Artists Share Their Tips For Working With Resin

Lately, I’ve been falling so in love with resin. It creates an absolutely stunning finish on artwork. It also makes incredibly beautiful art when you mix pigments, resin tints, inks, or paint into your resin. You can also achieve some really awesome effects. Learning how to work with resin can be a little tricky, So I rounded up some of the resin art pros to share their tips!

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Amy Murry is known for her stunning unique resin art. Heres what she shared:

• Prep.Prep.Prep- Whether it’s a wood panel or a canvas prep your substrate and then prep it again. It’s the least fun part of creating (at least for me) but it’s so important. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to make a beautiful piece only to see imperfections as a result of improper or lack of prep. I use two layers of acrylic gesso and then do a layer of under painting with acrylics or spray paint…or a combination of both before I ever pour my resin.
• Swipe It- To create lacing and cells in resin…swipe it. Just use strips of wax paper to lightly drag white over your other colors, hit it with some heat and watch the magic happen.
• Hair Dryer-Use the attachment that comes with your hair dryer (the one most of us toss out)…it acts to funnel the air and move your resin. Just use high heat and low speed. 

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Karen Cain is known for beautiful resin art that she covers in crystals in glitter. Heres what she shared:

• Art Resin is my go to, It’s a high quality resin, no VOC, and has good UV protection to help against yellowing, the working time is about 45 minutes.
• New for me is Stonecoat Resin, Art Coat and Countertop  Stonecoat Epoxy Resin I really like it , it’s a bit thicker, long work time, around 45 minutes to an hour ! Heat and scratch resistant and Ultra UV protection in the Art Coat, zero VOCI love using their base coat to achieve cells and wonderful effects,  I’m a fan so far and can wait to play with it more.
• My go to for beautiful glitters and super cool stones is  @justforyouonlineuk absolutely an amazing company and the glitter color range is awesome! The glitters seem to have a 3dimentional effect with depth, I can’t say enough about this company!! shipping is quick too.
• I always use Frog Tape on my art panels, both on the sides and underneath, I always get clean edges.
• I also just found folding table risers on Amazon that you simply slip on the bottom of the table legs and it raises your table to counter height! This really relieves back ache from leaning over your art!
• I also wrap my heat gun handle loosely with “Press and Seal” wrap to keep the sticky resin off the heat gun.
• One of my favorite tips is, I paint popsicle sticks with each acrylic color and also my Glitters and label the backside with the product information. I can pick out my color pallets easily this way.

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Flat Land Artistry is a mother-daughter duo They are known for their beautiful geode inspired resin art. Heres what they shared:

• One of the most frequent questions we get is how we keep our geode lines from bleeding into one another or traveling all over the place. I think one of the the largest factors here is making sure your substrate is perfectly level. A leveling tool is a MUST for successful resin geode art. These are available in various sizes so you may want to invest in a few depending on the scale of your art. Remember to check all directions. Also, the material you are working on makes a difference here as well. Canvas can sag toward the center with the weight of resin unless you have a well stretched canvas. The higher the quality, the less risk of this happening. We prefer working on MDF for geodes so we have a perfectly flat surface.
• Priming your substrate is very important for more reasons than one. If an MDF board is not primed prior to pouring your resin, the moisture from the resin will cause the board to bow and your piece to be ruined. We recommend using a paint/primer in one and use at least two coats front and back. Priming also ensures a proper foundation for your resin to adhere to.
• Your clients may wonder how to properly care for their piece. We recommend any non-abrasive household cleaner such as Simply Green used with a soft cloth or chamois. If the piece becomes dull, Murphy’s Oil can be used on occasion but avoid overuse as this may cause a film.

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Jessica Moore
Artists Share their Resin Tips 

• If it’s 80% humidity outside or higher, and you leave windows open, I recommend you just don’t resin or you will have about 5 minutes of working time.  If you work anyway, any ink you add is going to burn and will not lace. This is when you just play with color…not lacing. 
•  If it’s 80% humidity or higher outside and you leave your windows open to air out after you’re done resining, your piece will most likely dent and ripple. Sometimes this still looks ok and can give your piece movement; if you don’t like this, or there’s only a dent here and there, sand it down and pour a clear coat when the humidity is down to 79% or lower.  Invest in a high quality VOC filter and shut the windows. 
• I have never achieved lacing effects when the humidity was higher than 75%, no matter the temperature. 
• If the temperature is 70 degrees F or below, but the humidity is still at 80% or higher, you will get bubbles that form ever after you’ve finished resining.  BIG bubbles!
• In conclusion, from my experience, humidity has a greater effect than temperature on my resin paintings. Ideal is 75% humidity or lower. 

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Taylor Pendleton that’s me! Here are my tips:

• You can find a supply list with all my recommended  products here: https://happilyevercrafty.com/resin-art-supplies/
• If your using pigment or dyes in your resin add a small amount and go from there. A little usually goes a long way.
• I find pouring my resin out of a smaller cup gives me more control.
• I always have silicone molds ready for use so none of my resin goes to waste. 
• I like to move my resin around with a silicone spatula 
• I mix and measure my resin in a plastic measuring cup and then flip the cup over when I’m done and the resin comes right off when it’s cured. This works with Counter Culture DIY and Ecopoxy. I also have a silicone measuring cup that works good! 
• Don’t store your resin in a cold places it will change the viscosity of the resin. 
• Make sure while mixing your resin to scrape the bottom, sides, and stir sick continuously while mixing.
• If you want to put flowers in your resin they need to be dried. You can seal them with a spray sealer to prevent discoloration.

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Kasie Schultz is known for her pretty geode inspired resin art. Heres what she shared:

• ALWAYS WEAR GLOVES!○ This may seem self-explanatory but good God resin is sticky and will stay on your skin for days if you get it on your skin
• Have a prepped and clean working area. Make sure the floor of the area you’re working on is covered because resin completely ruins carpeting & floors.
• Allow the resin time to come to a warm temperature before pouring it, this gives it time to raise the air bubbles to the top of the container. Always mix the resin fully according to the manufacturer’s instructions
• Find color combination inspiration from watching shows that feature home decor
• Use a heat gun once your resin is poured!!!○ This allows the air bubbles to rise and gives it a perfect finish○ Use back and forth motions with the heat gun, don’t stay in one place for too long
• Once you’ve completed your pour to your satisfaction and popped the bubbles using a heat gun, either cover your piece or pick out any dust particles using a small tweezer.
• DO NOT pour resin in your favorite jeans or cutest top, there’s a great chance that some how resin will hop onto your clothes and ruin them
• Give your art time to set (according to your manufacturer’s directions)

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Anastasia Hicker is known for her gorgeous resin art. Heres what she shared:

• Before you start, make sure you have a game plan of your design. Have your supplies near you, and ready to create. The resin will start to get sticky and harden after 30-45 minutes. Make sure your artwork is on a leveled surface before you begin.
• Practice with smaller pieces first. Experiment to find flow, rhythm and style that is unique to you. 
• Don’t give up! Resin can be magic, and it can also be a frustrating mess! Keep playing with your artwork,and you will amaze yourself with how much each piece improves.
  
• One of the most frequent questions we get is how we keep our geode lines from bleeding into one another or traveling all over the place. I think one of the largest factors here is making sure your substrate is perfectly level. A leveling tool is a MUST for successful resin geode art. These are available in various sizes so you may want to invest in a few depending on the scale of your art. Remember to check all directions. Also, the material you are working on makes a difference here as well. Canvas can sag toward the center with the weight of resin unless you have a well stretched canvas. The higher the quality, the less risk of this happening. We prefer working on MDF for geodes so we have a perfectly flat surface.
• Priming your substrate is very important for more reasons than one. If an MDF board is not primed prior to pouring your resin, the moisture from the resin will cause the board to bow and your piece to be ruined. We recommend using a paint/primer in one and use at least two coats front and back. Priming also ensures a proper foundation for your resin to adhere to.
• Your clients may wonder how to properly care for their piece. We recommend any non-abrasive household cleaner such as Simply Green used with a soft cloth or chamois. If the piece becomes dull, Murphy’s Oil can be used on occasion but avoid overuse as this may cause a film.

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Artbyroxs Roxy Syroid is known for lovely geode inspired resin art. Heres what she shared:

• Stir, stir and stir some more. Most resin problems in curing arise when you didn’t stir well enough. Sometimes my measurements are the tiniest amounts off, and stirring well makes sure the resin reacts properly. Also make sure to scrape the sides of your cup while mixing to make sure all of it reacts. 
• Start with a little pigment, paint or sparkles when colouring resin and add a little more if you need to. You don’t need much at all to colour resin and you shouldn’t add more that 10%. So add in small amounts until you get the transparency or opacity you want. 
• Wear gloves, clothes you don’t mind throwing out and cover everything in plastic. Resin gets everywhere, and being properly covered is so important. It dries stiff so any you get on your clothing will end up in stiff spots. Resin is also easy to peal off of plastic, whether is garbage bags, or plastic table cover. That way once its covered you can just peel it off and not have to cover everything every time you want to play. 
• Be careful when torching your resin. Its’ easy to burn it  and ruin your art work. Let your torch just kiss the resin, and move it across just enough to pop the bubbles, don’t let the flame sit in just one spot and always keep it moving. 
• Don’t expect your first pieces to be perfect. Watch youtube videos, tutorials and time lapses to learn new techniques and how to achieve certain looks. But ultimately those artists have had plenty of practice, and experience. Play around with the techniques they suggest and try techniques off your own until you achieve looks you enjoy. Be careful not to copy artists looks exactly as well! There are many resin artist who make beach scenes, petri dishes, geodes and abstract pieces, each who have their own unique style! It’s okay to be inspired, but don’t re-create pieces unless you get permission from the artist, and if you do something very similar, in my experience artists love it when you credit them for inspiration!

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Maggie Schirmer is known for her pretty art. Heres what she shared:

• Safety first, respirator gloves and protective eyewear EVERY TIME. People forget about their eyes. The soft tissue of the eyes absorbs the fumes from the resin
• heatgun is for moving resin and creating effects, butane torch is for air bubbles, yes you need both!
• use green painters tape on everything to protected where you don’t want your resin to end up. And remember to remove it before it cures in with the resin. The green painters tape has a tac level that mailed it easy to come off, masking tape will stay stuck.
• Wet sand rather than dry sand. It helps minimize breathing that resin dust in (you should have your respirator on though) it also helps keep your resin area dust free.
• Have a few little tiles nearby to use up your leftover resin on.
  
• Invest in a Dremel. It easily stands away drips and smooths sharp edges.
• One of the most frequent questions we get is how we keep our geode lines from bleeding into one another or traveling all over the place. I think one of the the largest factors here is making sure your substrate is perfectly level. A leveling tool is a MUST for successful resin geode art. These are available in various sizes so you may want to invest in a few depending on the scale of your art. Remember to check all directions. Also, the material you are working on makes a difference here as well. Canvas can sag toward the center with the weight of resin unless you have a well stretched canvas. The higher the quality, the less risk of this happening. We prefer working on MDF for geodes so we have a perfectly flat surface.
• Priming your substrate is very important for more reasons than one. If an MDF board is not primed prior to pouring your resin, the moisture from the resin will cause the board to bow and your piece to be ruined. We recommend using a paint/primer in one and use at least two coats front and back. Priming also ensures a proper foundation for your resin to adhere to.
• Your clients may wonder how to properly care for their piece. We recommend any non-abrasive household cleaner such as Simply Green used with a soft cloth or chamois. If the piece becomes dull, Murphy’s Oil can be used on occasion but avoid overuse as this may cause a film.

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Chyleina Herron is known for her lovely beach resin art. Heres what she shared:

• Prepare your resin according the instructions on its label. Brands will vary in times/amounts that need to be mixed. It’s important to mix it accurately. 
• Go by volume (not weight) of the resin and hardener. I use scored cups and make sure that I fill each part to the same line. 
• You can reuse your cups/measuring cups that you have mixed resin in. Put the cup upside down and when it cures, you can pop the resin out and reuse!
• Use a heat gun or torch to get the tiny bubbles out of your resin. (I like a torch best, it just seems to be faster!)
• Make sure your piece is level so the resin dries evenly. 
• While your piece is curing, put it in a clean, dry place. And I recommend covering it! I have seen artists put a box over it, I personally like a plant pop-up tent or a plant house. They are inexpensive and have zippers that allow you to enclose your piece completely. This will keep dust off your pieces, dust is VERY noticeable on a dried resin piece. 
• Put painter’s tape/frog tape or contact paper on the back of your piece, I recommend covering the entire backside of your piece. I prefer contact paper, it seems to be faster. this will keep resin drips off the back of your piece which are hard to take off. 
• If you do have resin drips, you can heat up a blade and carefully scrape the resin off. You run the risk of hurting yourself or the piece, which is why I recommend the prep work of using tape/contact paper. 
• Don’t get discouraged if you struggle at first. Resin work takes time to learn the do’s and don’ts. And you may be using a brand that is not as easy to get the best results. I recommend doing  your research and finding a brand with good reviews. (My must haves for a resin: non-yellowing, food safe, with at least 30 minutes of working time)
• Put protective covering on your work station/floor. I use two layers (wax paper under each piece and a large plastic sheet over my station)
• Always wear gloves and a respirator. 

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Danielle is known for her awesome fluid art. Heres what she shared:

• The best tip I can share is to actually invest in a good resin. I have tried to buy cheaper alternatives, and they ALWAYS yellow. They also tend to have a lot more bubbles, especially micro bubbles. 
• ALWAYS tape the bottom of the surface you are working on. It will make removing the drips SO much easier. Really press down when applying the tape to make sure there are no areas where the resin can sneak under the tape. 
• DON’T OVER TORCH. 
• For artists out there like me, you may not want to change every single time you are inspired and what to go create. If you are working with resin, don’t wear ANYTHING you actually like. Without a doubt, you will get a huge blob of resin on your favorite jeans and then they will be ruined. I would know.

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Mehnaz Khan is known for her beautiful style. Heres what she shared:

• Yes, it is true that epoxy resin is very unforgiving, but just relax and go with the flow. You will be just fine. How I use resin
• The first step I follow is to put my resin bottles in a bath of hot water. This has always worked for me. The temperature of the water should be your hottest tap water. Hot water that you can touch and not burn yourself. If it’s way too hot, it will alter the chemical composition of the resin. What the hot water bath does is, it makes the resin more runny (changes the viscosity a little bit). This helps in easy mixing of the resin ( mixes faster, but I always mix for three minutes). Less bubbles created during mixing, which means less bubbles on your art piece. The lower viscosity makes it easier to pour and spread the resin easily on the artwork. I have had no issues with change in working time of the resin or curing of the resin. If your water bath is too hot, the working time will reduce. The resin will heat up and start turning stringing really fast. Water should NOT mix with resin 
• After pouring the resin we need to check for bubbles and dust particles. Bring yourself down to eye level with your art piece. If you look only from the top you will not see all the bubbles. Just like you would change angles to clean a glass table to get rid of dust. Follow that style to hunt bubbles.  Use a blow torch or a heat gun on low setting to blow the bubbles. 
• It is necessary to cover your artwork when the resin is curing so no dust particles enter.  Keep your air conditioning shut or at least don’t change you AC or heat temps as the air will move particles around, which might land in your art piece. I clean and save all canned food containers and build a fort around my art piece ( all four corners, you might need more for bigger pieces), then I place a basic canvas ( gallery wrapped will be too heavy) on the cans, making sure the fort is much higher than the art piece and nothing touches the curing resin. Lastly I add a 99cent table cover over the canvas to cover the sides of the fort , so no dust can enter from anywhere. This method works for any size of artwork.
• If you have tapped the sides and the bottom of your art work, go back to remove it when your piece is cured to the touch (8 to 10 hours usually ). If you did not remove the tape and the resin has fully cured, use a heat gun to soften the resin on the edges, then pull the tape ( wear gloves that will protect your hands from the heat). You can clean resin drips with a heat gun or a sanding machine. All resin workers should own a sanding machine. 
• If you are doing a second coat, clean your resin surface with rubbing alcohol. We don’t want any oils from your hands to get on the resin. It is not necessary to sand before adding every new layer, unless you have a bubble to remove. If there are no oils, resin will always stick even without sanding Keep your surface leveled.
• If you want to create glitter lines in your artwork, let your resin sit for a bit. It will thicken up and be slightly stringy. This way you can pour easily in lines
• Most important thing is to measure when mixing a two part resin. ACCURATE MEASUREMENT
• Peel of the resin in 8 hours from your mixing bowl and sticks or else toss them 
• If your are making petri dishes or anything else in a container and you are adding alcohol inks, make sure the ink does not touch the edges of the container. If it does, it sticks to the container and destroys it. You can grease your container will silicone before pouring your resin petri dish , for easy removal after the piece has cured. 

Thank you to all the amazing artists who shared their tips!

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope you found this post helpful, If you did I would appreciate you sharing it so much! I would love to hear from you! Do you have any questions? Do you have any tips that you would like to share? Is there any topics you’d like to see me make a post over? Wishing you the best of luck on your resin journey!

XOXO, Taylor