Sunshine Enamels…help! color burns out

Q

I am using your Sunshine Enamels for painting. I love them and their bold colors, but occasionally I have noticed that a color isn’t as bold as usual or the color burns out a little. What could be causing that?? Help!

Signed
Muted, instead of Bold

A

Dear Muted, instead of Bold

These paints are known for their bold color. You can always choose to make them more muted by adding white, but no one wants a bold color to unintentionally be muted. So I have three possible solutions for you. It could be any of the one of the three or a combination of all three.

1. I use A-14 as my binder. I mix this with my enamel to a yummilisious honey or molasses paint consistency. Sometimes, you can mix too much binder with the enamel. The color still looks just fine, but there isn’t enough enamel to binder ratio, so the color just burns out or becomes muted.

2. Make sure you aren’t adding water to your paint unintentionally, with a wet paintbrush. After you rinse your paintbrush in water, don’t forgot to dry it with a paper towel, before you go back in to the paint. If there is added water, it will “water down” the enamel color and make the color more likely to burn off, thus appearing more muted.

3. Many people, including me, place any leftover paint into little plastic jars to use later. You can reconstitute your leftover paints and use them for years. However, if you are using reconstituted paint, make sure you mix the paint thoroughly, before painting with it. If you take paint from the top, visually it still looks ok, but the enamels are fine granules and they float to the bottom. So, make sure to mix thoroughly.

Hope this gets you Back to Bold!!

Images Shown

Upper:  Muted, Burned Out Color

Lower:  Bold Color

Left Column:  Red/Yellow

Right Column: Purple/White

 

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