materials seem to be as painting •Matthews Paint Substrate as polyamides, fluoropolymers and supports, the use of them by artists Preparation Guide polyolefins in industrial settings. should have a “use at your own risk” http://www.matthewspaint.com Recommendations warning sign. This article is not an •Surface Prep Guide for Adhesives for Artists attempt to define all of these possible http://www.adhesive.com supports, but to give what we think Some preliminary recommendations •Trends in Plastic Coatings, Coating is a valuable brief on the concepts are presented in Table 1 for achieving Plastics by Lawrence C. Van Iseghem, of adhesion of the acrylic paints and improved adhesion between the acrylic Van Technologies, Inc. mediums onto these supports. The paint and the plastic substrate (by no discussion of the various characteristics •Protective Coatings by Clive H. Hare, means are these all inclusive). of each of these plastic supports will Technology Publishing Company, The rigid, lightweight, smooth have to wait for another article. Pittsburgh, PA surfaces of modern plastics provide •Surfactants and Interfacial Phenomenon a very tempting substrate for artists References by M.J. Rosen, John Wiley & Sons to use in their work. As is their right, ™ artists can use and will use all these •Wettability, Spreading, and •Accu Dyne Test – Tables of Polymer materials in their various forms for Interfacial Phenomena in High Surface Characteristics constructions and painting surfaces. Temperature Coatings, JOM-e, 52(1) http://www.accudynetest.com It is possible to choose amongst the (2000), a publication of The Minerals, various plastics to use those that Metals & Materials Society are most likely to produce durable

2Flame Treatment: This is a process of oxidizing the surface of the plastic substrates, thereby improving the wettability and adhesion substrate by briefly exposing it to flame to introduce functional of paints, coatings, adhesives and inks. In air plasma discharge groups. This increases surface energy and improves bonding. electrons bombard the surface with high energies that break The adiabatic flame temperature is around 1800° C. Flame the molecular bonds on the surface. The resulting free radicals treated surfaces often retain more stable aging than corona treated rapidly react on the molecular chains on the surface resulting surfaces. Flame treatment is used in treating PE, PP and PET. in some cross-linking. As a result of polar groups created on the 3 surface, oxidative effects increases surface energy. Humidity and Thermal Treatment: Thermal treatment is very similar to flame temperature degrade the treatment rapidly and it is imperative treatment except that it exposes the substrate to a blast of hot air that the surface be coated within a short period of time, usually around ~500° C instead of flame to oxidize the surface. It also minutes. There are easy to operate, portable, hand-held plasma involves a free radical mechanism accompanied by some surface treaters, which generate gentler and lower temperature plasma cross-linking and chain scissions which improves wettability and ideal for delicate surfaces, available in the market. adhesion. 6Chromic Acid Etching: A process that introduces to the surface 4Corona Discharge: A process of roughening the surface of the of the substrate reactive functional sites such as carboxylic acid/ substrate by high voltage across a gap to introduce reactive sites hydroxyl/carbonyl groups and chemical etching to facilitate and facilitate mechanical interlocking through a corona discharge mechanical interlocking and improve bonding characteristics. It is at atmospheric pressure in the presence of air. The effectiveness is recommended for polypropylene and polystyrene. not permanent so it is best to paint immediately after treatment. 7 It works well for polyethylene, polypropylene and polyester. Adhesive Abrading: This is a process of abrading the surface of the substrate, especially Teflon®, in the presence of an adhesive to 5Plasma Treatment: This is an electrical process that uses ionized create free radicals that react with the adhesive itself. air to increase the surface tension of non-porous, non-polar

Issue 31 page 11 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. exposure. Of particular interest to some are polymers, which is a critically The Science conservators was that the binder had important chemical structure for any ® a very similar refractive index to glass, good performing paint binder. A Behind QoR which suggested possible use on reverse polymer structure simply refers to the By Mark Golden glass paintings. fact that these binders contain repeating units of single compounds joined Dow® Chemical first patented Our first glimpse at the new resin, together in much longer lengths. In our new watercolor binder for QoR, Aquazol, as a binder for our new QoR the case of gum arabic, it is a naturally (Poly(2-ethyl-w-oxazoline) in 1977. Watercolor came from the conservation occurring polysaccharide collected from It is now more commonly known sciences and the conservators who the Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal trees. as Aquazol® when it was licensed began to use the binder as an adhesive to another manufacturer. Among and for inpainting purposes. For It is a fairly complex chemical its several unique properties was its conservation it held several unique structure consisting mainly of a highly solubility in a wide range of solvents properties: readily resoluble in branched polysaccharide (number of including water. Its properties for use water, quite stable when exposed to sugar molecules bonded together) and as an adhesive were first investigated accelerated light conditions, quite a protein–polysaccharide complex by Thomas Chiu, et al. in 1986. They safe (approved by FDA for use as an (hydroxyproline) shaped in a fairly large demonstrated that it was quite capable indirect contact food label adhesive), spherical structures with some scattered of mixing with a wide range of other and exhibits an extremely low odor, larger coils. Aquazol also consists of a polymers used in the coatings and which is not insignificant considering repeating structural compound called adhesive market and that it might the many very smelly products and an ethyloxazoline, pictured below. be possible to add to improve other solvents required in art conservation. CH OH properties of these products. The 2 O NH polymer showed particular stability HO GUM ARABIC HO under shear that would be required if O OH OH O this product was to be milled under O significant pressure. Aquazol also HO OH O showed some promise as a hot melt OH O HO HO OH HOH C adhesive, as it proved to be quite stable 2 in substantially higher temperatures (up For us to consider this binder as a Essential to both polymers is that º º to 380 C / 715 F). replacement for traditional gum arabic they offer excellent resolubility with Most significant to our understanding in watercolor it had to perform in ways water. This is very different from most of the value of the binder as a possible that offered additional properties that other common paint binders like acrylic substitution for traditional gum arabic could not be achieved in traditional that once dry, are not again reducible was the work in investigating the binder formulas. If not, there was no reason in water. In fact, Aquazol allows for by Richard Wolbers, et al. (1994). In to make just another watercolor. What an even greater level of resolubility their initial study they investigated we found in our initial investigations compared to natural gums, allowing the properties of the material after of Aquazol was that it allowed us to artists to more easily reconstitute the accelerated aging. Wolbers suggested create a color with the potential for dried QoR Watercolor on their palette. that Aquazol could be quite attractive greater color strength than any other The value of this formulation is that it as a potential conservation material professional watercolor. also easily blends with other traditional because of its level of solubility in many Other than the extensive practical gum arabic watercolor brands and their different solvents and the possibility of testing of this new watercolor, the next mediums. it to perform on many different types ® technical evaluation of the test formulas AQUAZOL of mediums and a variety of already required that we conduct our own R NCH CH NCH CH NCH CH R painted surfaces. They were particularly accelerated aging studies of these colors. 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 interested in any evidence that under This is where our new watercolor also C = O C = O C = O aging conditions, the binder would proved its extreme value. In controlled CH2CH3 CH2CH3 CH2CH3 still provide adequate performance. accelerated aging studies testing against They investigated its light stability, traditional binders, Aquazol remained Although the science behind QoR ability to remain resoluble over time attached and flexible where the exposed is incredibly exciting, it will be the or any evidence of cross-linking or samples of traditional watercolors all evaluation of these properties by degradation. What they discovered is became brittle and cleaved from the watercolor artists who will find it that the material would most likely test supports. appealing or not, based on how well remain resoluble and it retained its After validating these results, we it performs for their particular needs flexibility even under low humidity and uses. The new synthetic Aquazol conditions unlike natural binders such realized this new Aquazol binder would allow us to achieve something very binder in QoR will ultimately provide as gelatin or hide glues. The most likely alternate paths for artists who are mechanism of failure of the binder special and hopefully quite unique for professional watercolor artists. excited to discover and rediscover the was chain scission, causing the binder potential of these new watercolors. to lose strength over time. It was also The Aquazol binder compares in noticed that the binder only changed many respects to the traditional gum Resources available on the web at its color slightly under accelerated light arabic binder. Both of these materials goldenpaints.com/justpaint/index.php Issue 31 page 12 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. The effects of QoR Watercolors on (left) QoR Watercolor Ground, (center) QoR Cold Press Ground and (right) QoR Light Dimensional Ground

® QoR Mediums Light Dimensional Ground is a joy QoR Synthetic Ox Gall is a wetting to work upon. It can be applied thinly agent that improves the flow of and Grounds or used to create peaks or ridges. It watercolors. Just a few drops added to By Stacy Brock is absorbent and allows for washes to water makes the paint easier to blend The recent introduction of easily spread as well as being capable and really improves washes and wetting QoR®, our new and original take on of holding fine detail. Color lifts easily on hard sized papers. watercolors, gave us the opportunity to from this surface, even staining colors QoR Lift Aid™ helps with the broaden the range of techniques and that are usually difficult to remove. removability of watercolor paint when applications possible with a companion QoR Watercolor Mediums help applied to the paper before painting or line of Mediums and Grounds. QoR extend and enhance the creative range between washes, glazes and layering. Grounds greatly expand the breadth and control of watercolors. As you can see, the concept of QoR of surfaces that can accept watercolor Watercolors does not end with colors. paint and provide the freedom to Watercolor Medium is an all- Like every product that comes from create original surfaces by controlling purpose medium that can be used GOLDEN, the idea of equipping absorbency and forming textures when to thin, extend, and increase the artists to realize their creative vision used alone or mixed together. The transparency and flow of watercolors. If inspires every single one of our Mediums help facilitate and control used in larger amounts, it can increase materials. application, color saturation, opacity, the saturation of the colors and add a sheen, lift and wetting. This collection glossy sheen. is comprised of tools to hopefully excite the traditional watercolorist and entice the experimental and mixed media artist to explore and discover new possibilities. Prepared with Lift Aid™ QoR Watercolor Ground can Synthetic under broaden the range of what can be used Ox Gall color as a watercolor surface. It creates a added to paper-like absorbent surface on many water different materials such as hardboard, canvas, and wood. It can be used with any application technique and works Unprepared well as a correction fluid to cover mistakes and recover the whiteness of the paper that may be lost due to color Prepared No Lift Aid™ staining. with water QoR Cold Press Ground is just like the name depicts and has the texture of Cold Press watercolor paper. It is fibrous and can range between a rough handmade paper surface and a smooth QoR Permanent Alizarin Crimson and Indigo, Synthetic Ox Gall Testing (left). cold press finish if skimming with a wet Wet removal was more successful when paper was pre-treated with QoR Lift Aid™ (right). palette knife after application.

Issue 31 page 13 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Williamsburg’s Wax Medium By Sarah Sands carefully melted and blended together. From the very beginning, oil painters Unlike other wax pastes currently on have used mediums to extend, modify, the market, our Wax Medium contains tweak and transform their paint in one absolutely no solvent, making it way or another. These have run the especially attractive to painters wanting gamut from the simple use of solvents to minimize their exposure to solvents when creating an initial wash to much in the studio. Having the feel of a soft more complex concoctions and recipes paste when scooped from the can, it that involve the blending of various quickly becomes silky and quite fluid under the pressure of a palette knife as Wax Medium blended oils, resins, balsams, and waxes. While with Williamsburg’s Williamsburg has always supplied many it is worked by itself or blended into paint. It is also unique in that it will Slate Black and Alizarin of the base ingredients for painters Orange Oil Colors who like to make their own mediums, form a film even on its own. This is at these higher levels since the paint we want to also take this opportunity particularly significant because most will dry to an increasingly softer film to highlight our Wax Medium, which other wax pastes do not, and adding the more wax you add, while greater comes ready to use and is offered in 8, too high a percentage of wax by itself transparency will make the mixture 16, and 32 oz. cans only. can cause problems of brittleness and poor adhesion. By contrast, because more vulnerable to the eventual our Wax Medium starts with a blend yellowing of the oils. Because of that, of wax and oil together, a painter has it is best to limit applications with much more freedom and leeway in how higher percentages of the Wax Medium it is used. to the upper layers of a painting, and when creating more translucent Small additions of 10-20% of Wax effects, leaning toward warmer colors Medium will give one’s paint a thinner, where any yellowing will have the least more flowing consistency, with none Wax Medium impact. Lastly, Wax Medium can also of the fumes associated with mineral be blended with other oils and alkyds A mainstay from the earliest days spirits or turpentine. As one moves into to create a wide range of variations. A of the company, Williamsburg’s Wax higher ratios, the paint will start to gain moderate drier, a 3 mil layer which is Medium is made from a combination a beautiful translucency, while drying about the thickness of a piece of office of linseed oil, bleached beeswax to more and more of a satiny sheen. paper, will dry in 4-7 days. and dammar crystals that have been However, some caution should be used

and create an airtight seal. All the trials end it is a better way to get our paint to Turning the World of using this method showed no evidence you in the best and freshest condition. Cans Upside Down of skinning, even when stored at While it will take a while for these elevated temperatures for a prolonged By Sarah Sands cans to start appearing on store shelves, period. we would encourage you to start to Recently we set about testing a Based on those results we have store them in this way for yourselves. variety of solutions for what has been a decided to package and store our cans Just keep in mind this method works constant problem: preventing a can of in a new, upside-down orientation; so, best if the can still has a substantial paint from forming a skin, especially while the label will still appear right- amount of paint inside. When done when stored for months or even years side up on the shelf, the lid will now for the day, make sure to tap the lid at a time. Plastic wrap pressed against be on the bottom and you will need to securely into place before turning the the surface definitely worked, but also turn the can over to get to the paint. can over and giving it a good whap created a mess when being removed, This might take a little getting used to against a solid surface in order to pull while anti-skinning sprays could for some of our customers, but in the the paint down against the lid. As the impact the drytime of the paint itself, level of paint reaches especially if the amount was not tightly halfway or less, this controlled and a painter happened to method becomes more use just the topmost layer. Plastic rings impractical and less that locked the lid in place, and even effective. At that point, displacing oxygen by spraying argon gas it makes the most sense into the headspace before sealing the to smooth the surface of can, all showed promise and potential. the paint, removing any But in the end the most effective gouges or air pockets, and method turned out to be the easiest of pressing a piece of plastic all: simply turn the can upside down. wrap against the surface. By doing this, the wet paint would be pressed against the inside of the lid Left: Williamsburg Cadmium Red Light with lid at top of can. Issue 31 page 14 ©2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Right: Cadmium Red Light with lid at bottom of can. Friedel Dzubas Monumental Works By James Walsh energetic abstractions with oil paint is 13 ½ by 31 inches while the fully By the middle of the twentieth century and he was included in early pivotal realized ‘Procession’ is twenty-four the traditional notion of the artists shows of the downtown artists such as feet long. Both works are made with studio, that of the ‘garret’, gave way to the Ninth Street Show of 1951 and the Magna mineral spirit acrylics. Magna the availability of spacious commercial follow up Stable Gallery Exhibition. was developed in the late 1940’s lofts in downtown New York City that Our exhibition at The SAGG entitled by paintmaker Sam Golden at his had been abandoned in the post-war ‘Friedel Dzubas Monumental Works’, on company Bocour Artist Colors. Magna period. As manufacturing moved out view from September 13, 2014 through was the first acrylic available for artist of New York, artists moved into these March 28, 2015, features several large- use and mixed with mineral spirits, not spaces. Easels were dispensed with as scale paintings nearly ten feet tall and with water. Jackson Pollock was among painters utilized these vast studios by over twenty feet wide. These works the early adopters of Magna. stapling canvases directly to the wall, represent an important benchmark of The original Magna paints, and after or, as they had learned from Jackson Dzubas’s achievement in terms of his 1980, the Mineral Spirit Acrylics Pollock, tacked canvas directly to the grappling with the physical limitations manufactured by Golden Artist Colors, floor. of a ‘portable’ painting, a painting that Inc., afforded fast drying, luminous The New York School coalesced can be disassembled and rebuilt for color and a distinct advantage for as expatriate artists fled Europe and exhibitions. The large scale of these Dzubas, who would apply these paints American artists traveled to New York works puts as much pressure on the onto a lean gesso surface that had been from all over the United States. available space of gallery and museum saturated with mineral spirits. This walls as much as they did on Dzubas’s enabled Dzubas to feather out the The threads of spontaneity, ability to make them. As large as the edges of his multiple dense color areas immediacy and directness gleaned from Dzubas paintings in our exhibition are, enabling his signature surfaces. The the ascension of Abstract Expressionist his largest work ‘Crossing’, which hung choruses of these distinctive shapes painting came together to create in the Shawmut Bank in Boston for populate his paintings and allowed innovations in scale, spreading of color many years, is an astounding fifty-seven him to provide pictorial resolutions and signature styles of painting. feet long. that were wholly original within the In this milieu, Friedel Dzubas Somewhat in opposition to the typical architecture of the rectangle. was among the notable artists who practice of the painters of the post war Our exhibition ‘Friedel Dzubas challenged themselves by engaging large period, Dzubas made small studies Monumental Works’ looks back to a scale in their art. Frank Stella, Larry in advance of painting larger works. time when the process of art making Poons, Jules Olitski, and Al Held were The SAGG has the good fortune was wildly optimistic and open-ended. among his contemporaries who were to be able to include the study that Dzubas took his painting across a able to work in gradations of scale from Dzubas made for one of his large works gamut of scale relations and expressive the intimate to the monumental. entitled ‘Procession’ featured in the potentials. It’s wall-to-wall painting, In the 1950’s, Dzubas was painting exhibition. The ‘Study for Procession’ you can’t help but be immersed within.

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Issue 31 August 2014 Articles: Mark Golden, Ulysses Jackson, Cathy Jennings, Vaikunt Raghavan, Ph.D., James Walsh, Stacy Brock, Sarah Sands, Emma Golden Editor: Jodi O’Dell Publisher: Golden Artist Colors, Inc. 188 Bell Road, New Berlin, NY 13411-3616 607-847-6154 800-959-6543 Fax: 607-847-6767 Email: [email protected] www.goldenpaints.com www.QoRcolors.com www.WilliamsburgOils.com www.thesagg.org

© 2014 Golden Artist Colors, Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced either in whole, or in part, without the consent of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. Golden Artist Colors is an Employee

Owned Company. 13631

from 2012. from

goldenfoundation.org for pricing. for goldenfoundation.org email [email protected]. [email protected]. email us for the Opening as well as two artists artists two as well as Opening the for us

Barbara Golden at b.golden@ at Golden Barbara www.thesagg.org. For a show catalog, catalog, show a For www.thesagg.org. residence from 2013 were able to join join to able were 2013 from residence

Foundation’s Executive Director Director Executive Foundation’s at online available currently Program. Nine of the 18 artists in in artists 18 the of Nine Program.

purchase. Please contact the Golden Golden the contact Please purchase. The Made in Paint exhibition is is exhibition Paint in Made The 2013 Golden Foundation Residency Residency Foundation Golden 2013

The works are also available for for available also are works The

works came together as a result of the the of result a as together came works Foundation for the Arts. Arts. the for Foundation

the world. These talented artists’ artists’ talented These world. the go to www.goldenfoundation.org. to go during their time at the Golden Golden the at time their during

the works of 20 artists from around around from artists 20 of works the program, residency and Foundation investigation into a variety of materials materials of variety a into investigation

SAGG) on April 12, 2014 to view view to 2014 12, April on SAGG) further information about the Golden Golden the about information further materials and tools through the artist’s artist’s the through tools and materials

Sam and Adele Golden Gallery (The (The Gallery Golden Adele and Sam like to be notified of these dates. For For dates. these of notified be to like unique curiosity and understanding of of understanding and curiosity unique

Approximately 300 visitors filled the the filled visitors 300 Approximately residency. Please email us if you’d you’d if us email Please residency. of color. Made in Paint celebrates the the celebrates Paint in Made color. of

by the Golden Foundation to date. date. to Foundation Golden the by at the end of every 4-week-long 4-week-long every of end the at thick to thin textures and an abundance abundance an and textures thin to thick

most highly attended events hosted hosted events attended highly most Foundation also hosts Open Studios Studios Open hosts also Foundation through works with varied substrates, substrates, varied with works through

exhibition opening was among the the among was opening exhibition 18 artists in residence. The Golden Golden The residence. in artists 18 Walsh put together a show that flowed flowed that show a together put Walsh

Made in Paint in Made annual second The

highlighting the works of this year’s year’s this of works the highlighting artists from 2013. Gallery Director, Jim Jim Director, Gallery 2013. from artists

take place in the Spring of 2015, 2015, of Spring the in place take of the 18 residents and two visiting visiting two and residents 18 the of By Emma Golden Emma By

Made in Paint alumni show will will show alumni Paint in Made hosted at least one artwork by each each by artwork one least at hosted

The Golden Foundation’s third third Foundation’s Golden The The SAGG at Golden Artist Colors Colors Artist Golden at SAGG The Image by Erik Korver Image by