Acrylic Paintings with Workshop|
Painting with acrylics is an interesting alternative to using oil paints and watercolors.There are in fact many advantages. 1. You can use acrylics as you would oil paints but you need only water to thin them or to clean up. 2. You can use acrylics as you would watercolors by thinning the pigments with water so that a subtle wash can be laid down if required, 3. Acrylics can be painted on any surface. Either watercolor paper or canvas is a good choice. 4. Any bristle or sable brush can be used with acrylic paints as well as palette knives and found objects. 5. Acrylics dry quickly so you can paint continuously and unsatisfactory passages in the work can be easily reworked if necessary. |
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Prairie Landscape Acrylic- 10x15 on watercolor paperWhile the quick drying property of acrylics is very desirable, precautions must be taken to avoid wasting paint and damaging brushes. Since acrylic paint dries so quickly, it can dry rock hard on your brushes and palette knives making them unusable. Similarly acrylic paint on a palette dries to a hard lump and is wasted. Also if you get acrylic paint on your clothes it can be very difficult but not necessarily impossible to remove. If you notice before it is too dry, rubbing the fabric with plain water will often remove the paint. If it has already dried, try softening the acrylic paint with rubbing alcohol. Here are a few tips to avoid disappointment: 1. ALWAYS keep your brushes or palette knives in water when not in use while painting. 2. ALWAYS clean your brushes or palette knives with soap and warm water immediately after use. 3. ALWAYS have some way of keeping your palette moist.(eg.a spray mist bottle) 4. ALWAYS estimate the amount of paint you will use in any painting session. 5. ALWAYS wear old clothes or a smock. |
Blue Dragon Acrylic - 8x10 - on embossed hand-made paper - has deckle edge. The original painting has been sold but prints are available.
1. Warm orange red - Cadium red - relatively opaque 2. Cool bluish red – Alizarin Crimson – relatively transparent- ideal for glazing 3. Warm yellow - Cadium Yellow -semi-transparent 4. Cool yellow – Lemon Yellow 5. Warm blue – Ultramarine Blue -leaning toward violet - semi-transparent 6. Cool blue – Cerulean Blue –leaning toward green - opaque 7. White – Titanium White Grays, neutrals and even “blacks’ can be made with these colors |
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Rushing River - Acrylic - 10x13 - on embossed hand-made paper - has deckle edgeOTHER USEFUL COLORS1. Phthalo Blue is an intense, extremely versatile blue. It goes very dark when combined with burnt umber and, because of its high tinting strength, only a little need be mixed with white to create a lighter blues (Also called phthalocyanine blue, monestial blue, and thalo blue.). Lightening a mixture of Pthalo blue and burnt umber can approximate Paynes Grey. 2. Burnt Umber is a warm chocolate brown that’s extremely versatile and likely to prove itself indispensable. It’s great for darkening the tone of other colors. Raw umber is very similar, but slightly lighter and cooler. 3. Phthalo green is a bright bluish green. Mix it with cadmium yellow medium to get a variety of shades of greens 4. Purple- It’s worth buying a very dark purple as you can waste a lot of paint trying to mix one. A little goes a long way. 5. Payne’s Grey: a versatile, transparent dark blue-grey made from a mixture of blue and black, often with some red. 6. Yellow or golden ochre: a glorious, golden, yellowish brown. 7. Titanium buff or raw titanium: a deep cream useful for mixing with burnt umber to create skin tones. |
Tuscany - Acrylic 12x17 - on watercolor paperPAINTING WITH ACRYLICSAcrylics can be used in much the same way as oils. Apply them with a brush or palette knife or found object.Estimate the amount of paint you will use in the time you have to paint. It is better to underestimate since you can always add more if needed. Lay out the colors on a disposable palette or a white ceramic plate that can be wiped clean after every use. Keep the paints on the palette from drying out by misting lightly with a spray bottle from time to time. Mixing colors on the canvas requires the use of a medium which retards drying. Apply the medium directly on the canvas before working on the area. Glazing to create special effects is possible by thinning the paints with gel medium. The finished work can be varnished and framed without glass. |
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Twenty Days of Meditation - Acrylic on embossed hand-made paper-7x9-has deckle edgeACRYLICS VS WATERCOLOR
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Island Landscape - Acrylic on embossed hand-made paper - 10x14 - has deckle edgeAbstract art is something that Picasso did. The name “abstract art” has become a catch-all for anything that is not representational. A more accurate term is “non-objective”. A non-objective painting is one which is not attempting to capture the likeness of nature. The subject is the painting itself. It is not necessary to find a likeness of something that you can name although some viewers do see things in non-objective paintings. You have an opportunity to “see” more if you don’t spend all your energy trying to decide what the painting is supposed to represent. Looking at such a painting, you will notice that a combination of color, shape, line and texture and rhythm are the physical elements that combine to make up the image. These elements have meaning in and of themselves in that we react emotionally to them even if they create no recognizable object. For example, a bright red color elicits a very different feeling than yellow or light blue. (The effect of color on human beings is a whole field of study in itself. ) |
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A-FrameAcrylic - 6x9 - on embossed hand-made paper-has deckle edge.Shapes are infinitely variable and give different impressions depending on the viewer’s own experience. They can be dark, somber, heavy, light, peaceful, angular or organic and so on. Lines can be jagged and energetic or smooth and gently flowing. Texture and rhythm add another element to the painting to which a viewer can not help but respond. Another element created and controlled by the artist is the handling of spatial relations. A painting may give the impression of three dimensional depth and perspective or the illusion of a two dimensional surface. In considering the composition or design of a painting, the goal is to have a balance of visual elements without making it boring. |
Sea Dragon - Mixed media - 19x27 - The Dragon is made from torn pieces of handmade embossed paper. |
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Tigerlily - Acrylic - 4x6 - on watercolor paper How to go about making non-objective art is something that is not easily defined. It might be described as a relationship between the artist and the art process. Use all that you know about the theory of art and provide the energy to work on the details. Step back often to get a fresh approach. Use a mirror to reflect another view. Sometimes you need to put a painting aside for a time and go back to it later. Keep changing whatever needs to be changed until your painting speaks to you. Do it in the same way a musical composer takes a collection of notes and makes it into so much more. |
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Flower Power - Acrylic on embossed hand-made paper-10x14-has deckle edge Techniques For Applying Paint:
Brush: wet in wet as in watercolor, impasto as in oils, and dry brush.
Palette Knife: many sizes are available. Experiment with different strokes using a palette knife.
Found Objects:
Monoprint Technique:There are an unlimited number of things to use for paint application. You can get very different effects using a sponge,
the edge of corrugated cardboard, plastic foam cut into any shape with or without an incised with a pattern
Stencil Technique: Use window screen or other open weave fabrics to block and daub paint selectively onto your painting. |
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