In this chapter, I show you a few of the reasons acrylics are amazing as well as explore what subject types make interesting paintings. You discover how to develop your talent and style and collect the images that interest you. Finally, you even personalize a sketchbook in order to get familar with your acrylic paint (and then give you a place to collect sketches for painting ideas).
Whatâs So Awesome About Acrylic Paint?
Have you walked into a well-stocked art supply store recently? Itâs very exciting, but it can also be a bit overwhelming to see all your choices. Youâre bombarded with watercolor, tempera, oil, water-soluble oil, heat set oil, casein, gouache, inks . . . and acrylic paints.
Acrylic paint is a perfect choice for beginners and experts alike. Why? You can apply it in layers, which means you can make changes easily. It dries fast, so you donât have to wait long between layers. Cleanup is easy â just soap and water; the lack of harsh, smelly solvents means acrylic paint is better for your health than oil. Acrylics adhere to most everything (and when they donât, you can get special products to help fix that), so you can paint on a traditional canvas or a decorative box. They can be used straight from the tube or bottle, but you can also add mediums, gels, and pastes that can change the paintâs thickness or finish to make it do just what you want it to do. For safe, easy, flexible, permanent, versatile painting, acrylic paint is a fantastic choice.
The following sections give you more information on just what is so great about acrylic paints.
Versatility
Acrylic paint is versatile. You can thin it with water to make it resemble watercolor (see Chapter 10 for more on mimicking watercolor painting with acrylic paint). You can also paint it on thick to give the impression of an oil painting (see Chapter 11 for that). You can paint it on many surfaces; it works fine with watercolor paper, canvas, and wood, among other things.
Acrylic is such a master of disguise that it may be difficult to decipher what a finished artwork was painted with. Itâs all in the hands of the artist â you. The paint does whatever you ask of it.
Acrylic painting also creates quality works no matter how much time you choose to spend on a painting or what mood youâre in. If you have time and want to paint detailed precise paintings, you can work slowly and carefully to do just that. If you want to achieve a looser look and simplify the detail, acrylic still looks great. Take a look at the two styles of paintings in Figure 1-1. I love to paint flowers. The two styles in that figure indicate what mood I was in (and the amount of time I spent) when I painted each painting. I painted the sweetheart roses by taking my time and paying close attention to detail. Notice the heart-shaped dewdrop on the lower petal. The wheelbarrow was a quicker, faster-flowing painting. When I stopped, I thought I hadnât finished it, but when I came back to it, I decided it didnât need any more. Acrylic paint will accommodate either style and amount of detail.
| Figure 1-1: Two styles of painting: one is tight and realistic, one is loose and soft. | |
Fast drying time
Acrylic dries quickly, so you donât spend a lot of time waiting for it to dry. That lets you paint layers much more quickly than you can with oil paint. You can even manipulate the drying time if necessary for a particular project. (In Chapter 3, I discuss attributes and additives of acrylic paint.)
Because acrylic does dry quickly, get into the habit of soaking acrylic paint-loaded brushes in water when not in use. If you leave wet paint in brushes to dry, they become useless.
Durable finish
Acrylic is also lightfast, meaning it doesnât fade significantly over time. You donât want to sell your masterpiece for beaucoup bucks and then have it disappear before the clientâs eyes. Plus, acrylicâs tough finish means you donât necessarily need to frame your finished acrylic artwork behind glass â even if itâs a work on paper. If you varnish your finished acrylic masterpiece, you can frame it without a mat (a cardboard-like border) or glass. In fact, many viewers complain that glass creates a glare. Another bonus is that this easier framing is also less expensive framing because you donât have the extra expense of mat and glass. Chapter 4 discusses the final presentation of acrylic paintings.
Resistance to cracking
Acrylic is thermoplastic. Thermo indicates âheat,â and plastic means âmoveable.â Basically, acrylic paint becomes flexible when it gets warm. This flexibility is helpful compared to other kinds of paint because acrylic is less likely to crack when dry. However, with flexibility comes caution: Acrylic paint also runs the risk of becoming tacky when warm. So donât stack thick paintings face to face in a hot attic or garage because they may...
