Alternatives to latex masking fluids

Wendy says:
I love the effects from masking fluid, but have a serious allergic reaction to rubber latex (which can be fatal to me). Is there any alternative I can use? I would appreciate any help you have.

This is a very good question and one that might help a lot of people. Thank you for asking.

To the best of my knowledge, all liquid masking fluids or liquid friskets are made from liquid latex. So the liquids are definitely a problem for you. There are other methods you can use to mask areas of your painting, however.

1. You can use watercolor tape. This is a low tack tape that you apply to the areas you want to protect and remove after you have painted over them just as you would masking fluid. This works best for geometric figures, although you could cut shapes out of the tape before you apply it to the paper.
2. Grafix makes a product they call Frisket that is in sheet form. According to their website, it is a vinyl sheet that has a low-tack glue on one side. It is widely used in printing and air brushing where you cut out the area you WANT to paint and use the sheet to cover the rest of your paper (opposite what we normally do in watercolor), but you could also cut out a shape from the sheet and attach that to your paper to use it like liquid frisket/masking fluid. If your allergy does not include vinyl, this may be a really good option for you.
3. You can use a wax or white crayon. However, this is a permanent mask. Once applied to your paper, it will not come off. Only use this if you want to permanently keep an area of the paper white.

I hope this helps.

Judy Leasure, TDA