Genesis Heat-Set Oils Painting Tips

Here are a few tips that will make your painting work a little easier and help you to achieve your art goals.

1. Thoroughly 'cream' (mix well with your metal palette knife) your paints before trying to pick them up on your brush. Since the Genesis paints are thixatropic, this needs to be done each time you haven't used a color for about 15 minutes or so. The paints set up and are stiff if they haven't been worked often. Once I began doing this my painting has come along just fine.
   
   
2. Be sure to use the drying gun properly, hold it about 1" above an area and count 1001 (one thousand one), 1002, 1003, etc. till you reach 1012. Now move the gun over about 2" to 3" and repeat. Do this till you've covered the entire painting. You should be able to feel the heat through to the back of your surface to the point that it's "too hot to handle". If the paint isn't well dried it will tend to lift if you begin to do another layer especially if you are using the glazing medium. (I speak from experience on this one.)
   
   
3. Be VERY careful when using the drying gun. The air nozzle will reach about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot enough to do some real harm to human skin! Before laying the gun down, click the trigger once and let the cool air blow for a few seconds. This should keep you from accidentally burning yourself, your work table or scorching anything that may be under the gun when you lay it down. This will also cool the heating coils so that they aren't so brittle and may be accidental broken when you lay the gun down. Have an old towel there to cushion it.
   
   
4. If you plan to do an antiquating technique be sure to bake your project first to cure it completely. I've used my kitchen oven set at 265 degrees F. and set the timer at 10 minutes. If you've applied your paint thickly you will want to let it bake longer. Test for doneness by using a little bit of glazing medium on a soft cloth and rub hard along one edge of your painting. No more than 1/4 inch in from the edge (this is the normal width of a frames inset edge.) If the paint is lifting then re-bake it and add a few minutes (about 5) to the timing. I let my project cool completely before proceeding.
   
   
5. If you are using the original formula of Glazing Medium, be extra careful with the paint to medium ratio! You will never get it to dry if you have exceeded the 40% Medium to 60% paint ratio. This product is being fazed out and in place there is now the "Glazing Gel". With this wonderful new formula you do not have to be concerned at all about the ratio. Makes for marvelous glazes as sheer as you want them to be. Heat set as you normally would.
   
   
6. I've also discovered that the New Glazing Gel makes a wonderful final finish over our designs instead of varnish. Most Especially on ceramic and porcelain surfaces. Just brush on the Glazing Gel in a smooth thin application being sure you don't leave any ridges or brush strokes showing. Then heat-set as usual. Leaves a lovely satin finish.
   
   
7. From experience I've found it's best to lay down a prep coat of DecoArt MultiPurpose Sealer mixed with DecoArt American Acrylic color as a base for your Genesis paints. This is especially true on unglazed Porcelain and glass objects. This prep will assure your paints will heat dry with little trouble on any surface.
   
   
8. You may use a good basic Gesso as a base prep for many surfaces that you wish to paint with your Genesis paints. Use this on any porous surface.

Typical Genesis Heat Set Oils Palette Example

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