Thursday, June 24, 2010

Useful People and Tools





I think my internet woes might just be over! Today, the 4th technician from our new internet provider made his way to our home, and spent the morning figuring out what might be the reason our internet continually was down or cutting out. He did several things, and since he has left, there has BEEN NO PROBLEM!!!!!!!!!! I could weep with relief!!!!!!! He was indeed a useful person.

So, now I can begin blogging again, and e-mailing, and researching, and visiting other sites, and - and - and.... I had no idea how dependent I have become on the internet until it was not available to me. Okay - enough about all of that. After 6 weeks of frustration, it is finally over (I hope).

I thought I would show you what I consider to be one of the most inexpensive yet useful tools ever!

For my oil paintings, I use a sheet of glass as my palette, covering it with saran wrap in between painting sessions. By the time I am finished a painting, there can be quite a mess to get off the glass, and it is really difficult unless you have this handy little razor blade holder. This one cost me under $4, and it came with a package of blades.

Once the blade is locked in place, you simply scrape the dried paint into a roll, and lift it off the glass with a palette knife, then into your oil paint garbage container. (I use an old dog treats bucket with a tight fitting lid.) I struggled with getting old paint off the palette before discovering this tool - so I want to save you that struggle. This is one of the best small investments you will make if you are an oil painter. :-) Oh yah - I bought it at Home Depot.

4 comments:

Jala Pfaff said...

I use the exact same thing. Gotta be sooo careful with replacing the blade, though--it always scares me.

Unknown said...

Oh yes - for sure! Those blades are small and sharp! Very careful...don't want blood mixing with my colors.
:-)

Anonymous said...

Forced incommunicado is awful and getting back on the track is such the antithesis.

So glad you're back.

That's a great tool- the man at our Motor Vehicle office just used it to scrape last year's sticker off the windshield. I asked him if he would do it for me for the same reasons that Jala mentioned.

Unknown said...

Hi Bonnie! I am glad to "be back" also! Yes - it is a handy tool, but takes getting used to for sure in order to change blades safely. It does lock into position, but I still use it with caution. Still - haven't found anything that works quite as well for removing old paint. :-)