working with UV paints

I love the look of the neon paints and I have purchased all of the TAG colors from the Forum Shop. The only color I don't have is white, but I didn't see any TAG white neon there so that is why. I don't have a black light so I really purchased them to make my design colors pop. I have been practicing with them, but alone they are so sheer and don't look very good in regular light. I have been painting the design first and then painting over it with the neons. It is very time consuming. Does anyone mix the colors or is painting over them the best way? I have seen on here that most think a sponge is the best method for painting with the neon colors. I have been brushing them on over the design and it seems to work fine, although the consistency is like painting with Elmers school glue. The January contest really peaked my interest also in this area. Any advice is welcome. This is one design I have done so far with the neons.

Yeah - neons of any brand always stink with brushwork.

And regarding neons, there are really only two main consistencies to work with: Lucky Brand face paints (TAG, DFX, Wolfe, Eulenspiegel etc.) and Kryolan. Both are sucky with a brush except for maybe accent dots.

On a gig, the only way I would use them for the base coat of cheek art or arm art (like in the above) is to use a sponge with them. And even then it probably won't be easy. You have to really know how to manipulate the sponge well to get it to make the base of the cheek art solid enough and small enough and shaped well enough (etc.) to look good.

So, while I love neons for sponge work they are crap for brush work.


~Heff

Thanks for the advice. I think I willl keep practicing. I kind of like the look of the UV over the base of the regular color. It really made it alot brighter and it did look better in person than on camera. The camera kind of washes it out. I am just having fun and trying to learn how to use all the paints I can. I don't live in an area where there are night clubs or anything that would give me a market for using the neons for a black light situation. I want them for that pop of color.

fluttersby wrote:

That is so great! I can't wait to see it under black light. Soo sooo pretty.

yup they are horrible to work with a brush..I ethier use a chisel for small areas or sponge for bases, Wolfe dont blend at all. I love Kryolan their colors are so vibrant. I only use white for line work, swirls etc or when I use stencils .

That looks amazing! Does anyone know how well it glows if you use it over a base?

you can even mix regular colours and neon on your sponge and it will glow!...you can even put thin white over a regular colour...you can only see it under blacklight!

michellesfantasyfaces wrote:you can even mix regular colours and neon on your sponge and it will glow!...you can even put thin white over a regular colour...you can only see it under blacklight!

Awesome... any brand????

Mirandas wrote:

michellesfantasyfaces wrote:you can even mix regular colours and neon on your sponge and it will glow!...you can even put thin white over a regular colour...you can only see it under blacklight!

Awesome... any brand????

dFX at least..it's the only one I have...

Michelle, that's great to know. I've been playing with the neons this week. I also agree that sponging is best. I did paint a tribal that looked good under back light, but not so great(very streaky looking) under normal light.

I hate my Wolfe Blue...so sheer...

Wolfe neon blue doesn't glow under black light. There are a few colors that were pulled & were replaced w/ non-UV paints. I can't remember which ones.

Psalmbook wrote:Wolfe neon blue doesn't glow under black light. There are a few colors that were pulled & were replaced w/ non-UV paints. I can't remember which ones.

No wonder...It sucks! I will have to buy me a Kryolan..have a gig tomorrow using all neons..

I wish I had had a black light to see if/how that design glowed. I used pastel colors under the UV ones. The coverage looked pretty good, it just took a long time because I was basically painting it twice and then the linework. A girl at work is going to give me a black light so I am going to be doing more and experimenting with it.

and I forgot to say thank you for the compliments. I don't post my designs much because I don't have kids to practice on. I have been mostly practicing cheek/body art kind of stuff that I can paint on myself. At the few gigs I have done, no one wants full face, they want cheek art for some reason. I always hear "It's not Halloween." I guess you never can tell and some things are regional and depend on the area you live in.