A
Beginners Guide by Cathy Friesenhahn This lesson focuses on
acrylic paints and how to use them to get different 'looks'.
ACRYLIC PAINT Or...
"Another form of WATERCOLOR"
Acrylic paints are a form of plastic and therefore are
waterproof when dry. They come in 2oz., 4.6 oz., and 7oz. tubes.
They also come in 2oz., 8oz., 16 oz., and 32 oz., jars. They
come in a myriad of colors, and in regular, medium and high
viscosity. The brushes you use for acrylic painting are some of
the same ones you would pick for traditional watercolor
painting. I prefer a more stiff bristle brush for acrylic use as
a soft bristle brush tends to get full of the acrylic paint,
like a rag-mop full of water. You have a hard time controlling
lines and detail with a soft bristle brush. ... Also, to paint
with acrylic, you will need to purchase a jar of acrylic medium.
This helps make your paint pigment go further. You can also use
water as an acrylic medium, although the finished look of your
painting will be different than if you used the gel medium.
Acrylic gel mediums come in mat texture, gloss texture, regular,
heavy, extra heavy and high solid gel (which is fast drying).
One of the newer mediums is phosphorescent (glow in the dark).
"Mica flakes allow you to create highly reflective permanent,
subtle, sparkling granular color that can be used to add reality
to various compositions." Acrylics can be painted on many
'bases' including canvas, paper, and numerous craft bases such
as wood, cloth, etc.
Acrylic painting is fun. Mostly because it dries quickly and you
can paint over any 'mistakes' without anyone knowing you made
any (mistakes). Plastic covers plastic well! :) The thinner the
acrylic is, when painted onto your base, the quicker it dries.
When painted on thickly, acrylic can sometimes take a day or two
to dry, and 'cure'. Acrylic is dry when it no longer has a
'tacky' feel to it. I have done a lot of paintings for
children's rooms with acrylic. Their tendency to be bright helps
convey a happy feeling. Also, if something spills on them, a
little soap and water cleans them up! On my website, there is a
painting, done in acrylic, that I titled "The Lay of the Land".
It is done in the same technique that I did the children's
paintings in. That is, paint the spaces and add lines of
acrylic, piped through a glue bottle, to give a 3-D raised
effect. You can see the example at:
http:/www.DeutschFriesenhahn.com
Another way that I have used acrylic paint, is seen in the
paintings, 'Clowns', 'Apple Picking Time', 'Hibiscus', and a set
of 2 paintings entitled 'Sunflowers'. These paintings were
created using both watercolor and acrylic paints. If you look
hard, you will see that I used a glitter paint for highlighting
the rocks, bubbles, petals, etc., of these paintings. When using
acrylic paint, remember that it does not come out of fabric.
That makes it good for painting tee shirts, but not for your
'Sunday best' cloths. :) Remember to wash your brushes well when
you are through, because if you don't, the acrylic will dry up
in the bristles and then you will have to buy new brushes! Keep
your brushes in a jar of water, as you are working on your
painting, to prevent drying. I have also experimented with
acrylic paint to see if I could get the effect and look of an
oil painting. It took work, but I succeeded! To do this you have
to gray-down the colors. You also have to be able to mix and
keep your colors from drying out. Have plenty of small glass
jars ready, if you try this. The final result is worth the
effort. You can paint acrylics over most media, except for oil
paintings. If you paint over an oil, the acrylic will dry and
peel off. You can, however, paint oil over acrylic.
Hint: Most canvas that you purchase, has a coating of primer
already on it. If you purchase 'raw canvas', you can apply a
coating of Gesso on it. Dry completely, and then, ...paint away!
Paints are mixed into the medium. An example to show you what I
mean... If you have a bowl of white icing and use food coloring
to make it 'blue'. The icing is the medium and the blue dye is
the paint pigment. Instead of having 2 drops of blue paint
pigment to work with, you have a whole bowl of blue paint! The
medium increases the volume of paint that you have to work with.
Acrylics - Getting A Realistic Look The first step in getting
your painting to look realistic, using acrylic paint, is to
sketch your drawing onto the painting surface. Remember, your
painting is going to be as good as your drawing, so be happy
with what you have as a drawing before starting to paint! [This
is true with any medium.]
I prefer stretched canvas for the 'spring'. Some people prefer
masonite, or canvas board, both are stiff. I find that my
paintings acquire a stiff look if I paint on masonite or canvas
board and a softer look if I paint on stretch canvas.
After your sketch is on the painting surface, start out laying
in the colors that you want to use. You can choose your colors
by using the color charts we made in the beginning lessons.
After the first layers of color are on, and DRY, you will be
using MORE layers of color wash, as many as you need. I have
known people to use up to 50 layers of wash on one painting.
Your acrylic washes can be made by mixing either water or an
acrylic medium into your acrylic paint. You can buy mat, glossy,
and clear medium for acrylic paint. As you apply your washes,
you will be targeting certain parts of your painting. You may
need to put several layers on the subject, the background, or
just one part of your painting surface. As each layer dries, you
add the next layer of wash. Applying an overall wash of one
color, to the whole painting surface, will change the mood of
the painting, sad, happy, bright, etc.
Washes can soften edges, create interesting shadows and
textures, and make your painting much more colorful and
interesting. Try painting with acrylic washes and see if YOU can
achieve the look and feel of an oil painting.
As an example of washes: ... When I painted October Thistle, I
drew the thistles from life, and used many washes of watercolor.
This painting took many hours of many months to do, as the paint
strokes were very small and I used a lot of washes and detail.
The original and print have bright and vibrant purples and
violets in the image. You can see October Thistle at:
DeutschFriesenhahn.com Click onto the image for a larger view.
More lessons are available on DrawAndPaintSchool.com.
