Painter and illustrator Laura Bifano demonstrates her use of three different kinds of friskets and how they can be used with any water-based medium
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Laura is an illustrator and production artist from Vancouver, BC. She’s worked in film, TV and on children’s books. See more at www.laurabifano.com.
Laura Bifano demonstrates three different kinds of friskets and how they can be used with any water-based medium.
Calling something a frisket essentially means that the object or substance prevents paint from going where you don’t want it to go. Because I work mainly in gouache, this month’s instalment will cover the use of friskets with this medium, but these techniques could also be applied when using watercolour and acrylic.
When working with any waterbased media it’s sometimes necessary to mask out certain areas of the painting – say, if I wanted to have some brushstrokes continue across a broken shape. It’s also handy for masking out small details without having to worry about painting around them. One good example is if I were using the white of the paper as specular highlights in an image. While you can paint these effects by hand, using a mask will save a lot of time and effort. I use friskets to preserve an area of the paper for a bright highlight, or to keep a crisp edge on an area of colour.
There are three types of friskets I’ll typically use when painting with gouache: liquid frisket, frisket film and good ol’ masking tape.
Liquid frisket is meant specifically for gouache and watercolour, but it does have its limitations. To fill in the gaps, I use painter’s tape and frisket film. Both are meant for industrial painting and airbrush, respectively, but are very useful when used with gouache. These three materials each have their advantages and drawbacks, which I list below, and then explore across the following three pages.
1 Frisket film
Frisket film is an adhesivebacked plastic that you stick to the surface of your painting. The upside of this stuff is that it’s clear, easy to reposition, and enables you to mask out large areas of an image all at once. I use Grafix’s All Purpose LowTack frisket for working on a smooth paper, and its Extra Tack frisket for working on more toothy surfaces.
2 Liquid frisket
Liquid frisket is a mixture of natural latex and ammonia. Latex, in its raw form, is a natural rubbery secretion produced by some plants. Liquid frisket can be applied with a brush or crow quill nib, or through a pen applicator. Unlike with frisket paper or tape, you can achieve some expressive, painterly mark-making.
3 Masking tape
I like to use masking tape for blocking out smaller areas of the painting. The main advantages of using tape are that it’s cheap, widely available, and comes with a straight edge! I use Scotch Low-Tack Painter’s Tape, which can be found in pretty much any hardware store.
Drawbacks: The main limitation of this film is that it doesn’t hold up well under a heavy wash. The best-use scenario is as a mask for thicker, more juicy applications of paint or a drybrush.
Before applying the film, make sure that the surface of your paper is completely dry, otherwise the glue will stick to the surface of the painting. It can be removed with an eraser or a scalpel, but it’s painstaking work and best to be avoided. Lightly score the outline of your mask using a pen knife, taking care not to cut the surface of the painting itself, and then remove the areas of the film where the paint will be applied.
When using a frisket film with gouache, I’ve had the best results by applying it directly on top of an unpainted surface or a thin wash. This stuff will lift any thicker applications of paint right off the surface of the paper. It works best when used on top of acrylic, which has a more durable surface.
Drawbacks: I wouldn’t recommend using liquid frisket for straight edges because it’s difficult to apply with that much precision. It’s also not great for covering large areas, and can only be left on the paper for between one and two weeks before it discolours the surface.
Make sure that the surface of your paper is dry before applying the liquid frisket. If it’s applied to a damp surface then it can bond with the fibres of the paper and become almost impossible to remove.
Take care when applying this stuff with a brush, because it’ll jam up the ferrule and ruin the bristles. Definitely don’t use your sable! It can easily be removed with an eraser, pen knife or even by hand.
Drawbacks: Unlike frisket film, most painter’s tape will keep a clean edge when a heavy wash is applied on top of it. It’s what I use when masking out the edges of my paintings, and I achieve a clean edge every time. The drawback of using tape is that it’s not great for large areas or subsequent applications over the same surface. No matter the brand, each time you pull the tape off, it’ll take a microscopic layer of paint and paper off with it. While this isn’t noticeable the first couple of times, it can degrade your painting surface if overused.
If you’re careful you can cut out any desired shape from the tape. As with frisket film, just score it lightly with your pen knife and take care not to cut the painting surface itself. Of course, since it’s an opaque frisket, extra care is needed to make sure you’re cutting the right outline.
Some brands of tape are more tacky than others and can completely lift up paint applications or layers of paper. Test out a swatch before you begin larger areas of masking. Painter’s tape can be hard on a lot of surfaces, so I wouldn’t recommend using tape on any ‘student’ paper or watercolour paper rated less than 140lb.