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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