Hand brushed painting with new "Dropper" bottles

[S M 1962]

Forgive me if I sound silly but do these new dropper bottles open up to allow a brush to be used like a proper paint pot? It seems I am the only human on this planet who does NOT spray their paint.

[null_null981707818191]

As a kindred brush-painter, I use the dropper bottles (admittedly by Vallejo - but I guess they are more or less the same) by shaking the bottle very thoroughly, then squeezing a few drops out onto a plastic pallette. That gives me the option of using the paint 'neat', or adding a few drops of water, and I can always refresh the paint in the palette by adding a few more drops. There doesn't seem to be significant wastage - and no air-brush nozzle to clean! It also means that I can mix various shades to get (hopefully!) the right colour...

With Vallejo bottles, you can wiggle the nozzle out (and push it back in when you've finished). That would allow conventional brush dipping I suppose.

[Ratch]

When brushing dropper bottle acrylics, I use a pallet, much for the reasons stated.

[Dominic Thomas]

I have been using dropper bottles for a fair while now. I like the almost zero waste, the ease of initial mixing, the ability

to add direct to the brush bristles (as opposed to the shaft and then the fingers and then the clothes, etc). Where I need more volume, I add drops direct to the required area on the plane.

I have also not had paint in these bottles solidify when unused for a while. That was a frequent problem with tins, pots, and minipots (as found in starter sets).

[SD45elect2000]

I have a session of figure painting coming up very soon. I’ll be using a few dropper bottles for sure. I like them , as stated here I’ll use a pallet.

Randall

[RougeTrooper]

Plus if you use a wet pallet it keeps the paint alive for longer, also giving you an option of blending colours for shading.

[Richard-368268]

Hi,

I only hand brush too. I find with painting figures, very small ones for 1,72, well what I do is give the bottle a very good shake and then usually when opened a droplet will appear at the top which you can use, if not you can squeeze and it normally will appear after shaking, then usually one or two of those (or if it runs out you can stick your brush a little way in) will do the area you need on the figure (usually one for a small area). I know it sounds like a fath but I find it really simple and nothing gets wasted.

For larger areas I put a few drops into a little tub (I don't have a palette yet), like the top you get from a tablet bottle, or anything that size, I've cut in half little tiny plastic bottles and all sorts, lids are good too. I can't get the top off the dropper bottles either, so had to work out my own method and I find it no problem. All the best,

Rich :)