OK, so let’s say you’ve made your lump of paint (not a teaspoonful as the books so wrongly say). You’ve also discovered the benefits of diluting it a little at a time to make the consistency and darkness of paint that you need for your next sequence of brush-strokes.

And then it’s time to stop for the day.

But when you return, of course your lump of paint is dry. Really dry. Dry as a bone in fact.

What do you do to bring it back to life?

Dried paint: how do you save it?

Maybe you too, like an Israeli colleague of ours – Ilana Fried – have met this problem.

Here’s what Ilana wrote and asked us:

We live in a warm and dry climate where the paint dries in no time at all. This is sometimes very nice e.g. when you don’t have to wait long for the first layer to dry before you apply the second one.

But the downside is that the lump dries overnight – even when I follow your advice and seal it with a wet inverted earthenware cup.

Once the lump is dry like this, I can get the paint wet again, but I cannot get a good lump. Can you show me us how to deal with a lump of paint that has dried up?”

Gladly.

Just watch the short video demonstration and see how it’s done.

Please note: this video dates from 2010, when we were just starting to get the hang of video. So I hope you’ll excuse the lower resolution than we use these days.

Ilana mentioned covering the paint with a wet sponge and then sealing it with a jar or something similar.

• You can also store your glass paint in small air-tight Tupperware sandwich boxes.
• Also add some water or a wet sponge.
• Then put the box in a cool, dark place.

When you need it again, just spoon the paint back onto your palette and re-mix it as needed.

Best,