Methyl Hydrate

Methyl Hydrate is available in your local hardware store. It is used as antifreeze, as a fuel for camp stoves, and as a solvent for shellac. It is what keeps shellac in the bottle from hardening, and it will also dissolve shellac instantly. It is of Methyl Hydrate as a shellac solvent that I write. For one job, I wanted to spray on shellac over a painting. I could buy shellac in an aerosol can, but that is much more expensive, and then I have to think of disposing of the can. I used the plastic sprayer from an old bottle of Windex. The shellac, as expected, gummed up the sprayer very quickly, but I dipped the sprayer in methyl hydrate and squirted it through twice, and it was as good as ever.

Of more interest to the calligrapher is its use with inks. I discovered that India Ink, most types if not all, use shellac as a binder. It is shellac that makes the ink waterproof when dry. I discovered this by accident. I once applied shellac to a work done in India Ink and it dissolved the ink. Further research revealed that ink contains shellac. We know that India Ink can get stale. It still looks black and liquid, but it clogs our pens. We blame our pens, change the nibs, but the problem remains. I guessed that the shellac was forming particles, too small to see, but still enough to clog a pen. A little bit of methyl hydrate added to the ink revitalized it, and it would flow. In fact, I found that I could even put India Ink in a regular fountain pen if I thinned the ink with methyl hydrate. Also, methyl hydrate can be used to clean nibs old and new. New nibs often have a protective coating of shellac that must be removed, and now I treat new nibs with methyl hydrate before using.

Methyl hydrate has applications with acrylic paints and inks. It will loosen dried acrylic paint, though it does not dissolve it back into a workable medium. I have used it to clean old brushes that have had dried paint on them for decades. I have found that when my bottles of acrylic ink become unworkable, then methyl hydrate will make them flow again. I am not sure of all the chemistry involved, so the reader will mix methyl hydrate into acrylic ink at his own risk.

Glycerine

Glycerine is available in your local drug store. It has the consistency of oil, somewhere between water and honey in viscosity. It is water soluble and takes a long time to dry. I use it primarily to mix with acrylic paints to slow down the drying time. In one case, the paint was still tacky months later. While acrylic paints usually dry within ten minutes, a drop (say, one part glycerine to four parts of acrylic matte medium and two parts paint), will slow down the drying time to about an hour, depending on the thickness of your paint. You can work with acrylics as you would with oils, depending on the amount of glycerine added. Some expressed concern that glycerine would affect the permanence of the finished painting. I discovered that "glyceroids" are an ingredient listed on tubes and bottles of acrylic paints and mediums, and so I feel fairly confident in using it as a medium and slowing agent. Often there is a clear liquid at the top of acrylic paint in the tube or bottle, and I suspect that this is glycerine. Below, I will explain its application in a calligraphic technique of pushing and scraping paint.

Beeswax

I discovered that Beeswax has been a favoured artists medium for centuries, nay for millenia. Some Roman painting done in wax are still vibrant after 2000 years. Beeswax can be dissolved in turpentine for use as a painting medium, for use with oil colours. You don't have to buy beeswax itself, just a beeswax candle. I used a 1 to 1 mix of wax from a candle and turpentine. In order to speed up the dissolving, I put both in a bottle, then put the bottle in a pan of hot water. If you paint with oils, you can experiment by mixing the resulting beeswax medium with other oil mediums. Beeswax is the best substance for the calligraphic technique of pushing and scraping paint. It is also possible to make water-soluble beeswax. I am still experimenting with this, but the best result seems to be this - melt beeswax in cleaning ammonia - about 1 part wax to 2 parts ammonia. The wax will dissolve completely, and more quickly if the jar containing wax and ammonia is placed in very hot water. After the wax melts, shake thoroughly. The resulting creamy mixture will not separate, and has the consistency of cold cream. The mixture can be mixed with waterbased paints.

Using Beeswax to make Scratchboard

Rub a thick paste of beeswax dissolved in turpentine into a piece of paper using a paper towel or rag. Rub it just enough so that it is smoothly applied. Wait until it is dry and opaque and repeat the process. Then when this is dry and solid, apply India Ink generously with a brush. At first, the India Ink will bead up on top of the wax, but continue to brush the beads as the ink becomes thicker and it will cover the wax. Wait for the ink to dry completely and apply another coat. I suggest waiting at least an hour between each step, so do several sheets at the same time in order not to waste time. Below is one of my first attempts on such scratchboard.

Pushing and Scraping Paint

One problem a painter faces is to add sharp and legible calligraphy in works done in oil and acrylic. I have been experimenting with a technique whereby I remove or push the paint with various objects. One inspiration to my experiments was reading about the artist Tintoretta, who used to execute entire murals in the time his competitors could only complete a sketch. It is said that he violently pushed the paint around. He used a technique like the finger painting we did in primary school, probably using paint thinned with some medium. I experimented with this technique using acrylics and oils. With acrylics I used lots of matte medium with my paint - more medium than paint - and a small bit of glycerine to slow down the process.

To the left is a detail of a painting that I did using the Tinoretto technique. I prepared a dark grey surface with acrylic paint and acrylic Matte Medium. When that was thoroughly dry, I sprayed the surface lightly with water. I used a mixture of white acrylic paint, glycerine (just a bit), acrylic medium, and water. I used anything I had to shove the paint around, swirling swishing scraping sopping it up. The picture is of the Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross. One holds the seamless robe. The other is throwing dice. Later I will add details and colour.

One thing that I learned is that you have to have the right surface. If working with acrylics, I had to prepare my surface with matte medium so that it was shiny and non-absorbent. With oils, I painted my panel beforehand with oil and let it dry thoroughly. In both cases I would wet the surface very slightly all over before working. With oils I would use a thin layer of oil, and with acrylics I would use a light spray of water. When doing a painting, a more liquid medium would tend to smooth out and fall back to blurry lines and massed while I was working with it, which was fine for painting, because I wanted to delineate large areas after the manner of Tintoretto. As the paint became thicker I could work in more detail.

The problem of the paint falling back from where it had been pushed made crisp calligraphy difficult. In both cases it was a matter of the consistency of the paint. With acrylics, less medium and more paint will yield a more crisp line to your tools. With oils, if I used my wax/turpentine in my painting medium, any line I scraped into the paint would stay where I put it. In both cases, if you want to alter your work, then while it is still wet smooth the paint again with a brush and scrape again. Below is a small example of some work done quickly in acrylics using this method, with a stick whittled to a point. I have had better results with oil/wax, but the work is still wet and I would not lay it on my scanner, so I cannot show you the results.

One advantage of this technique is that you can use any colour with any colour, especially with acrylics, where you can prepare a ground in less than ten minutes, and then apply the paint that you will scrape on top of it.