DFX Black vs Wolfe Black?

So I spent the tip money I earned at my cousin's 4th of July party on some new and replacement paint... some from the Forum shop.. some from other places depending on availability... and it's all starting to come in. For some reason (curiosity I guess) I decided to order a Wolfe black when I've been using the DFX from the original palette I bought. The new wolfe black cake came today and it is frustrating me to no end.

I can't believe I could already be so used to a certain type of paint that trying a new one would give me so much trouble. It seems to be much um... gooey-er (yes, that's the technical term) and it seems to clump up on my brush. I can't seem to pull a decent line at all (not that my lines are all that great to start with but they were better than they've been today).

I've been messing around with it for a few hours and felt like I was constantly having to go over lines. Opened up my DFX black cake, squirted it once with water, and pulled about a dozen swirly lines like it was nothing... easy peasy.

Any tips from Wolfe users?

~Hoo

Dear Hoodat Whatzit:
Both DF/X and Wolfe Black can get goopy in the heat and humidity. I place my goopy paint in a food dehydrator on the lowest setting overnight, and it has been restored!
I have now switched to Global Strong Black... and I LOVE it!
xoxox

Hmm.. perhaps it needs to recover from being shipped?

I find that it goes goopy fast if you spray it. Just dip your brush in water and then activate the cake.

Thanks for the info! The new Wolfe cake seemed to do much better after letting it rest overnight. Only using water in the brush made a huge difference also.

Tried my hand at copying a tribal dragon. The first one was much too big but was not horrendous considering I was copying from an image on my ipad. After that attempt, I printed out the reverse image and tried keep it smaller. Much happier!

nice! i use wolfe black and white and like them.

i did find there is a "sweet spot" of wetness where they work best. it's a bit more fluid than i would have guessed, but before they become runny.

i dip my brush in water, then swipe back and forth on the cake. it  ends up making a little trough where it's wetter, and i load the paint from there.

that way the whole cake doesn't get soaked. and if i need to dry the brush out a bit after it's loaded, i drag it over a drier part of the cake.

most face paints look and work better on plain skin than over a base, as plain skin is usually dry (or drier).

but i've found the best tip for working with any face paint is to have a really good brush to start with. some of the cheaper brushes i got for practice make wolfe look almost as bad as snazaroo for linework.

Thanks jlirie! I know what you mean about the sweet spot. To me it Wolfe seems to want to be slightly wetter than the DFX. I now have a trough in my cake too.

My Starblends have mostly arrived now (except the elusive red) so yesterday I started playing on my arm to see how it blends. I did some orange yellow and white and was practicing tiger stripes. I think I'm going to like the Starblends down here in the Florida heat.

I'm in desperate need for some kids! I think I need to go kidnap my cousins girls for a day. Lunch and a movie in exchange for a few hours of playing practice canvas. They are like 9, 11, and 15... perfect for trying out a range of designs. LOL

beware, other face painters have found the novelty factor wears off quickly with kids, and then you actually have to kidnap them or something your bribe should work for now.

some people go to parks and practice on kids who are interested there.