Is Gator Board Useful for Painting and Resin Art

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With this tutorial, I want to introduce you to Resin Epoxy Fine art. Before you can go started, you will learn what resin is and what you should pay attending to when working with epoxy resin. I volition show you where you can get the materials you need and requite you lot a step-by-pace guide on how to create your outset resin work. All the nuts for a successful start in the casting resin technique are given in the post-obit article.

Table of Contents

• ane What is Epoxy Resin?
• 2 What is Resin Art?
• iii Supplies yous need for Epoxy Resin Art
  • 3.1 Best Resin Epoxy for Crafts
  • 3.2 What do you Need for Resin Art?
• 4 Properties and Applications of unlike Resin Products
• 5 Which Painting Grounds are suitable for Resin Epoxy Art?
• 6 Which Colors and Dyes are suitable for Resin Fine art?
• 7 How to Summate the Amount of Resin you lot need
• 8 A special Resin Art Technique – Cells in your Resin Epoxy Art
• 9 Attain sparkling and glowing Effects in your Epoxy Painting
• 10 How do you forbid Resin from getting too hot?
• xi What to do against Air Bubbles?
• 12 Resin Processing Time
• thirteen Painting Composition
• 14 How to brand Resin Art – Tutorial for Creating your first Resin Painting
• 15 How to clean your Casting Tools?
• 16 How practise you clean Gluey Easily?
• 17 What to do if your Resin Painting shows damaged Areas?
• xviii Casting further Resin Layers
• nineteen Difficulties with Resin Epoxy Art
• xx Safety Measures when working with Resin
• 21 Resin Art Ideas
• 22 Lesser Line
• 23 Ofttimes Asked Questions
  • 23.1 Is Resin Art Expensive?
  • 23.two Why Resin Art is Bad?
  • 23.3 What is the Difference between Art Resin and Casting Resin?

What is Epoxy Resin?

Epoxy resins are a two-component system consisting of resin and hardener. By mixing the two components, a chemic reaction takes place so that the liquid resin gradually hardens to a solid plastic within hours.

The event is a loftier-gloss, clear surface. For the sake of simplicity, I will ordinarily use the term "resin" instead of "epoxy resin". Resin is not just used in industry and boat edifice, just likewise in art. Thus, likewise kitchen counters, floors, tables, paintings, jewelry or sculptures can likewise exist bandage.

What is Resin Fine art?

With resin art, you can create works of art that enchant with their clarity, luminosity, brilliance and depth. Color pigments or other additives are added to the epoxyresin and you lot can create resin paintings or do resin castings – there are endless possibilities!

Different effects tin can be created by choosing the painting ground, the type of casting, the colors and the additives. Even experienced resin artists have never finished learning.

The tendency to utilise resin in art comes from the USA, Canada and Commonwealth of australia. In Europe, the techniques are however trivial known.  If you like experimenting, you will love working with resin. Resin tin can besides exist used to finish drawings, photos and paintings (made of oil, acrylic, booze ink, watercolor, ink, mixed media, etc.) with a shine that tin can be created and also to protect them from UV light and mechanical influences. You tin can besides apply epoxy on forest, build your own epoxy river table or create your own geode art with information technology.

Supplies you lot need for Epoxy Resin Art

Best Resin Epoxy for Crafts

To create gorgeous resin paintings, you need a loftier-quality art resin. While art resin is a brand, this term is too widely used to describe a specific type of this fabric, which has high quality and is suitable to utilize for resin artworks. It should be crystal articulate and include an UV-filter, so it doesn't yellow as well much over time and nether sunlight exposure.

ProMarine Supplies ProArt Epoxy Resin

ProMarine'south ProArt Resin is made specifically to be used for art-related projects. Y'all can protect all kinds of artwork, both fragile and robust, by coating information technology with the hard, crystal-clear terminate of this resin. Use ProArt resin to make, secure, and protect art projects from drawings and paintings to woodwork and sculptures. This resin is best used on materials such as woods, metal, plastic, and canvas, and can exist mixed with pigmented powders, dyes, and liquid tints to add a pop of colour.

• Specifically designed for art projects, excellent colour stability
• Very easy to use with 1 : one mixing ratio, 100% solids, difficult-shell finish
• High gloss and crystal clear, your all-seal solution, excellent air release

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PROS

• Affordable product of a high quality
• The finish is completely solid, like to a hard shell
• Self-leveling resin with a very glossy terminate
• Releases air well, thus preventing bubbles
• Lasting color
• Strengthened against affect
• Resistant to UV rays and water
• Minimal odor
• Easy mixing ratio of i:ane
• Longer processing time to allow for more careful, precise work

Stone Coat Fine art Coat Ultra UV Protected Epoxy

Rock Glaze Countertops has worked together with an epoxy resin artist so equally to create an Art Coat product. This resin has been made specifically with artists in heed, creating a product that is easy to utilize with positive results. Employ your Art Coat as a articulate protective layer, or mix information technology together with a color of your choice! Stone Glaze Art Coat resin is uniform with many materials, such as resin colorants, metallic powders and pastes, acrylics, oils, tints, dyes, and many others.

• Specifically designed for art projects, adult with professional artists
• Heat resistant, scratch resistant, food safe, maximum UV resistant, water resistant
• compatible with alcohol inks, acrylics, silicone oils, metallics, oil-based paint
• Extended working time, easy to make clean

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PROS

• Like shooting fish in a barrel to mix with a 1:1 ratio
• This resin is crystal-clear and will not xanthous
• Non-toxic
• Cheaper than other resin brands
• Very fiddling odor

CONS

• Shorter processing time of 45 minutes, significant that you volition have less time to work with your resin
• Thicker consistency, which tin brand it difficult to cascade
• Decumbent to bubbles, although these can be removed by exposing them to hot air

Dr. Crafty Clear Epoxy Resin Kit

This epoxy resin kit is ideal for beginners, as information technology comes with all of the tools and materials needed to go started! Dr. Crafty's Clear Epoxy Resin kit is perfect to exist used on diverse artworks and jewelry. This product is very like shooting fish in a barrel and simple to use, so that anyone can begin working with epoxy resin to make their own pieces of art!

• Starter set for Resin Fine art
• Thicker constistency, 1:1 mixing ration for like shooting fish in a barrel mixing
• Upwards to 45 minutes of working fourth dimension, UV-Filter is included

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PROS

• Can easily exist used with all other marine grade epoxies
• The marine epoxy is cocky-leveling, which is perfect for coating and laminating
• The kit comes with epoxy and hardener pumps, providing exact amounts
• Comprehensive kit that can be used on numerous repair or building ventures

CONS

• Can't really use the resin in cold weather conditions
• Not suitable if y'all are looking for clear marine epoxy

What do you lot Need for Resin Fine art?

• Wood panels as painting ground
• ResinTint, liquid pigments, Bones colors gear up
• ResinTint, liquid pigments, Metal und pearl colors
• ResinTint, liquid pigments, Neon colors
• Powdered Mica Pigments for Resin
• Jacquard Pearl-Ex metallic pigments
• Airbrush colors ready
• Isopropyl Alcohol 91,9%
• Resin Mixing Cups and Stir Sticks
• Heat Gun
• Butane Torch
• Level
• Nitril Gloves
• Respirator Mask
• Loftier-Density Drib Cloth

Properties and Applications of different Resin Products

For my resin paintings, I mainly use the two resin varieties MasterCast 1-2-one from Eli-Chem Resins and ArtResin from the visitor of the aforementioned proper noun. They are both bachelor in Europe, high quality and certified as non-toxic. They contain no solvents, practice not give off vapors and are odorless and non-flammable.

They protect your artwork from UV rays. In improver to MasterCast, Eli-Chem likewise offers other resin types with different viscosities. For certain applications, UltraCast and TotalCast Resin are better suited than MasterCast. TotalCast Resin is slightly more liquid and ideally suited for articulate coatings or embedding and pouring liquids and has a brusk drying time (approx. three to 4 hours).

MasterCast on the other hand is better suited for coloring resin with colour pigments and for fluid panting and has a longer drying time of about six to eight hours. MasterCast therefore too offers a slightly longer working fourth dimension (service life of approx. 25 to forty minutes). The time until the paradigm is completely hardened is about three days with MasterCast.

The UltraCast resin is characterized past its very long processing time of upwardly to 1.5 hours or drying time of 24 hours and is therefore particularly recommended for large-surface area work. However, it takes seven to ten days to achieve maximum curing properties and temperature resistance.

Which Painting Grounds are suitable for Resin Epoxy Art?

Suitable for resin fine art are painting surfaces made of wood, glass, metal, plexiglass, concrete and much more. Porous, absorbent surfaces are unsuitable. Canvases are not suitable because they would sag due to the weight of the resin and the resin would and then converge in the eye of the depression. Furniture, floors and kitchen covers can be covered with the appropriate resin/epoxy resin.

• The rigid plywood panels are very smooth and very stable if yous pour on it
• Forest painting grounds are distortion-free and offer a good alternative to the normal stretcher frame covered with sail

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Which Colors and Dyes are suitable for Resin Art?

In that location are now many suppliers of highly pigmented paints whose products are particularly suitable for use in resin. You tin can apply color pigments in powder class, ResiTint colors (very color intensive, a few drops are plenty), ink, alcohol ink, liquid acrylic paints and spray paints. In that location are no limits to your imagination. You should not add together water to your paints, considering water makes the resin milky and it no longer hardens completely. Nosotros take our own tutorial on how to color resin.

Depending on the type of pigments used, you volition become unlike results. At that place are likewise color pigments in pulverisation form that are non suitable for resin. It is all-time to experiment with your colors on pocket-sized painting surfaces before you dare to have on large Resin Fine art paintings. Some manufacturers go on lists of pigments that are suitable for coloring resin, such as Kremer. It is important that you stir the color into the resin thoroughly (simply gently).

• This is the ResinTint complete set up with all bones colors
• As well included: metallic & neon prepare contains 8 shimmering colors
• High-quality coloring agents for epoxy resin

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• Hemway has one of the largest ranges of paint powder dyes
• You can but mix this slowly into resin until the desired ratio is reached
• Colorfast and lightfast, and so your works volition still smooth brilliantly even afterwards a long fourth dimension

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How to Calculate the Corporeality of Resin you demand

How much resin yous need for your Epoxy Resin Art depends on the size of your painting surface and also on whether you want to cover the edges with resin or if you embrace them with paint tape. To calculate the amount of resin you need, nosotros accept a resin epoxy calculator that will help y'all calculate the amount of resin you need to mix:

A special Resin Art Technique – Cells in your Resin Epoxy Fine art

Cells can exist produced by casting techniques like Muddied Pour, Air Swipe and many others. You tin can learn them in our separate blog about Fluid painting techniques.

Cells can also be created by calculation some isopropanol alcohol or a few drops of Resi-Blast. Alternatively, you tin can drop the Resi-Blast into your freshly poured resin. If you wait too long, the Resi-Boom will have no result.

• Isopropyl alcohol, 99%, xvi ounce
• Get cells in your Epoxy Resin Fine art
• As well suitable to clean your tools

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Achieve sparkling and glowing Effects in your Epoxy Painting

By calculation glitter or ornamentation stones and crystals to your Resin Epoxy Art y'all can prepare beautiful accents. For example, yous tin cast the currently very trendy geodes. (By the way, there will be a blog postal service well-nigh geodes presently).

How practice you prevent Resin from getting besides hot?

Mix merely every bit much resin as you really need. Employ for resin, which you do non need immediately broad vessels. Particularly metallic colors develop a lot of heat together with resin. The warmer the room temperature, the faster the resin starts to "eddy". If you notice that your resin is hard and very hot in the loving cup, you should pour information technology onto a foil. Because y'all can't process it anyhow and it can cool down again. On hot days I recommend that y'all do resin piece of work in the morning or move information technology to the cool cellar.

What to do against Air Bubbling?

The formation of air bubbling in the resin cannot be avoided. If you stir your casting resin slowly and heat information technology up briefly in betwixt, the bubbles should not be a problem. Estrus will cause the bubbles to rise to the surface and burst. Heat the resin on a painting surface regularly with a heat gun or better notwithstanding with a butane torch.

Go on the heat source about four inches away from your Epoxy Art and move the torch in fast movements over the painting. Otherwise the resin will start to eddy and it will clump. If the resin is colored white, this can be seen past the fact that it turns yellow. If this happens to you, you have to remove the clumped resin from the surface and cascade it again.

• Ii Temp Settings 750ᵒF & 1000ᵒF

• Employ the heat gun to remove air bubbles from your epoxy

• You can as well employ the air flow to customize your artwork as long equally the resin is flowing

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• Like upshot as an hot airdryer, but without the resin surface being corrugated past air
• A butane torch is more efficient when information technology comes to removing any bubbling from the resin
• With Safety Lock, refillable, Flame adaptable (max 2500°F)

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Resin Processing Fourth dimension

The drying time depends on the room temperature and the blazon of resin used. When using MasterCast 1-ii-one at a room temperature of 22° Celcius you have about 25 to xl minutes working time until the drying starts. With TotalCast from the same supplier this is 15 to 30 minutes, with UltraCast about ane.5 hours. ArtResin behaves like to MasterCast 1-ii-1.

Painting Composition

As with every painting, you should recollect virtually the composition of the epoxy painting beforehand. This is especially true for Resin Epoxy Art – once yous have mixed the resin with the hardener, yous but have a express time to finish your resin painting.

How to make Resin Art – Tutorial for Creating your first Resin Painting

In one case you lot are clear virtually the image design and color pick, you are prepare to become for your offset Resin Painting:

• Ensure a clean, grit-free workplace in a well-ventilated room. Lay foils to protect your workplace and the floor. The material you need should be within easy accomplish.
• Stick your painting ground on the reverse side with strong paint tape, and so that resin drops on the underside of the wooden board can easily be removed the next mean solar day together with the tape. Some artists also stick the sides of the painting basis. Taping pages or non – this is of course a affair of gustation, everyone should do it the way they like.
• Place your painting base raised on your tabletop, e.g. on cups. If your painting base is straight on the tabletop, the contrary side volition stick to the tabletop due to the resin flowing down.

• Employ the level to brand sure that your painting surface is horizontal on the worktop. Otherwise, the resin will melt and your beautiful motif will exist invisible subsequently a short time.
• Use disposable nitrile gloves (no vinil or latex) and vesture long-sleeved wear.
• Mix the required amount of resin and hardener in the correct ratio for 3 minutes. Both MasterCast 1-ii-1 and ArtResin are mixed at a ratio of 1:one based on book (not weight). Utilize a plastic spatula for stirring. If the 2 components are mixed insufficiently, the mass remains sticky and does not harden completely.

• Now the fun begins: Color the resin in disposable cups with dissimilar colors. Be sparing with colour, a few drops or a hint of pigments are usually enough. Y'all can pour the resin cups individually on your painting ground or use one of the well-known pouring techniques. For example: Puddle Pour, Dirty Pour, Flip Cup, Swirl, Air Swipe etc.
• You lot can likewise add together some silicone oil or even meliorate Resi-Boom to the color mixtures. Resi-Blast was peculiarly developed for the Resin Epoxy Art of cell germination.
• You tin can influence the grade of the resin on your painting surface with a spatula, knife, cream roller, brush, silicone brush etc. besides every bit by tilting the painting surface.
• Avoid air bubbles in the painting. If there are any, you tin can remove them by (very briefly!) using a butane torch or a hot air blow-dryer.

• If the casting resin starts to dry later on a certain time (different from resin to resin, see above), the painting should non be inverse. The resin then becomes very viscous and begins to pull threads like chewing gum. It then loses its most important property of self-leveling. Heating can delay the procedure, but simply to a limited extent.
• In social club to avoid abrasive foreign particles (dust, hair, mosquitoes) on the Resin Artwork, you should remove these if necessary with tweezers.

• When the paradigm is finished and complimentary of air bubbling and foreign particles, yous should cover it to protect it from grit. For this, you can use a cardboard plate, which yous place on four bottles, for example. A resin epitome is hard after about 24 hours, merely still sensitive. Merely later on three days is it fully cured. The resin image should not be exposed to big temperature fluctuations during the drying time.
• If necessary, you can apply further resin layers as soon equally the Resin pour Art has dried (after approx. 5 hours).

How to clean your Casting Tools?

With the finished Epoxy Painting your work is not done nonetheless. Now it'due south time to clean your painting equipment. If you lot still have resin left, yous can employ information technology either for small decoration objects such as Resin Coasters / Petri Dishes or for experiments. Place the empty resin cups on a plastic foil with the opening facing down. Backlog resin runs out of the cups and tin can easily exist separated from the cup the side by side day.

Wipe your spatula with vinegar or a textile soaked in isopropanol. Yous should also wipe off the remaining viscid utensils such equally hot-air dryers, butane torches, tweezers etc. with an alcohol material. Attention, disconnect electrical appliances from the ability supply before use! Brushes and foam rollers, if y'all have used them, must, unfortunately, be disposed of. Practise not leave wooden sticks in the resin, otherwise you lot will hardly exist able to remove them from the surface the next day.

How practice y'all make clean Gluey Hands?

Yous should clean pasty easily with vinegar and then clean them with lather and water. At that place are hand wash pastes with rubbing agents in the DIY store, which are very helpful. With booze y'all should clean your hands only if necessary since this dries out the skin. However, it is all-time anyway if your hands practice non become mucilaginous in the first identify when wearing gloves. If possible, resin should not get on the pare as it can cause irritations.

What to exercise if your Resin Painting shows damaged Areas?

If your resin image has holes or dents afterwards drying, you may non have used enough resin or likewise much resin may have run off the paradigm. Dents may also form when using silicone oil or Resi-Boom. In this case, you have no choice but to carefully sand the painting surface with a fine grain and apply a new layer of resin. If you lot have used Resi-Boom or silicone oil in your Resin Art, make clean the surface thoroughly with alcohol.

Casting farther Resin Layers

About v hours afterwards applying resin (if the resin is already a piffling hard but still sticks), you lot can employ some other layer of resin. Several layers of resin on peak of each other give the Resin Cascade Art an heady depth.

Alternatively, you tin look with another layer of resin until your Epoxy Art is fully cured (at least 24 hours, rather longer). So, nevertheless, you should carefully roughen the Epoxy Resin Art with sandpaper so that the new resin tin adhere well. Please use but fine grains.

Afterwards sanding, clean the painting thoroughly with water and mayhap an alcohol cloth. Grinding should not be done in the same room equally resin, otherwise at that place is a lot of dust in the air that tin settle on the freshly cast painting surface.

Difficulties with Resin Epoxy Fine art

In addition to the many cute sides, Resin Epoxy Art also has some disadvantages compared to other techniques: If you dare to use epoxy resin, yous must not have a penchant for cleanliness – because working with resin is a mucilaginous business. This technique is also rather expensive. Loftier-quality resin has its price.

A resin Epoxy Painting is particularly exciting when several layers are bandage on top of each other, so that the resin costs per painting are quite meaning. In addition, for the sake of health, safety measures should be observed. The technique is not piece of cake – but this increases the appeal of designing. If you take the technique under control, you lot will be rewarded with satisfaction and beautiful works.

Prophylactic Measures when working with Resin

Resin is a sticky, pasty substance that hardens completely at room temperature in a given fourth dimension. Therefore, yous should take care to protect your piece of furniture and habiliment from resin stains. On the other mitt, precautions must also be taken to protect your health. Even if y'all use a resin that has been certified equally non-toxic and harmless, resin can cause skin irritation if it comes into contact with the skin.

It is therefore important to habiliment disposable nitrile gloves and long-sleeved vesture. In addition, you should refrain from eating and drinking in the immediate vicinity of resin. Smoking should too be avoided, as epoxy resin is partly flammable. In addition, a respiratory protective mask is recommended when heating pigment / synthetic resin, as this is not completely harmless.

• Blue large four mil thickness, powder-free, non-latex
• Fingertip-textured, medical-grade, skillful safe test gloves (pack of 100)

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• As toxic fumes tin can be produced when processing resin, we recommend that y'all vesture a respirator mask when processing resin in rooms.
• Fifty-fifty though professional resin promises to be non-toxic, we believe that wellness comes first and you tin eliminate any negative consequence.

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• Resin should of course not become in your eyes
• Therefore you lot should wear rubber glasses when working with epoxy resin to protect yourself

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Resin Art Ideas

While the term resin art is widely used to describe paintings fabricated out of this textile, there is so much you can do with it. Here are some resin art ideas you lot tin can do – check out our in-depth tutorials for these art projects:

• Resin Jewelry
• Resin Casting
• Resin Lamp
• Epoxy Resin River Tables
• Preserve Flowers in Resin
• Resin Coasters
• Resin Tumblers
• Create your own Resin Dices
• Epoxy Bar Tops
• Epoxy Countertops
• 3D Epoxy Floor

Bottom Line

As you tin can see, the creation of a resin Epoxy painting is quite time-consuming and requires a lot of preparation. But if you concur a successful resin Artwork in your easily, you will see: It was more than worth it!

For beginners, I tin can definitely recommend attending a resin course. There yous will acquire to understand the technique from the ground upwards – with all its peculiarities and precautions. Y'all will be accompanied step by step through the individual phases: From grooming and design to cleaning and post-processing.

Accept fun experimenting with resin!

Ofttimes Asked Questions

Is Resin Fine art Expensive?

Aye, Resin Art can be quite an expensive hobby. That'southward mainly because the Epoxy Resin can exist plush if y'all create bigger Resin artworks. That'southward why besides buying Resin Art pieces tin cost a good amount of money.

Why Resin Fine art is Bad?

Epoxy resin has many great properties, only at the same time, it's also a downside: Technically y'all create art out of plastic, so it'southward not the virtually environmentally friendly blazon of art. Likewise, as long as the resin is in its liquid grade, it'south toxic and should exist handled with care.

What is the Deviation betwixt Art Resin and Casting Resin?

The difference between Fine art Resin and Casting Resin is the purpose: Fine art Resin, which is more described as Coating Resin is for creating surfaces, is thicker and hardens faster. Casting Resin is for deeper pours, for instance resin tables or molds.

Patricia Jaggi

Although Patricia Jaggi has been enthusiastic about painting since her youth, she discovered her truthful passion a few years ago with Resin Epoxy Fine art. After studying economics, she worked as a business consultant and every bit a scientist, which left her piddling time for painting. Later the birth of her children she allowed herself more freedom to exist artistically agile again. Today she works with various techniques in her studio in Basel – her great love, nevertheless, is resin art. She was fascinated past the luminosity of the paintings and their depth result. It is her wish to arouse enthusiasm and positive feelings in the viewer through her paintings also. Since Patricia wants to share her joy and her noesis about resin art with others, she now also offers courses.

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www.pj-resinart.ch

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Source: https://acrylgiessen.com/en/resin-epoxy-art-basics-for-your-first-steps-in-resin-art/

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