Watercolor entertainment XD

[eller]

This is for your amusement! A tube of watercolor that's a) old (the company hasn't been using this tube design in 12 years, so this thing is at least that old) and b) was stored with the cap not entirely closed. So, I want to make clear that what happened to this poor tube of paint was not the manufacturer's fault. It's not a quality issue. Anyway - I got this (and some other art supplies in questionable state) from a friend who apparently used it in some tentative painting attempts, then stored it and forgot about it. I was, of course, overjoyed to take someone else's trash. (I'm North German, after all! This can still be used!)



So, what do we have here? YES! It's completely dry! This is actually quite impressive and not something I've seen before. (It's much better than half-dry, which always causes a huge mess.) This enabled me te get all the paint out of the tube... By cutting the tube away! XDD (By the way: this is not a case for a good knife; this is what cheap boxcutters are for.)



I was able to, ahem, surgically remove the dried-up paint, roll it up (thanks to the gum arabic in the binder, it's elastic enough) and cram it into pans. (I used a few drops of water in the pan to glue the paint in once that dried.) I'm glad to inform you all that, hey, it works just fine! I mean, it's no different than refilling a pan from a tube in a more conventional manner, right? XD Anyway. This is a perfectly fine (well, if you are as good at ignoring aesthetics as I am) two half-pans of good PV23, and I fully intend to use them!

Comments

[amberdreams]

Heh heh, I've done that with some of my more ancient tube paints after neglecting them for umpteen years. They work just fine!

[eller]

I've never had a tube last quite so long! XD But, yes, the paint works fine. :)

[mekare]

Yay for good friends who give you useful stuff! I think the oldest paints that are still in use are from a box of Pelikan gouache colours that I got…um… around 1999? And now my daughter uses them with no problem.