Looking at Acrylics
Jane recently looked at brushes best suited to acrylic paints. This article reviews the acrylic paint ranges themselves from: Daler Rowney, Winsor & Newton, Sennelier, Royal Talens.
Acrylics dry quickly
Acrylics dry fast, so you can layer colours quickly.
You can use the acrylic straight from the tube and apply with a palette knife or brush. Alternatively, acrylics can be thinned right down with water or a flow enhancer which takes away the brush strokes.
Daler Rowney Acrylics
System 3 original
System 3 acrylics are highly versatile, water-based acrylic colours that offer an excellent painting experience at an economic price. High quality pigments are used in the manufacture of the system 3 acrylic ranges.
System 3 heavy body
What is the difference then with the heavy body system 3 acrylic? This unique heavy body consistency is ideal for creating textured effects and impasto techniques. The consistency of the acrylic helps to retain brush marks, create motion and volume.
Simply Acrylic
Simply acrylic 75ml are affordable colours that can be used to paint on all conventional art surfaces as paper, cardboard, canvases, and more. These soft bodied acrylics can be used in the same way as other acrylics.
F W acrylic inks
Daler Rowney also have the FW ink. This is an acrylic based pigment water resistant ink in a large range of colours.
They have a high degree of lightfastness, are intermixable with other colours and are permanent when dry.
Pouring Medium
Pouring medium seems to be very popular at the moment. By mixing the FW inks with pouring medium you can then pour your colours over a chosen surface and watch the colours blend and merge together. Drying with a smooth even coloured film, this medium is suitable for use on canvas, wood and other primed surfaces.
Pouring medium is also suitable for other acrylic paint ranges and is used to help improve the consistency of acrylic paints by allowing them to pour more fluidly.
Winsor & Newton Acrylics
Artist quality acrylic
Winsor & Newton have a range of artist quality acrylic colour which contain the highest pigment levels to give you the best quality of colour. They have a varied price range due to the series number.
The artist quality acrylics have a wide choice of colours and the quality means they have a limited colour shift which gives you consistency.
Galeria
Winsor & Newton Galeria acrylic colour is ideal for artists who require large quantities of good quality acrylic at an economic price.
Sennelier Acrylics
Abstract acrylics
Sennelier abstract acrylics are heavy bodied with an exceptional pigment concentration this gives them a creamy consistency and unrivalled opacity. I use the abstract and I love it. It really is, for me, the best acrylic I have used.
Royal Talens Acrylics
Amsterdam acrylics
Royal Talens Amsterdam acrylic paints all have a high to very high lightfastness. They also have good covering power, their consistency is slightly thin which makes them ideal for transparent techniques
Mediums for acrylics
You can also get mediums to mix with your acrylic to achieve different effects – such as Impesto.
Impesto is an art technique where paint is laid onto a surface thickly so it holds the imprint of an artist’s brush or palette knife. Just mix a little of the Impesto Gel medium with your acrylic and you can lay the acrylic on nice and thick.
Slow drying medium – this medium is translucent when wet and dries clear so as not to alter the colour of your acrylics ,this allows you more time when painting before your acrylics dry.
Flow enhancer breaks down the surface tension of the water in the acrylic – resulting in a thinner acrylic that brushes or pours on smoothly with no loss of colour strength or consistency.
I love using acrylics and have been using them for some years. I like the fact that they dry faster than oils which means I can put layers on layers.
I hope this has given you some insight in to acrylics.
Gadsbys are happy to help you when you are choosing the best materials, whether that be paint or brushes, for your work. Gadsby’s stock a great range of artists materials and have experts on hand (if needed) to help with your selection.
