An Introduction to Acrylics (DK Art School)

74 Pages·1998·56.69 MB·English

by  Ray Smith

‘The BE) Art Schoe

AN INTRODU CTION TO

Antes
The WB Art Schl
AN INTRODUCTION ‘ro

ACRYLICS

AN INTRODUCTION to

ACRYLICS

RAY SMITH

LONDON # NEW YORK © STUTTGART

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THF ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS
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CONTENTS

Acry
A Brief History

MATERIALS

Acrvlic Paints
Selecting Your Colors
Usirg Colors
Gallery of Color
Brushes
Other Painting Toals
Supports - Paper
Boards and Canvases
Gallery oF Supports

and Grounds

TECHNIQUES

“Ways of Working
Composing Your Image
Transferring Your Image
Light, Shacle, and Tone
Gallery of Composition
Using Opaque Acrylic
Opaque Portrait
Transparent Techniques
Working with Washes,
Gallery of Painting Styles
Dry-brush and Scumbl
Bleading
Glaring
the Ally Psima Approach
Alla Prima Painting
Combining Techniques

4 Gallery of Techniques
Experimenting with Acrylics
Exploring New Ideas

| Gallery of Experimental

| Approaches

| Presenting Your Work

Glossary
| Trex # Acknowledgments
AN INTRODUCTION

os ACRYLICS

(cRvLic PAINT is a relative neweomer
to the world of painting media

‘While oils have been in use for centuries,

acrylics have only been available in
recent decades, But they are an important
addition to the repertoire of painting materials,

because their flexibility makes them suitable for a
wide range of techniques — as the images on these
pages show. Depending on how much acrylics are
luted with water, they can be

used either opaquely or in a

transparent watercolor style
Opacue acrylic is ideal for even, flat coverage, or for much
thicker effects, with highly visible brushwork. Interesting
paintings can be built up easily and quickly with opaque
acrylic, Because the paint takes so litle time to dry, you can.
cover your painting surface rapidly, and any overpainting ~
perhaps to correct mistakes - will obscure
layers underneath. If ppaque and transparent
‘methods are combined within a painting, you
‘can incorporate the kinds of scumbles, glazes, and
rich, thick impasto normally associated with oils,
while acrylics are also uniquely suited to a numb
of much less conventional approaches.

Using transparent washes
Thinned acrylic washes can be
applied wer-in-wet or used in

‘many of the other methods

that are common to watercolor

painting. Acrylics, however, have
an important advantage over
watercolors, Once acrylics are dry
{and they dry very quickiy), they are
insoluble, which means that they can
be overpainted readily without
<isturbing the dried paint layer
ACRYLICS

underneath. Try exploiting this fully by
superimposing a large number of washes to
‘erate resonant color effects. Watercolor
paints, however, are also associated with
various ways of ifting color off che painting
surface. These methods are inappropriate to
the use of thinned acrylic once it has dried.
‘Acrylics dry so rapidly that if you want to
modify the color while itis wet,
Matern pe ‘you must get used to

Senge wf gwocnwast ae ‘working quickly. .

Advantages of acrylics

One of the main advantages of acrylics is that they are
largely water-based. Apart from making it eesy to thin
Une paint, this also means that there are none of the

tony problomstinked withthe kinds ofalvents Ga,
such egunte spinor dated tpentne= used with Suc

oil paints, Another plus for acrylics is that the polymer
emulsions binding the pigments form very stable films
‘when the paint dries, Acrylic film is free from the kinds
of chemical changes that can take place with the more
traditional painting media.

Preserving color

‘The only slight

disadvantage with the

ried acrylic film is that it is

relatively soft, especially at room temperature.

‘This can mean that acrylics attract dirt, which

may become integrated into the paint film,

‘changing the appearance of the colors so that

they lose their brightaess. However, this is,

usually a problem only when you are making your

own paint and add very litle oigment to an

acrylic emulsion ~ although it can also occur if

you use an acrylic medium with a small amount
of pigment, You should have

“seme tew problems with most of the
Seno ready-made werylic paints that are

currently available from art supply
stores (see pp.10-11)
A Brier History

"5 WIDE AND varied use of acrylics by artists in che latter pact of the :
twentieth century shows the huge potential of the medium very clearly,
:

From the early days of discovery and experimentation in the US.A. to its
far more widespread use today, acrylic has become & universilly accepted
painting medium. Its versatility can be seen in the large and expressive
abstracts by pioneers such as Moris Louis (1912-1962) in the images of
1960s Pop Arc and the early figurative work of David Hockney (0. 937)
and in the recent, more psychologicel, tableaux of Paula Rego (0.1935).

seme
in Germany in he eariy 18003 were Frm 8%
deveioped in the USA. daring tie
Inte 1920s bythe eompany Ram
tra Haas. The discavery ofa way'o
dissclvingresinsin organic solvents
ledito the development of an early
olLeompatise lore of servic ait.

sn orginally ormslatec ‘Moris Louis Wo, 182, 1961 2122205288
ct

Anew medium
By she late 19405, chese early acrylis
‘were commercially availabe in the
USA. sthere aries scch as Hele
raskenthaler (1923) and Moria
Locis began to work with Uke. a
the Laer helo the 19505, the sete
Dased emulsions that we kaow today
‘emerged Amerean atit Frank
Stella 21856) starsed using acrylics
‘a exiore Fe relaionship between

he canvas aad zatke made upon
t. He meved "om monochromatic
‘work wo rity co ered erestions
‘The med.um vas tle up i
Brita in the 19605, notaly by
David llockney Mark Tancaste
(> 1932, chang Seth 1924),
Bridget Riley 1933), nd Leonard
osama (h £21238 9.17},

Acrylics and Pop Ast
Tye 18 Tey Licemin

(1925 an Andy ao (228

1982) steered he Amevian Pop
‘Autmoverest wie: reed ine art Davi ocony, ann
tm ponular cule eee lent set Heer vey i
‘Wlicharcedged atimages that ESA
expressed modern ie soctosively, nents tec St

8
Photo-realist painting
Derg the later hala the “980s
and inte the 1870s Americens
Richard Bates @ 4996 acl Chuck.
Close (94; seep), sna Bris
artist Malooles Morley (& 1921) mage
acrylic works based closely
on photoyrasts. Chase's
huge poresits and tes
strset scenes may best
‘a9 uncstanycesemblance
to naotegraphs, but the
speetaler bewemes more
accvely engaged with a
crafted, painted image.
The late 19705 and
easly 1920s sav a retain

toa more expressive

perscnal syle. KH,

Hocieke 2834) made
‘works confronting

‘was exploring a
iquely personal vision, and British
painrr Alan Charlton (1948) foun
that aeryie gave his monackromatic
‘works a fale, matte surface

A BRIEF AISTOMY

Andy Wotbol, Dowe-Yourset Tansseone,

| st ofr

motes Pip

Cotaraets I, 1967
oe the 964

Modern movements
‘The 1990s have seen = move evant

snore figurative painsags dealing with
sues of personal, psbig and stistie
ceentity—scch asthe eevent work:
by Pata Rege, There hss a'30 been &

resurgence of the ype oF
abstract forms explored by
Praskenthalerin the (960s
~ wich she cortinaesr0
cevaive mada.