Acrylic Painting -

Archive by category "Acrylic Painting"

Pointillist Techniques for Painting and Drawing

In this article, I explain the pointillist technique by looking at works by the artists who created it – Georges Seurat and Paul Signac – and others who embraced it, like Anna Boch and Lucie Cousturier. And then I demonstrate how to achieve the pointillist technique in your own work, using oil and acrylic paint, pencil, and pastel. Articles in the Techniques Series define the meaning and context of art making processes and give practical tutorials on how to work with them. Pointillist Techniques for Painting and Drawing Definition: Pointillism is the application of small dots of pure colour that form a complete image when viewed from a distance. The technique relies on optical mixing, where instead of combining colours on the palette, our eyes merge the adjacent dots to reveal form, value, and space. What is the Effect of Pointillism? When pointillism is executed well, it conveys to the viewer that the artist has a deep understanding of colour. These works often use complementary colours to create contrast and visual interest. And they have soft transitions between tones by diffusing the dots of one area with those nearby. Since these artworks rely on optical mixing, the …

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Artist Insights: Jo Rance

Contemporary artist Jo Rance discusses the vibrant, playful and pastel-rich palette she uses to depict the English countryside, and how her background in textiles lends texture to her tapestry-like paintings. Jo also provides insights into her processes, like how painting outside observationally connects her to the landscapes she loves, as well as her jig-saw like approach to composition. Artist Insights: Jo Rance Contents 0:00 “Anyone can paint.” 0:11 “The dialogue between land and sky” 0:36 “All I ever intend to do is to provoke joy” 0:57 Introduction 1:19 “I was always the kid who wanted to draw at the table” 1:55 “Who doesn’t want to learn how to weave?” 2:11 “I keep coming back to the word, intuitive” 2:53 “We would spend days in the dye lab, picking out our colour palettes, then hours threading these looms up” 4:06 “I have this immediacy, the more you practice with the paint that you use, the more you can use it in ways that make the paintings look like your paintings” 5:33 “I will go in with accents, pastel pinks, lilacs, I love a bright red” 6:44 “Sometimes I feel like I have rose-tinted glasses on when I am …

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The Blocking In Technique for Painting and Drawing

In this article, I explain the blocking in technique, by defining its purpose and demonstrating how to use it to plan the placement of tone, colour, and composition in artwork. I refer to art history by looking at examples of unfinished paintings from the Renaissance to the pioneering approach of Cézanne. Through my demonstrations, I show how blocking in can speed up the art making process, in acrylic, oil, pencil, and pastel. Articles in the Painting Techniques series define the meaning and context of art making processes and give practical tutorials on how to work with them. Blocking In Technique Definition ‘Blocking in’ refers to media that has been applied broadly with minimal detail, to give the artist an idea of the placement, form, tone, size, or colours of the imagery. A resolved artwork may be completely ‘blocked in’, or retain some areas from the blocking in stage. Although it more commonly functions as an initial underpainting or underdrawing that will later be developed further by the artist. What is the Effect of Blocking In? When you block in the early stages of an artwork, it provides a foundation to build from and allows for any necessary …

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Testing Natural Earth Paint’s Natural Varnish on Oil and Acrylic

If you’re searching for a vegan and environmentally conscious varnish for your oil and acrylic paintings, then the Natural Earth Paint: Natural Varnish may be the perfect solution. Made in small batches with archival ingredients, it’s claimed to be fast-drying, clear, glossy, ideal for retouching, and free from harsh fumes. In this review, I put these descriptors to the test and explore its qualities by testing it on canvas and wooden panel, with oil and acrylic. Review of Natural Earth Paint: Natural Varnish About the Natural Earth Paint Company Natural Earth Paint is an American art materials company founded in 2009. The founder, Leah Fanning, started the company while intentionally pursuing a non-toxic painting practice during her first pregnancy. From there, she developed paints, mediums, primers, and varnish using natural pigments and ingredients that don’t contain any fillers, heavy metals, or derivatives from the oil and gas industries. A couple of common examples of these derivatives are acrylic polymer emulsion found in acrylic paint and alkyd resins sometimes used in oil paints; both are derived from petroleum. The company also advertises its products as safe for kids to use because of their non-toxic qualities. Alongside donating to …

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Blending Techniques in Oil, Acrylic, Pencil, Pastel, Charcoal, Watercolour, and Ink

In this article I explore the technique of blending, referring to examples from Sfumato paintings in the Renaissance, through to Symbolist pastel drawings. Followed by practical demonstrations for blending in a variety of mediums – oil, acrylic, pencils, soft and oil pastel, charcoal, watercolour, and ink – and give tips for achieving a seamless finish. Articles in the Painting Techniques Series define the meaning and context of art making processes and give practical tutorials on how to work with them. Blending Techniques in Oil, Acrylic, Pencil, Pastel, Charcoal, Watercolour, and Ink Definition Blending refers to the mixing towards, or transition between, two or more different colours or values, to create a smooth gradient between them. A successfully blended area will have a consistent, melded-together finish, without any hard edges, lines, or random marks. What is the Effect of Blending? The visual effect of blending may help to achieve realism, or simply add a pleasing gradient to an artwork. Whether a work is naturalistic or abstract, areas of blending often provide a sense of depth, be it blended tone across a glass on a table or blending between bright colours. It’s a technique that’s doable in all …

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Artist Review of the Golden Open Slow Drying Acrylic Paint

Golden Open Slow Drying acrylic paints are high quality acrylics with an extended working time that allows artists more time to work before the paint dries. Ideal for blending techniques, glazing techniques, fine detail, and more. In this Artist Review of the Month, Fay Howe shares how the paints are perfect for using in her mono printing practice. Artist Review of the Golden Open Slow Drying Acrylic Paint by Fay Howe I first started painting using acrylic paints because I found them easier to use than watercolours, which I sadly never managed to master. I continued with acrylics for years, but eventually was frustrated by the speed with which they dried and the difficulty of blending with them. So I changed to oil painting, which resolved those difficulties, and then rarely returned to using acrylic paint. However, last year, I took an online printing course in which the recommendation was to use Golden Open acrylics. For that course, I was only using two forms of black, Carbon Black and Bone Black, the latter of which is more transparent, and a couple of other neutral colours. Prior to that, when using acrylics, I used heavy body or …

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Category: Acrylic Painting