Often described affectionately with words like rich and buttery, this classic painting medium is a favorite among fine artists. The paint consists of ground pigment suspended in oil, which traps light and creates a luminous effect on the canvas. The slow-drying properties of oil allow artists to create smooth blends and rework their paintings over multiple sessions. This large window for manipulating and refining a work of art can result in an impressive degree of realism.
Oil painting is notoriously messy and calls for quite a few materials. Because it’s not a water-based medium, you’ll need special solvents for thinning the paint and cleaning your brushes. You can use either turpentine or mineral spirits for this—but keep in mind that these liquids are toxic and cannot simply be poured down a drain. Also, be sure to work in a well-ventilated room, as oil paints and solvents emit strong fumes.
Now that you’re sufficiently intimidated by oil painting, experience it for yourself. You might just find it as alluring as the great masters did.
Here’s what you’ll need: set of oil paints, solvent, glass jars for holding solvent, mixing palette, palette knife, set of bristle brushes, small soft-hair brushes for detailing, linseed oil, primed and stretched canvas, rags, and artist’s easel.
What started as a house paint in the first half of the 20th century has become a respected medium for the fine artist. Acrylic paint, which is made up of pigment and acrylic polymer, boasts a number of positive qualities that make it a viable competitor to oil and watercolor. First, you can dilute the paint with plain water (no harsh solvents needed!), but once it’s dry, the paint is waterproof. Second, you can apply the paint in thick or thin layers, imitating either oil or watercolor, respectively. Third, acrylic is resistant to cracking and fading. Fourth, unlike oil, acrylic dries quickly so you don’t have to wait long between applying layers. Fifth, you can apply acrylic to nearly any surface (so long as it’s not waxy or greasy), making it perfect for use in collage. And the list goes on.
Here are just few things to keep in mind while using acrylic. Because it dries quickly, you’ll need to work quickly. This can be seen as a positive or negative quality depending on your painting style—for some it interferes with blending, but for others it encourages loose and lively strokes and discourages overworking. Also, it’s important to note that acrylic paints often dry darker than they appear when wet.
Here’s what you’ll need: a set of acrylics, heavy paper or canvas, a set of synthetic brushes, two jars of water (one for rinsing the brushes and one for adding fresh water to mixtures), paper towels, and mediums.
Other oil painting tools you may need include additives to thin out your paint (linseed oil) or to speed drying time (copal), glass or metal containers for additives, an easel, turpentine for cleaning your brushes, paper towels, and a mixing palette.
To get started with acrylic, you need only a few basic tools: paints, brushes, supports, and water. When you buy your acrylic supplies, remember to purchase the best you can afford at the time, as better-quality materials are more manageable and produce longer-lasting works.
Acrylic paints come in jars, cans, and tubes. Most artists prefer tubes, as they make it easy to squeeze out the appropriate amount of paint onto your palette. There are two types of acrylic paints: “student grade” and “artist grade.” Artist-grade paints contain more pigment and less filler, so they are more vibrant and produce richer mixes.
Palettes for acrylic paints are available in many different materials—from wood and ceramic to metal and glass. Plastic palettes are inexpensive, and they can be cleaned with soap and water. Disposable paper palette pads are also very convenient; instead of washing away the remains of your paint, you can simply tear off the top sheet to reveal a fresh surface beneath.
To get started, you’ll want to have a few household materials on hand. You’ll need two jars of water: one for adding to your paint mixes and one for rinsing out your brushes. A spray bottle will help keep the paints and mixes on your palette moist, and paper towels or rags will help with clean up.
Acrylic paint will adhere to just about any surface, or support, as long as it’s slightly porous and isn’t greasy or waxy. Most acrylic artists use canvas or canvas board that has been primed (coated with gesso, a material used for sealing and protecting fabric and wood supports to make them less porous). It’s easiest to purchase preprimed canvas, but you also can buy raw canvas and a jar of gesso and prime the canvas yourself. Be sure to use an old brush (a house-painting brush works well) when priming your own canvas. Watercolor papers and illustration boards also work well with acrylic paint and provide a smoother working surface. And primed pressed-wood panels—which generally have a smooth side and a rough side—are another popular option.
Illustration board is good-quality, sturdy cardboard with a simulated canvas surface. It can be used with acrylic, watercolor, pencil, and ink. Illustration boards come with paper mounted on the back to prevent buckling and are available in a variety of sizes and weights.
Ready-made canvases are available in dozens of sizes and come either stretched on a frame or glued on a board. Canvases usually are made of either linen or cotton and typically come preprimed. Make sure that your preprimed canvas does not have an oil primer on it, as acrylic paint doesn’t adhere to this slick substance.
Pressed-wood panels are available “tempered” and “untempered”—be sure to choose untempered boards, as the tempered panels have been treated with oil, which isn’t compatible with acrylic paints. Preprimed pressed-wood panels are available in a range of shapes and sizes at your local art supply store.
There are myriad techniques and tools that can be used to create a variety of textures and effects. By employing some of these different techniques, you can spice up your art and keep the painting process fresh, exciting, and fun! The examples on these pages were completed using acrylic paint.
Glazes are thin mixes of paint and water or acrylic medium applied over a layer of existing dry color. An important technique in acrylic painting, glazing can be used to darken or alter colors in a painting. Glazes are transparent, so the previous color shows through to create rich blends. They can be used to accent or mute the base color, add the appearance of sunlight or mist, or even alter the perceived color temperature of the painting. When you start glazing, create a mix of about 15 parts water and 1 part paint. It’s better to begin with glazes that are too weak than ones that are too overpowering, as you can always add more glazes after the paint dries.
An underpainting is a thin wash of color that is applied to the support at the beginning of the painting process. An underpainting can be used to simply tone the support with a wash of color to help maintain a desired temperature in a final painting—for example, a burnt sienna wash would establish a warm base for your painting; a blue wash would create a cool base. An underpainting can also provide a base color that will “marry with” subsequent colors to create a unified color scheme. You can also use an underpainting to create a visual color and value “map,” giving you a guideline for applying future layers. An underpainting can help provide harmony and depth in your paintings. Experiment with various underpaintings to discover which colors you prefer.
Acrylic paint is generally described as an opaque medium, but you also can use acrylic as you would watercolor—in thin, diluted layers of color, or glazes. You can lighten the value of an acrylic wash by adding more water to the pigment, which in turn allows more of the support to show through the color. This gives the paint a luminous quality. You also can layer thin washes of acrylic paint to build up rich color. Because acrylic is waterproof when dry, you can layer new glazes over previous ones without lifting the initial pigment.
To create a rich, buttery texture like frosting on a cake, apply thick layers of paint to your support using your paintbrush or a palette knife. Use the paint straight from the tube, or consider adding a paint-thickening medium, such as gel. Called “impasto,” this technique allows you to create ridges and peaks of paint with quick, short strokes from varying angles and directions, adding physical dimension and texture to your painting. Don’t overwork the paint—just keep your strokes loose and fresh.
TOM SWIMM
To build up color in soft dabs, load the tip of your brush with paint and dot on color in a jabbing motion. This technique builds up layers of paint to create the illusion of depth and dimension, also adding an airy, impressionistic look to your painting. It’s best to work from dark to light when using this technique, as you’ll want to apply the lightest areas and highlights last. colors you prefer.
Because acrylic dries quickly, this medium lends itself to a variety of physical texturizing techniques. Besides applying thick impasto applications to your support, you can mix in additives, such as painting mediums, sand, or eggshells. Or you can press bubblewrap, plastic wrap, coins, or fabric into wet paint to create interesting patterns and textures.
Gels and pastes are the “secret” ingredients that will allow you to take your creative ideas and explorations to new heights. There are many gels, pastes, and grounds that can be used alone, together, or layered in any combination and mixed with any of the paints; therefore, the opportunity to explore countless avenues for personal expression is right at your fingertips. Finding “your voice,” artistically speaking, has never been so easy and so much fun.
These materials are all made of the same ingredients: water and acrylic polymer solids. For you, this means creative freedom. You can mix, layer, and combine them in any way you wish to create endless variations and spectacular effects. The fast dry time lets you “layer up” to your heart’s delight. Unlike oils, which have oppressive rules and dry times, acrylics allow you to follow your musings without fear of improper application techniques.
Gels can be thought of as colorless paint—they are made from binder but contain an added swelling agent to give them a heavier viscosity. They are offered in gloss, semi-gloss, and matte sheens and in viscosities ranging from light and (almost) pourable (like yogurt) to extra heavy (like peanut butter). Pastes are gels with solids added (marble dust, calcium carbonate, glass beads, etc.). This gives them body, which results in interesting textures and sculptural effects. Mediums are a low-viscosity polymer that you can use to thin paint for a better flow and to create glazes.
When tinted with color, the unique qualities of the gels and pastes become more apparent. You can use all gels and pastes in the following ways:
• As a surface texture on which to paint (called a ground)
• Mixed with paint for added body and sheen (called as a medium)
• Applied on top of your painting for a covering effect
Pigments are what make paints colorful, and they come in a wide array of hues (reds, greens, blues, browns, etc.). Pigments also come in two classifications: mineral (inorganic) and modern (organic). Although they share some similar characteristics, their makeup and behavior are different. Mineral pigments have earthy sounding names, such as sienna, ochre, cadmium, cobalt, and ultramarine. Modern pigments have names that allude to their chemical origins, such as quinacridone, phthalo, hansa, dioxazine, and anthraquinone. Knowing their unique characteristics will help you make accurate color-mixing choices.
Mineral pigments are generally characterized by:
• high opacity (very opaque)
• low chroma (less vibrant)
• low tinting strength (do not strongly change the colors they are mixed with)
Modern pigments are generally characterized by:
• high translucency (very transparent)
• high chroma (very vibrant)
• high tinting (strongly change the colors they are mixed with)
Use minerals if you want to layer one color over another without seeing the layer underneath; use moderns if you want to layer colors and allow the bottom-most colors to show through and influence the upper layers.
It is possible to achieve a wide spectrum of colors by mixing only the three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue (plus white). The color wheels below show which hues result from using mineral or modern pigments. Depending on your preferences, you can control the hues in your painting by choosing the type of pigments that suit your artistic vision.
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