all dried out...

  What's wrong with this picture?  #1, everything is drying out at the same rate.  One of my art paint cans says the surface will be too dry to retouch in 28 seconds... I thing it's more like 18... You go back to the first corner you started to paint one minute ago and if you touch it with a brush you will find that your brush will leave marks that disturb the already dry finish.

Keep in mind, your brushes are drying that fast also. The black brush in this picture was used 3 minutes ago. How hard will it be to clean that paint out?  The small paint can in the middle is drying as we speak. The large can is drying just as fast and you are going to be disapointed next time you open it.

I set this up as an illustration for several reasons.  #1, don't paint from large cans.  Transfer some paint to a much smaller container and close that big one up for next month.  When the smaller container gets about one quarter used, add some Flotrol to improve the paint performance and stretch your supply. Then cap it up asap when you are finished with it.  Clean those brushes when you are finished with each one to keep them fresh. or... I keep a water bottle handy to put that first brush in while I go on to brush and color #2.  Then I take them both to the sink to clean.

Happy painting!

Jeff