Painting With Acrylics E-Book

Ian Coleman

• Herausgeber: Crowood
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 163

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Acrylics are a versatile and exciting medium, but how can you get the most from these paints? This book shows you how. With step-by-step examples, it explains the core brush skills for a beginner. For those with more experience, it introduces a range of techniques so you can learn, for example, how to blend your colours, use transparent washes to create tones, and paint multiple layers of thick and thin textures to give your work subtlety. The paints are so forgiving that there are no rules, just opportunities to have fun and experiment with their great potential. There are eleven classic paint techniques featured. With Ian's clear instruction, this book guides you through the principles of handling the paint, which can be applied to any style of painting, however loose, expressive or abstract it may be.

Leseprobe

PAINTINGwithACRYLICS

Ian Coleman

THE CROWOOD PRESS

First published in 2015 byThe Crowood Press LtdRamsbury, MarlboroughWiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book first published in 2015

© Ian Coleman 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 884 4

Frontispiece: Detail of Barn Owl near Ross-on-Wye. Acrylic on MDF board by Ian Coleman. 61x64cm (24x18in).

Painted on gesso board using tints, semi-opaque layers and thicker opaque layers. Blue wash tints in the sky on top of a base cream colour.

Dedication

To Becky and our three sons Huxley, Dexter and Jasper, a constant source of inspiration.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1       Tools and Materials

2       Shading and Blending

3       Flat Colour

4       Fan Brush

5       On and Off

6       Line and Wash

7       Thick Paint

8       Rock Texture

9       Washes

10     Palette Knife

11     Dry Brush

12     Illustration

13     Thin and Thick

Index

INTRODUCTION

This is a book that takes a technical and detailed approach to learning a wide range of effects within this forgiving medium of acrylic paint.

In this book I aim to show you how to control its fast drying quality to your advantage. It’s a tough paint which takes all sorts of handling, especially multiple layers of thick and thin textures and best of all it’s very forgiving with mistakes. In a nutshell there are no rules with Acrylics.

Acrylic paintings can take on so many styles with results that look like flowing watercolours, solid gouache colours or luscious oil paintings. The type of painting you would like to create is achievable with this versatile medium. The core techniques in this book illustrate what you can do with a limited set of materials to then go on to include all the wonderful additives, brushes and mediums available today.

This book demonstrates eleven classic paint techniques with each image predominantly rendered in that featured style to encourage you to either copy it directly or use a similar image in the same technique.

THE AIM OF THE BOOK

I’d like to introduce you to a set of useful brush skills to manipulate acrylic paint to achieve a range of styles and finishes. Each example has been kept to within a single technique as far as possible, using a core range of brushes with a basic range of paint colours, without the huge range of specialised products.

All these techniques could be combined in one work of art and in a style that is so far removed from the craftsmanship approach taken in this book. However, completing a painting solely in one technique can rapidly help you to learn a new skill. The principals of how to handle the paint could be applied to any style of painting no matter how loose, expressive and abstract the image may be.

I hope you enjoy playing with these core techniques and in the process find one or two that fire you off into a new direction of imagination. Acrylics are so versatile there are plenty more styles and techniques to show you but for now, have fun, experiment and get to love this medium.

CHAPTER 1

TOOLS AND MATERIALS

BRUSHES

All the images were painted at this book size of 220 × 280mm, with the brushes and paints featured in each chapter. I’ve selected a relatively small range of brush types to cover many of the popular and classic ways of mark making, to show how they may become your core favourites. However, don’t be worried if you can’t obtain the same brands or sizes: these are just a guide to the brush type, and ones that are similar will be fine. I use a mix of artist’s grade brushes and budget brushes.

Obviously it’s true that you get what you pay for, but if an old decorating brush gives the marks required, then that’s the best one for the job! So generally my advice is always to get the best brush for the purpose. My studio is full of old and out-of-shape brushes which do make an appearance every now and then, so I never throw them away.

Quality, well made synthetics and Hog brushes hold their shape and last longer. Painting with a cheap detail brush which has a tip that doesn’t spring back, or splays at the slightest pressure, is completely frustrating. However, occasionally a budget paint brush does the very job you want, and that’s why I’ve included them here in the book – namely the black-handled Winsor & Newton Azanta range for blocking in, and the Royal & Langnickel Soft Grip Nylon Bright Brushes for detailing. Langnickel Hogs are also good value.

The only down side to acrylic is that it will ruin your clothes unless you remove it immediately; also, to some extent working with acrylics will have you replacing your brushes more frequently than oils or watercolours. But that’s the only down side!

Fig. 1.1 An all-round palette with small and large wells for thick and thin mixes of colour.

Fig. 1.2 All the brushes used in the making of this book.

BRUSH TIPS

•

Don’t let the paint dry on the brushes.

•

Wash your brushes well.

•

Use a mixing brush to save the tip of the painting brush.

•

To revive a brush, soak before applying a mechanic’s hand cleaner.

•

Treat your brush gently: for example, load a round brush by rotating it in colour and not dabbing or swishing.

ACRYLIC PAINTS

Acrylic paint is a water-soluble, fast-drying paint. Once dry it cannot be re-hydrated, and so any number of thick and thin layers can be applied on top. They bond to a huge range of surfaces, which is why they are so popular in the crafts and arts world.

The range of acrylics comes in three distinct viscosities: liquid, soft and heavy-bodied, each being created for a different purpose. This book features the soft-bodied range, which has a medium viscosity enabling it to overlap with both the other ranges. It’s a great place to start because you can then see in which direction you would like to go.

Super-budget acrylic paints have an inherent poor quality, and using them could give you a disappointing experience of what these amazing paints can do. I would therefore recommend using the recognized mainstream brands in either student’s grades or preferably artist’s grades.

I have used the most commonly available for this book so as to keep things straightforward: Winsor and Newton Artists’ Acrylics, but Golden and Liquitex brands, amongst others, make an excellent alternative.

COLOURS

The range of colours selected has been kept to a relative few to suit the examples, and those choices are sometimes arbitrary and approximate. Certain types of painting, like the ones in this book, are not based on critical colour choices. Worrying about the exact colours can get in the way of creativity and work flow, so if a mid brown such as burnt sienna is not handy, use a burnt umber instead, and so on. If it turns out to be not quite right it’s easy to tweak.

Our sense of colour can be a very personal choice; thus some artists prefer a palette of muted colours, some like bright, and some just go completely crazy – but this all adds up to creating our own unique style. So although I give a colour its specific name in the step-by-step chapters, for example a ‘pthhalo blue-green shade’, it can in fact be any blue that’s close enough.

Fig. 1.3.

Fig. 1.4.

PAINT TIPS

•

Don’t let paint get on your clothes.

•

Always put the caps back on the tubes of paints no matter how short a time before the next squirt.

•

Soak plastic or ceramic well palettes in hot soapy water before peeling and scrubbing off.

SURFACES AND OTHER ITEMS

Besides the usual items such as pencils, charcoal, tape, jars and so on, the following may be useful with acrylic painting.

ACRYLIC WHITE GESSO

All white gessos are not equal: some are chalky and opaque, and others more gel-like in their viscosity. As it is the base to the painting, an opaque and ‘toothy’ finish is what is required, so Liquitex, Winsor & Newton and Golden currently make great gesso.

A wide 2in to 4in hog brush or ‘varnish’ brush makes an excellent gesso brush. Gesso can be sanded to the required texture or smoothed to an impractical glass finish if so desired, with wet and dry paper and a little water.

STRETCHED CANVAS

There is a huge variety of artist’s canvas rolls, so stretching your own canvases gives the widest choice of finish.

CANVAS BOARD

Canvas board comes in many finishes, but the best advice is to take a close look and avoid very open weaves as more of the pigment then sits in between the cotton and less on top of it.

MDF, HARDBOARD, PLYBOARD, MARINE PLYBOARD

All these surfaces require a light sanding before application of three or four thin coats of paint for a smoother finish. Lightly sand with fine sandpaper between coats; use two generous coats for a rougher finish. Use a foam roller for a fine pimply or eggshell finish. Board is best suited for small to medium paintings.

WATERCOLOUR BOARD

Watercolour paper is pre-bonded on to a board in order to resist warping. It is especially good for very watery paintings and linework.

WATERCOLOUR PAPER

Watercolour paper is ideal for bringing granulation effects into washes: choose rough papers and use the paper texture with opaque drybrush techniques.

STAY-WET PALETTE

This sort of palette is a very useful item to have as it keeps paint usable for days. It is especially good when painting delicate and illustrative paintings with small amounts of fluid colour mixes.

Fig. 1.5 Stay-wet palette.

Fig. 1.6 Acrylic white gesso.

Fig. 1.7 A range of canvas textures.

TEAR-OFF PALETTES, PAINT WELLS, CONTAINERS WITH LIDS, OR A GLASS PALETTE

Tear-off palettes work well with small amounts of paint using small brushes, and charging the brush from the bottom of the paint blob.

Paint wells are best suited for large, liquid applications. Airtight containers and jars may be used for large paintings with mixed colours which are being painted over many days.

Glass palettes are used for medium to high viscosity thick paints, mixing with brushes or a palette knife. They are easy to clean as the paint comes off in large strips, like plastic.

IMAGETRACE® PAPER, TRACING PAPER

This is a convenient way of transferring drawings in five colour choices. Tracing paper will be needed for photocopying drawings and drawing outlines.

Fig. 1.8 Imagetrace (R).

OPACITY

Opacity describes how transparent or opaque the paint is. Depending on the colour, some will appear very transparent when diluted thinly with water, but when applied neat from the tube they appear almost opaque. The most opaque colours appear to have a small amount of white to get that solid look.

They are not as opaque as gouache paints, for example, and therefore often need another coat to achieve that opacity when used as a low to medium viscosity paint.

This range of opacity is because some colours are more naturally opaque or have had an opacity agent added to them. There are opacity ratings on some brands of paint, such as Winsor and Newton’s Artists’ Acrylics, with ‘O’ for opaque, ‘SO’ for semi-opaque, ‘ST’ for semi-transparent, and ‘T’ for transparent.

The manufacturer wants to supply the pigment in its strongest form and colour, such as viridian and magenta, but it won’t have that vivid ‘wow’ factor if it’s opaque. So the trick is to add a little white into the colour to make it opaque, and then when it’s dry, finish it off with a transparent layer to bring back its intensity of colour.

Opaqueness is used to put in that final highlight or reflection with a solid non see-through effect. Or it can be diluted to create fog, mist, dust and so on with a semi-opaque quality. An example of this is in the next chapter, Chapter 2 Shading and Blending, the Stippling Technique, where semi-opaqueness is used to build up an image.

With every successive layer of diluted paint the opacity builds up to a solid colour, and by controlling this property, subtle, smooth and striking effects can be achieved.

VISCOSITY

Viscosity is probably the first property to master with acrylic painting. The nature of acrylic is such that it is not quite as opaque as some other mediums, and if the aim is to get a solid look there are a few techniques that can be used to achieve that result. It can of course be applied thickly with the inherent texture that will come with that style, but if a smoother painting is desired then understanding viscosity is a very useful skill.

Low viscosity paints are runnier and high viscosity paints are thicker. Think of viscosity as ‘friction’ between the paint, water and binder components, so very thick paint has a high friction state and watery paint a low friction and a low viscosity state. It does not refer to the transparency of the paint as you can have two mixes of paint with the same viscosity but different transparencies depending on the strength of the paint’s pigment. So viscosity in this book’s context means how thick or thin the paint is diluted, and I describe it with the analogy of a familiar subject, from milk to butter.

There are various types of acrylics available featuring thinner or thicker paints than the ones used here, but all are usable with each other to create all sorts of wonderful effects and textures. The techniques in this book feature artist’s grade, medium viscosity, soft-bodied acrylic paints which are the most commonly used for smooth finishes of artwork.

VISCOSITY TIPS

The big advantage with acrylics is that they are really good for layering. A good habit to start with is to paint too thin rather than too thick when rendering representational images in a smooth finish style. Resist trying to get to the finished result in one go.

Fig. 1.9 Watery dilutions like skimmed milk are low viscosity and highly transparent.

Fig. 1.10 Semi-transparent dilutions have the viscosity of single cream and the surface remains smooth.

Fig. 1.11 Semi-opaque dilutions have the viscosity of double cream and a surface texture is now forming.

Fig. 1.12 neat paint from the tube with a butter-like viscosity, opaque with a high texture.

With smooth washes it’s very important to mix up your water and paint to a consistent watery (low viscosity) dilution, otherwise the pigment will not run from the brush leaving a uniform area or an area of gradation.

Fig. 1.13 BMW car illustration. In this illustration all the viscosity ranges are applied, from super low very transparent tints, to medium straight-from-the-tube brush work, and high viscosity thick gesso texturing.

LAYERING

Layering is a fabulous quality and acrylics excel at it, and it is this ability that so excited me when I started painting with acrylics. The realization that I could fine tune tonal values by strengthening every layer just by using a thin wash over and over again meant that I could bring subtlety into my acrylic images. So it is best to under paint and do a few weak layers than to go in too heavy if your style is representational and detailed (as an example see the shark illustration at the end of Chapter 12) – and I might say this a few times throughout the book.

For bold, heavy applications in a very stylized or abstract work, layering works just as brilliantly. There are no rules about going from ‘fat to lean’ or dark to light in acrylics: anything goes depending on the style of the painting. Tinting with watery layers on top of thick paint is fine, and vice versa.

Fig. 1.14 Medusa head. Layer upon layer of watery colour applied on top of wet watercolour board and multiple dry layers.

BRUSH SKILLS

All the paintings in this book feature to some extent an element of detailed brush work, either brush drawing, highlighting or shadow marking.

The workhorse of those brushes is the Winsor & Newton No. 6 222 designer brush, or any similar brush by other makes. This is a brush with slightly longer hair than the standard length, but not as long as a rigger brush. It has a perfect tension for making thin and thick lines by increasing pressure on the brush and then releasing it. It becomes a pencil substitute for adding details, outlines and small shading areas.

Once you know how to make these lines it’s surprising how often they become part of a painting.

Fig. 1.15 Medium sweeps, thin to the maximum thickness.

Thick and Thin Lines

With a mixing brush, make a pool of fluid Mars black with a consistency of pouring cream. Rotate the designer brush in it so that it fills the whole brush, then flatten off the excess, and shape to a small blade.

Use your little finger straight as a support to help control height in either thick and thin brush marks or same thickness marks. Here is a typical variety of line types to practise in any colour.

Fig. 1.16 Continuous thick and thin lines.

Fig. 1.17 Full circle thick and thin lines.

Fig. 1.18 Short fat lines on canvas.

Fig. 1.19 Fur lines on canvas.

Fig. 1.20 Swirly to the maximum thick and thin lines.

Fig. 1.21 Cut out a variety of cardboard curves to act as a template for repetitive lines.

CHAPTER 2

SHADING AND BLENDING

Blending is probably the main challenge that most of us have with acrylics, as their fast-drying property can make them become too dry, too quickly.

Blending wet acrylic colours into each other becomes a time-limited exercise, unlike oils, and requires a little planning. To make successful blends in this context you need to make sure there is enough paint on your palette to match the area to be done, along with a brush of an appropriate size. This may require a retarder to be added to the mix, or a little water. However, in this book I’ve kept to using acrylics in their natural form.

Most paintings will have blended areas using different techniques: these may involve tints, washes or dry layers as well as the wet-in-wet technique.

Depending on the style of the painting, we sometimes have to create an illusion of blending because the area or style does not lend itself to the wet-in-wet approach. This is where ‘dry-brush’ and ‘stippling’ techniques create the blend.

I have created four ways to demonstrate blending colours and tones together with these reflective spheres. I have kept each strictly within the technique, but another great quality of acrylics is that we can also put them together. For example, the wet-in-wet technique can have a tint laid over, or a dry layer applied when it’s dry. Each technique results in a particular look.