STAINING VS. NON-STAINING (LIFTABLE)

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Staining may be rated 1 (non - staining, therefore liftable or completely removable once dry) to 4 (highly staining). Phthalo colours are generally very staining colours. Cobalt colours are very liftable. Staining colours can be excellent if you are using glazes to build up a painting. Liftable colours are useful for laying down a wash and lifting out highlights or leaf veins and so on. To test your colours, paint a small wash with a range from dark to light tone, allow to dry, and the use a fairly stiff damp brush to gently 'scrub' a section of the paint and dab with paper towel. Repeat gently but don't overdo it or you will damage the paper. If you can get back to white paper you have a non-staining colour. If some of the colour still shows on the paper it is a staining colour. - JB

Staining Properties

Paints can also have low, moderate, or high staining properties. This is a measure of how well the paint fixes to the paper. For example, a low staining paint will easily “lift off” the paper (this kind of paint is known as fugitive). Conversely, a high staining paint remains stubbornly on the surface and is difficult to budge! - WA