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"How can you stand to work with that plastic paint? It dries so fast!" I've heard this in many artists groups from advocates of oil, and I tell them the same thing I am going to tell you... Yes! It dries fast. Isn't that great? No more waiting for a month to
over-paint a murky passage. No more holding paintings in elaborate racks
until they dry enough to varnish.
"But the painting evolves under my brush. I can work back into it." Advocates
of oil protest. This is true of oil, but it is equally true of acrylic.
You just have to think a little differently.
There are as many ways to use acrylics as there are artists. This amazing
medium can be used like watercolor on paper. The main advantage being
that overwashes of color do not pick up underlying pigments. Each layer
remains distinct and brilliant.
Some artists mix acrylic colors with matte medium and create a smooth
as glass rendering on illustration board or Masonite. This sort of work
requires careful advance planning as brush strokes are difficult to eliminate.
I use acrylics as a spontaneous impasto medium. I lay in my idea rapidly,
within half an hour, drawing rough outlines with a round #8 synthetic
brush roughing in basic areas of color.
When I step away from the easel, I put lids on all the paint containers,
then rinse all my brushes and change the water. As with watercolor, fresh
water is vital to lively hues.
I preserve the palette because colors which have developed at this crucial
juncture in the work provide a unifying structure for the whole.
After the break I look at what I have done as if it were a work by someone
else. I evaluate what is working and what is not. The painting itself
usually tells me which passages are too bright, which are too busy, and
which are too boring. Because I am working with acrylics and not oils,
I can paint titanium white right over Paynes gray if I need to.
Here are a few specific ideas and cautions to make your own experiences
with acrylics more successful.
1. Always keep your brushes in water and wash them as frequently. Rinse
the brush until the water runs clear, then hold a bar of soap in your
palm. Twist the brush on it right down to the ferrule. Leave some soap
in the brush at the end of your session and wash it out just before you
resume the next day.
2. Use firm synthetic brushes. The golden or white ones work well for
use on canvas. Bristle brushes lose hairs in your painting, which can
be disheartening. The synthetic ones are resilient and sympathetic to
the paint.
3. Keep your water as fresh as possible and use as little as possible
when you are painting on canvas. It compromises the bond. If you want
to do glazes, and acrylic is great for glazes, use gloss medium. Matte
medium dulls your colors. This might be an effect you want, but you should
be aware of it.
4. Buy your paint in jars and keep the old jars. Mix your own colors
as you empty them. When you have an assortment of custom mixes, you can
do repairs or changes easily.
5. Keep the lids on your colors as much as possible. Pour or squeeze
a little paint into a food storage container (the flat kind with a lid),
then mix and apply, or apply directly to the painting and mix on the surface
of the canvas. Do not have too much paint out at one time. It does dry
fast and you don't want that to happen in your jars or tubes.
6. Varnish your finished painting after it is completely dry. This time
varies with the climate and the thickness of your application. Varnishing
evens out the work's surface gloss and helps control static.
7. Keep an open mind and have fun. You may discover a whole different
painter inside your own skin.
Reprinted with the kind permission of the author
About the Author: A former
elementary school teacher/librarian, Linda Armstrong has published a middle
grade novel, stories in magazines for children, articles for teachers,
and a book of contemporary free verse. She is also a painter and teaches
drawing at the Western Colorado Center for the Arts. She is a member of
the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and is listed
by Poets and Writers. Orlando Gallery in Sherman Oaks, CA represents her
paintings. More of her work can be found at her website
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