Rich Art Window Paints

Hi - Any of you do window painting on the side? For holidays, store sales, etc... Have you used Rich Art brand window paints? I find them superb, but am new to 'em, so want to know any tips and tricks you may have. Thanks! Sally Milo http://www.milodesign.com Tucson, Arizona

When I've done this sort of thing, I used plain old poster paints with a bit of soapy water to help them adhere better. No one wants to have to scrub hard to remove these temporary window decorations and the soapiness assists in that effort too. Caveat: I painted on the INSIDE of the windows - not on the outside where weather can affect the 'art.'

Hi Mayo... Thanks for your input. I chose the Rich Art paints to stand up to the sun, heat and rare rain we have in Tucson. They are a pain to remove - lots of ammonia and scraping needed, but they are so durable and maintain their brilliance. I have to order online or have my mom pick 'em up for me in the Detroit area, as they're not available in AZ. I do paint on the outside of the windows, thus need for paints that will stand up to the elements. Thanks again. Sally Milo http://www.milodesign.com Tucson, Arizona

It's actually a perfect way of letting children amuse themselves when the weather is inclement. I have not even had problems with poster paint without soapy water - I'll try that in future.

Moira, the Faerie Godmother

One of my kids got to paint the windows for the Christmas season when she was working at Wendy's. She asked what to tell the manager to get for her to do it with, and I told her dry tempra paint and dish soap. Mix the tempra up with soapy water and it sticks to the windows just fine and washes off easily. Same concept as the poster paint, sometimes tempra is cheaper or is something you have kicking around if you do anything with kiddie art. What's freaky is I actually remembered that from way back when I was a kid in the 60's and all the shops downtown painted their windows during the holiday season. My grandpa used to let me paint on a mirror while he painted his windows.

Tempera is a more useful term than 'poster paint' I think. Thanks for correcting me.

Tempera, poster paint, gouache, distemper... are they not pretty much synonymous? Naturally, the quality of ingredients used remaining an important factor.

Jiri Borsky

I think so but I think the more generic term is probably 'tempera.'

But I thought 'distemper' was a disease in canines???

You thought correctly. It is.

It is also: 'a technique of painting in which the pigments are mixed with water, glue, size, etc., used for poster, mural, and scene painting.'

Two meanings. (Collins ED, 1986 edition).

Jiri Borsky

Perhaps they are. I just usually think of poster paints as a premix containing conditioners. Probably just one of those stuck in the head not necessarily so things. Gouache on the other hand I would take completely out of that group. My concept of it is a totally different formulation than tempera. But then fine art tempera is also different in formulation from the instant kiddie tempera. It all comes down to 'pigment mixed with some stuff' as a kid told me once. (G)

Thanks - this old canine is never too old to learn a few new things.