What is Masking Fluid ?
Masking fluid (often called “liquid frisket” or “drawing gum”) is one of the most transformative tools in artists’ studio. If you’re new to watercolor, think of it as a temporary shield that protects specific areas of your paper from paint, allowing you to preserve crisp whites, intricate details, or layered textures effortlessly.It can be used for watercolor, gouache painting, ink, illustration, arts projects & crafts supplies drawing.
How To Use ?
Masking fluid is a liquid latex-based solution with a milky consistency. When applied to watercolor paper, it dries into a rubbery film that repels water and pigment . Once your painting is complete, you simply rub or peel it off to reveal untouched paper beneath. Imagine wanting to paint a stormy sky but needing to keep tiny raindrops or stars perfectly white—masking fluid makes this possible without tedious brush control.
Drying Speed
The drying speed of the watercolor masking liquid is related to the thickness of the fluid applied. The thicker the application, the slower the drying. It is recommended to apply it as thinly as possible.
Widely Use
It can be used in watercolor paper,glass,cardboard and canvas boards.
My wife uses this for an art class that she takes. She needed to get some more so I got this for her. It was half the price of the brand she used before and she said it works GREAT!
I had a class assignment to use masking fluid in multiple ways with various tools and purchased this wonderful fluid because it was far more affordable than other brands.I discovered this is AWESOME masking fluid and I’ll be replacing my fluid with this brand!
I found the masking fluid didn’t pull up a bit of paper and came off easily. I watered the masking fluid down significantly, again to test different tools for his assignment, and even at its thinnest, the masking fluid pulled up fine. (NOTE: I accidentally left the letter “r” out of the word brayer in error in the notes above.)
By the way, all forms of masking fluid will pull up watercolor if you use it over some watercolors. Just keep your palette of mixed colors to touch up areas (this is in response to someone’s complaint). If you don’t allow the paper or fluid to dry completely before and after using masking fluid, or are using sub-standard paper, it will pull the paper up every time. Don’t be tempted to hurry the drying process by using a hairdryer on the masking fluid. I’ve seen it cause the mask to pull paper up when removing it.
These bottles come with a foil seal to ensure the fluid is fresh when it arrives.
Trick: after closing your bottles of masking fluid tightly, turn the bottle upside down to store it. An old artist shared this tip and it has worked beautifully for me. I’ve never had any masking fluid set up in the bottle.