A Few Things About Acrylics
Text and paintings ©Theresa Bayer
1. Acrylics dry darker with opaque techniques. They dry about the same value with watercolor
technique.
To the left and below are
the same two paint
swatches, photographed
when wet, and again
when dry. Differences in
value when wet and
when dry can vary with
the paints.
Opaque paint, WET
Watercolor technique, WET
Opaque paint, DRY
Watercolor technique, DRY
2. Acrylics are harder to paint with than oils, but
easier to paint with than watercolor. The new
slow dry mediums make acrylics easier to paint
with.
3. For opaque techniques such as alla prima, use
medium to thin and extend the paint, not water.
Water weakens the paint’s strength to bind to the
canvas, and causes a dull finish. Thinning with
acrylic medium strengthens the painted surface
and creates a beautiful, rich finish that rivals oils.
For impasto technique, use gel or paste mediums
to extend the paint.
A Few Things About Acrylics
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4.”Flow” or “soft body” paints can be used for both alla prima (above left) and for glazing (above
right)
5. For watercolor technique, use
“flow”, “soft body”, or liquid
formula paints. These paints will
bind just fine to paper with water
added.
6. “Heavy body” paints are good for alla prima and
impasto-- opaque painting techniques.
7. How to tell if old acrylic paint is still good: look for a high gloss shine when the paint comes out of
the tube. If it gives off a dull sheen, the paint is fairly dried out and will be difficult to manage. It
may still do for imprimatura (covering the canvas with a mid tone) or for underpaintings. Always
buy new paints. Avoid buying used ones, unless you’re paying a very very cheap price-- like free.
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8. Student grade acrylics are not worth it. They are hard to paint with because of all the filler. You
want to paint with paint, not filler. Get the professional grade. If you have some student grade
acrylics to use up, use them for underpainting.
9. An acrylic painting can be painted over and the canvas recycled. It’s a money saver for beginners,
or for making studies. Sand down the canvas to remove paint slubs, then cover over it with dark
or opaque paint (you can use up old paint this way, or use up leftover paint from your palette).
Cover over that with an iridescent color like gold or copper. Then paint over that. Note: the original
canvas texture will probably no longer be there. Another money saver is to use primed,
unstretched canvas, taped to a drawing board. Leave about a 3 inch border in case you want to
strectch it later. To stretch primed canvas, use canvas pliers.
10. Save paint by using a wringer. It has two intermeshing rollers that squeeze the paint out of the
bottom of the tube. This cute little device will extract about 20% more paint out of your tubes, and
will pay for itself after just a few tubes of paint.
Texas artist Theresa Bayer paints imaginative
realism and whimsical fun art with acrylics.
Although she has used other mediums in the
past, she is now completely focused on
acrylics, because they are endlessly
fascinating, can be used for multiple
techniques, and she can’t get enough of
them.
http://www.tbarts.com
Wringer with well wrung paint tubes.