Painting on latex....?

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[Phexxie]
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Location: Liverpool, UK

Painting on latex....?

Post by [Phexxie] » Fri May 20, 2011 8:59 pm

im hoping to start making my own latex clothing soon in the hopes of slowly expanding into my own business

i have some ideas for a few dresses that involve designs that are far too intricate and small to attempt with the applique method without a lot of mess and probably a lot of messed up wasted latex, so painting them on would work much better!
i am VERY new to latex construction, so im hoping someone can give me some guidance?

the obvious answer to me is to use coloured liquid latex, but having used this a lot in the past for various art/SFX projects i know that i can peel and rub off slick surfaces... not something i want if i have painstakingly painted a design on! however, i dont know how it would behave when used on latex sheeting
i will likely need to paint on quite thick, enough so that there are no visible brush marks, bare patches etc.
i dont know if any actual standard paints would be appropriate to use, im going to guess not though

the problem with latex is, of course, the expense, so i cant really afford to make loads of mistakes while experimenting with different methods

any ideas??

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Lilinth
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Re: Painting on latex....?

Post by Lilinth » Sat May 21, 2011 2:36 pm

you can paint on latex with liquid latex, its actually possible to use it as a glue for some of the thinner sheeting (awfully messy and wouldnt advise) so it will stick as it vulcanises...
you'd have to give it a bloody long time before you even attempted stretching the latex though, a good 24 hours just left alone :(
i've managed it before, it's quite tricky as obviously it starts drying quite quickly and turns into that peely mess as you work with it, and its too thick for small squeezy tubes. you could easily 'write' with a bigger squeezy bottle like the ketchup/mustard ones you get at takeaways...i guess to practice (as the liquid latex is cheaper) you could just cover a table or something with foil/clingfilm to see about speed and thickness and whatnot....
/emmy x

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[Phexxie]
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Location: Liverpool, UK

Re: Painting on latex....?

Post by [Phexxie] » Mon May 23, 2011 12:02 pm

yea, its the quick drying that worries me lol
i think im getting some samples from someone soon so i might give it a go and see what happens :)

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iamdolleyes
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Re: Painting on latex....?

Post by iamdolleyes » Tue May 24, 2011 6:15 pm

if you're doing research on this, you may want to consider researching through special effects type forums, perhaps even hobbyist movie replica forums as there is a lot of latex costuming that happens there and not all latex is created equal. I'm not really familiar with that side of costuming, so I can't really help you out...but I'm sure that's the place to go for consumer (as opposed to manufacturer) type information on creating latex wear from liquids
i like my coffee black
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