The conservator-restorer through using B72 Retouching Gels can easily retouch/inpaint missing paint and reconstruct large areas on paintings executed with the use of a palette knife or spatula. For retouching/inpainting a small diamond shaped spatula is the best tool.

Fast - Hard 25 Si. Fast - Heavy 20 and Slow - Heavy 20 B72 Retouching Gels are recommended for painting with a palette knife. Fast drying gels should be used for painting thick layers and high impastos. Paint with a slow drying gel can be used for extensive reconstructions and should be applied in thinner layers.

The same principles apply to painting with a palette knife or spatula as apply to painting with impastos. Paint for heavy impastos and textures should be rich in pigment in order to avoid shrinkage and subsequent cracking during the drying process. Light 10 and Very Light 7.5 gels should not be used for painting with a palette knife. Having a false body made mainly of solvent they are comparable with the traditional megilp. The resulting thick paint layer and textures will crack and be brittle.

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‘Watermelon’ painted with Fast - Hard 25 Si. Fast - Heavy 20 and Slow - Heavy 20 B72 Retouching Gels.

Because of the high viscosity of the gels special attention has to be paid to the proper dispersion of pigments in the medium. Paint containing agglomerates of pigment particles will dry with a rough surface. Such a result can be avoided by grinding pigment with gel for longer and more vigorously or by premixing pigments with a standard solution of Paraloid B72 or solvent.

The drying of freshly applied impastos and thick layers of paint should not be speeded up by blowing hot air. Fresh B72 Retouching Gels have a sharp melting point about Cº 50 (depending on the gel). Heating the paint to melting point temperature will result in sudden meltdown.

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