Acrylic Absolute beginner need advice Please
bedilam
Although I´ve been drawing all my life I´m planning on
painting with COLORS for the first time tomorrow.
Normally when drawing all you need is a pen and a paper. But now with
acrylics there seems to be so much to think about I don´t
know where to start. I´ve been to the library and I´ve done some
newsgroup reading also.
If someone could advice me on the following things I have or have not
bought and if something is missing in my list it´d be appreciated!
Maybe a description of what your setup looks like (I´m an absolute
beginner so please don´t assume that I know anything)
*I´ve got a canvas pattern sketch book thingy with maybe 20 sheets
glued together. I´m moving to real canvas later
*I´ve got an easel but I´m used to drawing on papers lying down on my
desk should I paint with an easel or not? It feels kind of awkward.
*I´ve got some beginners acrylics (Lefranc & Bourgeois fine acrylic)
are these any good? What colors are most important to have.
*I´ve got a bunch of hog´s hair brushes in different sizes. Are these
good for acrylics or just for oils.
*I´m not sure what you use to thin down the paint is it water or some
kind of chemical or medium+water.
*I´ve got a sketch block palette wich you can throw away each time you
are finished. Pros/cons?
*Anything else needed?
THank you!
Rhoda Rhunner
bed...@hotmail.com says...
>
>Hi group!
OHMIGOD! He's back again!
Paul Mesken
>*I´ve got an easel but I´m used to drawing on papers lying down on my
>desk should I paint with an easel or not? It feels kind of awkward.
To me, it depends on the size of the work. Small stuff (let's say up
to 2 by 2 feet) can be done on the desk but larger stuff works better
on the easel. If you work big then you have to back up quite
frequently to see how it's developing (to get the big picture). This
is of course easier if the work is placed vertically so you can just
step back. It's also easier to cover big areas with paint if you stand
in front of it (as opposed to hanging over it). If you work big then
you mostly draw and paint with your arms, whereas small work relies
more on the hand and wrist. Your arms will have more freedom to move
if you stand. For small details (eyes and stuff) you can still move
close to the painting. Be carefull though with resting your hand on
the surface. Thinned down acrylics don't adhere well to a greasy
surface (and it will get greasy if you touch it with your hands).
It might take a while to get used to drawing and painting while
standing (doing more with the arm instead of the hand/wrist) but after
a while you don't want to do it any other way (says Paul sweeping
broadly with his charcoal over a 5x3 feet panel :-)
>*I´ve got some beginners acrylics (Lefranc & Bourgeois fine acrylic)
>are these any good? What colors are most important to have.
Opinions differ widely :-)
It's good however to have a cool and warm variety of the basic colors.
For example : a cool red could be Quinacridone Violet/Magenta which is
a blueish red, a warm red could be Cadmium Red Light which is an
orangeish red. A cool (greenish) blue is Cerulean Blue, a warm
(reddish) blue is Ultramarine. Cadmium Yellow Lemon is a cool
(greenish) yellow. Cadmium Yellow Deep is a warm (orangeish) yellow.
If you have cool and warm varieties of each primary color then it's
easy to mix other colors. A good green can be made from a cool
(greenish) blue and a cool (greenish) yellow. A good purple can be
made from a cool (blueish) red and a warm (reddish) blue, etc.
In addition : Yellow Ochre (basic, dull yellow/brown color for skin
and all around good for dulling down colors), Titanium White and Ivory
Black.
Note however that colors differ in more than only their hue. There's
also the issue of transparency. Some paint are very opaque (like the
Cadmiums), others are highly transparent and good for glazing (the
organic colors mostly). Some are very strong in mixtures
(Phtalocyanine Blue pops to mind naturally :-) Some are quite weak
(Cobalt Violet, Manganese Blue for example). Some dry quickly, some
slowly (although this is not really an issue in acrylics where
everything dries quickly, in oil painting it can make a huge
difference).
You might not want the strong colors I listed (the Cerulean is not
strong of course) . You could go for more muted, earthy colors but
it's always a good idea to have a cool and warm variety of each of the
primary colors.
Personally I never go for "hue" colors which are imitations (a Cobalt
Blue for example that is really made from Ultramarine pigment instead
of the far more expensive Cobalt Blue pigment). I also never buy
mixtures which are colors made of several pigments. I can do the
mixing myself.
Every pigment has a so called "ASTM pigment number". The pigment(s)
used to make the paint are either on the tube or can be found on the
site of the manufacturer. These numbers reveal whether a paint is an
imitation (if this is not already indicated in the name by words like
"hue") and whether the paint is made from a single or several pigments
(I always go for the "single pigment" paints). For example : if a
"Cobalt Blue" tube lists PB29 to be the pigment then you know it's an
imitation because PB29 is Ultramarine, PB28 is the real Cobalt Blue
pigment. If a "Manganese Blue" lists PB15:3 and PW4 then you know two
things : it's not really Manganese Blue (that's PB33, not PB15:3 which
is a Phtalocyanine Blue) and it's a mixture because there are two
pigments in it (the other is Zinc White). Some brands (like Old
Holland) really like to mix, even up to 6! pigments.
You can find the ASTM pigment numbers on this site :
http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterfs.html
It's for water colors but acrylics and oil paints use the same
pigments, the properties remain the same apart from those of the
vehicle. The pigment is mostly responsible for how a paint behaves
(quick/slow drying, transparent/opaque, staining/non-staining, etc.).
These characteristics can all be found on this great site (I only wish
they would make one for oil paints)
>*I´ve got a bunch of hog´s hair brushes in different sizes. Are these
>good for acrylics or just for oils.
Depends on what you're going to do. You can use the paint rather
thickly (as opposed to watery, thinned down paint). In this case the
hogs are okay but for detailed work (with thinned paint) you'll
typically use sable brushes (Kolinsky's are the best variety, they're
also the most expensive brushes around). Hogs do leave quite a brush
mark, anything smooth will need sable brushes (although some will say
synthetic brushes will work just as well, don't listen to them! ;-)
>*I´m not sure what you use to thin down the paint is it water or some
>kind of chemical or medium+water.
You can just use water. Mediums can be added to alter the way the
paint works (a retarder for example to slow down the drying time or
glycerine to keep it wet longer).
>*I´ve got a sketch block palette wich you can throw away each time you
>are finished. Pros/cons?
I use them as well. I used to have the real thing but I hated cleaning
it every time. In the long run the blocks are more expensive of
course.
>*Anything else needed?
A pointer to WetCanvas perhaps? :-)
WetCanvas is a moderated forum, there are different "channels". One of
them for acrylics. The forum is mostly concerned with technical issues
and the folks there are quite helpfull. *This* newsgroup, however, is
mostly about art philosophy and politics in general (not to mention
the flame wars of course ;-)
Paul Mesken
Rhunner) wrote:
Hu? Hu?! What do you mean? Or : WHO do you mean? Don't tell me it's
someone like Seagull Manager or Edward G.Nilges. I just wrote a big
reply.
bedilam
Ok fellas, I do not have the slightest clue of what you are talking
about.
This was my first post to this group and I was very happy with Pauls
answer it helped me alot.
Have I done something wrong?
Care to explain?
Best regards
jonas
bedilam
Paul Mesken <usu...@euronet.nl> wrote in message
> You can just use water. Mediums can be added to alter the way the
> paint works (a retarder for example to slow down the drying time or
> glycerine to keep it wet longer).
How much medium does on use typically? A few drops or more?
Do you mix the same amount of medium with all the colors on the
palette to keep some conistensy or do you just add when needed or do
you mix it with the water.
How many and how big bowls of water does one use?
Someone in this newsgroup said water makes the colours go dull and
that some kind of medium is quite necessary.
I扉e also heard that medium makes them behave more like oils, is this
true (in what way)?
Best regards,
Jonas
Rhoda Rhunner
says...
>>OHMIGOD! He's back again!
>
>Hu? Hu?! What do you mean? Or : WHO do you mean? Don't tell me it's
>someone like Seagull Manager or Edward G.Nilges. I just wrote a big
>reply.
I was thinking of Richard. Remember him?
He's known on the internet as "Richard the Stupid"
because he called himself that at some point.
alt.idiot.richard-the-stupid
I think he was identified finally as one
Richard Bullis who was at that time "beaming
up" various newsgroups. I forget what alias
he used when posting to RAF but he
posed as a first semester art student with
all the "exciting" revelations to tell us
of his life drawing class experiences with
"lush babes" preferred over "ordinary bodies"
and similar profound discoveries.
Paul Mesken
>Have I done something wrong?
>
>Care to explain?
Sorry about that, clearly a case of mistaken identities. Sooner or
later that just had to happen. There are a lot of trolls who pop in
once in a while to wreak havoc in r.a.f. (as if the regulars can't do
that by themselves :-)
Paul Mesken
>Thank you so much for your answers!
>
>
>Paul Mesken <usu...@euronet.nl> wrote in message
>
>> You can just use water. Mediums can be added to alter the way the
>> paint works (a retarder for example to slow down the drying time or
>> glycerine to keep it wet longer).
>
>
>How much medium does on use typically? A few drops or more?
In oil painting anything above 2% becomes hazardous to the longevity
of the painting. I really don't know about acrylics, I paint in oil. I
know Jack here paints in acrylics, perhaps he knows something about
it. I know for sure there are tons of people on WetCanvas who can
answer your questions.
>I扉e also heard that medium makes them behave more like oils, is this
>true (in what way)?
But if you want to get the quality of oil paint then you better paint
in oils. The colors are deeper and soft transitions are easier to do.
Of course it dries much more slowly and it typically is more
expensive.
NightMist
wrote:
>On 31 Jan 2004 01:57:13 -0800, bed...@hotmail.com (bedilam) wrote:
>
>>Thank you so much for your answers!
>>
>>
>>Paul Mesken <usu...@euronet.nl> wrote in message
>>
>>> You can just use water. Mediums can be added to alter the way the
>>> paint works (a retarder for example to slow down the drying time or
>>> glycerine to keep it wet longer).
>>
>>
>>How much medium does on use typically? A few drops or more?
>
>In oil painting anything above 2% becomes hazardous to the longevity
>of the painting. I really don't know about acrylics, I paint in oil. I
>know Jack here paints in acrylics, perhaps he knows something about
>it. I know for sure there are tons of people on WetCanvas who can
>answer your questions.
I paint primarily in acrylics too.
So far as mediums, how much it is advisable to use is going to depend
on the medium. Straight up Polymer gloss, add as much as you like, it
is the same stuff the paint is made from sans pigment. With just
about any other medium you are going to have to read the lable and/or
check with the manufacturer. You can usually use much more medium in
acrylics than you can in oils, but there are limits.
So far as water goes, you have to be careful not to add too much or
you will damage your paint film. Like oils with turps, too much water
added to acrylics can over-thin the polymer base and leave you with
spots of unsupported pigment or pigment in a very much weakened
polymer film.
There are mediums available that you can thin acrylics to almost a
wash with.
>
>>I扉e also heard that medium makes them behave more like oils, is this
>>true (in what way)?
>
>But if you want to get the quality of oil paint then you better paint
>in oils. The colors are deeper and soft transitions are easier to do.
>Of course it dries much more slowly and it typically is more
>expensive.
What Paul said.
Though acrylics have progressed to the point wherein the colors are
much more satisfactory, there are still pigments avialable in oils
that are incompatible with the polymer base in acrylics.
There is retarder available, which will extend the open time of your
paint thus making certain oil techniques possible. But oils are oils
and acrylics are acrylics and each has its own charcteristics.
Barbara
--
My karma ran over my dogma
max
Rhunner) wrote:
>I think he was identified finally as one
>Richard Bullis who was at that time "beaming
>up" various newsgroups. I forget what alias
>he used when posting to RAF but he
>posed as a first semester art student with
>all the "exciting" revelations to tell us
>of his life drawing class experiences with
>"lush babes" preferred over "ordinary bodies"
>and similar profound discoveries.
Oh, yeah. Richard. KoolArtiste or some such.
He had the "new lifetime skill of the month club" going as well.
Wanna-be Mad Skilz Master of everything.
I kind'a miss him. Dil's fun to bounce around, but he doesn't have
the earnest idiocy of Richard down. His is a more studied idiocy.
max
Rhoda Rhunner
says...
>>How much medium does on use typically? A few drops or more?
>
>In oil painting anything above 2% becomes hazardous to the longevity
>of the painting. I really don't know about acrylics, I paint in oil. I
>know Jack here paints in acrylics, perhaps he knows something about
>it. I know for sure there are tons of people on WetCanvas who can
>answer your questions.
I'm saving my breath in this thread and agreeing with you
that this sort of question is much better answered
by the Wet Canvas folks in the acrylic forum:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/channels.php?s=&channel_id=7
bedilam
Thank you all for your answers, you have been most kind, I will
continue my journey on the wetcanvas forum.
See you there!
Best regards
jonas