Acrylic

The Fast, Fun, and Friendly Medium

Most artists remember the emergence of acrylic paints onto the art scene as occurring in the 1960's or 1970's. That may have been when they caught everyone's eye and piqued their interest, but, remarkably, acrylics were first discovered in 1859. They were not produced commercially until 1928 and have undergone many changes since they were first manufactured.

The composition of acrylics, while it may seem complicated chemically, can be explained in pretty simple terms. The primary ingredient in the paint is the base into which the pigments are placed. This base is a type of polymer (something like plastic) product. As the fluid in the base evaporates, the pigments and the base bond into a permanent, somewhat elastic material that is remarkably sturdy. It can withstand limited direct exposure to the elements and can be painted on almost any porous material.

From its development in 1859, the early pioneers of acrylic paint faced many complex challenges. We, fortunately, do not need to reach the technical understanding of the complexities to enjoy and appreciate the wonder of acrylics. All we have to do is buy a tube or jar of "wonder color" and begin to paint.

Among all the advantages of acrylic paints, ease of use is one of the most apparent. Acrylics do not require the detailed and quite formidable techniques and materials that are necessary with other media. From preparing surfaces, laying colors over colors, estimating pigment drying times, and chemical and solvent exposure to ease of clean up, acrylic paints are a world apart from oils or watercolor. Acrylics are ready to use - immediately. This ease of use has enabled artists to extend the range of artistic effects: From thin stains to tremendous impasto, from the look of watercolor to that of oil, from super gloss to dead matte, acrylics offer an open door to creativity and experimentation. Acrylics can be the most versatile and easy to use of all painting media.

The nature of acrylic paints is such that virtually every element of use can be controlled. Within a short time of start-up, artists can easily manipulate surface gloss, texture, transparency, opacity, viscosity, flexibility and drying time. It is important to indicate that each acrylic color maintains its own level of matte or luster. Each is formulated to offer the best qualities for the given color. To insure a uniform matte surface, satin sheen or high gloss, a finish coat applied over the completed work is recommended, but not necessary.

Another interesting quality of acrylic colors is that in most artists' grade paints, all you see is pure pigment--no extenders, opacifiers or fillers. The degree of matte or gloss is directly correlated to the amount of pigment used. That leaves the artist in charge of adding filler to comply with his/her need at any given point. Matte and gloss materials can be added to adjust the sheen of any acrylic color. Mediums, gels and varnishes are a few of the materials that can alter or adjust the degree of sheen.

Drying time is related to the evaporation rate of water, which is affected by temperature/humidity and the rate of air current over the surface. To slow the drying process, retarding gels and mediums can effectively extend the window of time available for working. This is especially important to artists who enjoy on-canvas blending of colors or for those who like to work "wet-on-wet." This technique is best achieved by working paint into a thick layer of gel medium. The gel adds essential moisture to the surface and slows the absorption. Paint dries rapidly on the canvas and the palette as well. Retarding agents and gels can help in slowing the drying on both.

Acrylics appear to dry darker than when they are first applied, but this is not actually the case. It is, instead, the binder (acrylic polymer) that clears as the drying process completes. The milky white look of mediums and gels, when wet, disappears when dry. This gives the illusion of the paint darkening as it dries.

Acrylics are about the most durable materials available. The question about expected life has been tested repeatedly in laboratory-controlled exposures to heat and light. Acrylics do not exhibit the same changes as oils, leading experts to guess that the life of acrylics is far greater than the materials that were used for centuries before their discovery.

In summary, if you are looking for a rapid drying, opaque or semi-opaque medium, with which you can create any color or texture, that is extremely durable, cleans up with soap and water, will adhere to virtually any porous surface, and can be augmented with many foreign materials for personal texture applications, you must try acrylic paints. They offer more than you could imagine.

Tip: If you must leave your palette for more than a few moments, try covering the paint with a lightly dampened paper towel. If the separation is for more than 20 minutes, seal the palette in an airtight container, with the dampened paper towel over the paint. Some artists use atomizers to mist the palette during their painting process.

Competitions

--Pastel - Pastel Society of America 27th Annual Open Exhibition at National Arts Club, NYC. No oil pastels. Slide deadline is July 10. For prospectus, send SASE to: Rae Smith, Exhibition Chairman, Pastel Society of America, 15 Gramercy Park South, NY, NY 10003.

--Watercolor - Pittsburgh Watercolor Society's Aqueous Open '99, 53rd Annual International Exhibit held at Watercolors Gallery. Slide deadline: August 10. For prospectus, send SASE to: Linda Fruhwald, 1349 Cordova Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.

--Oil/Acrylics - National Oil and Acrylic Painters' Society 9th National at Columbia College. Slide deadline: July 1. For prospectus, send #10 SASE to: NOAPS, Box 676, Dept. M, Osage Beach, MO 65065.

--Collage - National Collage Society, Inc., 15th Annual Juried Exhibition at Kent State U. Slides due August 15. Write National Collage Society, Inc., 254 W. Streetsboro St., Hudson, OH 44236; e-mail: nationalcollage@juno.com.

--Various Media - Audubon Artists 57th "4 Arts" Annual National Competition at Salmagundi Club Galleries, NYC. Oil, Watercolor, graphics and sculpture. Slides due August 9. For prospectus, send #10 SASE to: Sidney Findling, 75 Montgomery St., #17A, New York, NY 10002.

Ampersand Art Supply High quality prepared wooden panels and accessory products including Claybord, Claybord Black, Claybord Textured, Gessobord, and Hardbord.

A Little Art History

Francisco de Goya 1746-1828

Francisco de Goya was a master painter whose works profoundly influenced audiences and artists throughout the world. His unique perspective was so fresh and original that Goya is considered by many to be the "father" of Modern Art. The majority of his paintings and drawings are renowned for their realistically bold techniques and haunting satire. Goya himself is revered for his affirmation that an artist's vision is vital to the innovation of art.

During his lifetime, Goya was without peer in his native Spain. As a painter, draftsman, and printmaker, he was awarded the prestigious title of "first painter to the king" and served three generations of Spanish royalty. Despite these close ties to the ruling aristocracy, Goya remained an outsider, preferring instead to independently witness the follies and trespasses of humanity, whether at the highest stations of life or at the lowest.

Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes was born on March 30, 1746 in northern Spain. Not much later, his father moved the family to Saragossa. When he was about 14, Francisco became apprenticed to Jose Luzan, a local painter. A few years later Goya traveled to Madrid, where he was greatly influenced by the last of the great Venetian painters. From here, he traveled to Rome to continue his art studies.

When he returned to Saragossa in 1771, he started painting frescoes for a local cathedral. These works, painted in the decorative Rococo tradition, helped establish Goya's artistic reputation. In 1773 he married Josefa Bayeu, who was the sister of a fellow artist. Although the couple had many children, only one would survive to adulthood.

Goya got his professional start in 1774 when he was commissioned by Mengs to paint cartoons (designs) for the royal tapestry factory in Madrid. This experience helped him develop his first genre of paintings, or scenes from everyday life, as he became an astute observer of human behavior. He was also influenced by Neoclassicism, which was gaining favor over the Rococo style. His study of the works of Velazquez in the royal collection also resulted in a looser, more spontaneous painting technique.

The 1780's brought many professional distinctions for Goya. During this time, he became established as a portrait painter to the Spanish aristocracy. He was elected to the Royal Academy of San Fernando, became a court painter, and was named painter to King Charles III.

In the early 1790's, Goya became seriously ill and was left permanently deaf. Even though King Charles IV later made Goya his official chamber painter, his distaste for the pomposity of the court had already taken root. During this period, he started producing dark and satirical works.

Due to his hearing loss, Goya became increasingly occupied with the fantasies of his imagination that led to critically satirical observations of mankind. From this mindset, he evolved a bolder and freer style that was almost caricature. In 1799 he published the "Caprichos," a series of etchings that satirized the futility of human endeavors.

As he changed, his portraits became penetrating characterizations that revealed their subjects as Goya perceived them. His religious frescoes also displayed a broader, freer style that contained an earthy realism that was unprecedented in contemporary religious art.

During the Napoleonic invasion and the Spanish War of independence from 1808 to 1814, Goya served as court painter to the French. He expressed his horror of armed conflict in The Disasters of War, a series of starkly realistic etchings that depicted the atrocities of war. He also produced 2 de Mayo de 1808 (2nd of May of 1808), and other pieces in which he portrayed the suffering and the realism of the time to a level not previously witnessed.

After the war, the Spanish monarchy was restored to power. Goya was pardoned for serving the French, but his work was not favored by the new King Ferdinand VII. He was called before the Inquisition to explain his earlier portrait of The Naked Maja, one of the few nudes in Spanish art at the time. Goya resented this intimidation, and soon after he began his period known as the "Black Paintings."

In the Black Paintings, which were painted on the walls of his house, Goya gave expression to his darkest visions. A similar nightmarish quality haunts the satirical "Disparates," a series of etchings also called "Proverbios." In the same context, he published his etchings on bullfighting (called the "Tauromaquia") in 1816.

After years of having witnessed the excesses of absolute monarchy, Goya went into self-imposed exile in Southern France in 1824. By this time he had become embittered and disillusioned towards society and its apparent myriad deception. He continued to work in the Bordeaux region until his death on April 16, 1828.

Goya's unique ability to find universal and timeless meaning in specific examples of human behavior has inspired successive generations of artists. Goya held particular importance for French painters of the 19th Century, including Delacroix, Manet and Degas; and through them Goya influenced some of the great artists of the 20th Century, such as Pablo Picasso.

This lineage of influence, as well as his seminal vision, have encouraged the popular acknowledgment of Goya as the "first modernist," a label that, while compelling, is limiting for an artist of such mystery and strength. Today, many of Goya's best paintings are displayed in the El Prado art museum in Madrid.

Through July 11, some 35 paintings--several from the artist's personal collection--join astonishing drawings to bring new perspectives to Goya's enduring vision in an exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (215) 763-8100; www.philamuseum.org.

Art Marketplace

New Color Mixing Sets from Liquitex

To answer the needs of experienced artists desiring to explore color theory through a classic primary color system and beginners who want to work with the "right" primary colors, the maker of Liquitex acrylic paints has introduced Liquitex Primary Color Mixing Sets. The four- and six-tube sets include artist's acrylic colors that occupy balanced positions on the color wheel based on the classic system of three primaries. The four-tube set includes colors for creating opaque tints, and the six-tube set additionally includes Transparent Mixing White for creating transparent tints and Ivory Black for creating shades. An instructional insert teaches basic color mixing and introduces techniques and exercises for understanding color relationships. See your retailer for these new products and visit www.liquitex.com.

New Artist Inkjet Papers from Strathmore

Strathmore has developed the perfect paper to reproduce great works of art using today's technology--Strathmore Artist Inkjet Papers in eight styles for artists, photographers, and craftspersons.

--Canvas is a true artist canvas coated to produce vibrant inkjet color when replicating oil and acrylic artwork.

--Texture is a heavyweight textured paper which turns inkjet prints into a watercolor painting. The light texture has the appearance of watercolor, making it ideal for replicating pastel and watercolor artwork.

--Ultra Gloss is a gloss-coated paper that produces near-photographic quality when reproducing digital photographs.

--Matte is a heavyweight paper that produces vibrant colors for printing digital photographs with a satin appearance.

--Satin Board is a heavyweight board for creating computer arts and crafts. The rigid board is ideal for creating photo frames, personalized gift boxes, posters, etc.

All of the above include one sheet of inkjet paper, Fome-Cor for mounting prints, and one frame easel.

--Metallized is a unique paper that is great for creating signs, announcements, quarterfold greeting cards and more. The metallized gold coloring shows through inkjet inks to give final prints a metallic look.

--Label allows you to create personalized labels in any size through your inkjet printer.

--Fome-Cor has a low tack surface that is great for mounting final prints and allows prints to be repositioned if needed.

In the Spotlight: Ampersand Art Supply

Painting on Wood Panels - A Short History

Painting on wooden panels dates back even before the 1400's when the Italian and Flemish masters painted on solid wood panels of oak and poplar prepared with layers of gesso containing calcium carbonate. Today's modern painters have continued this tradition using a variety of available wood substrates. Well-prepared panels will outlast canvas and will not deteriorate due to moisture and temperature changes.

Artists have many choices when painting on a wood substrate, so one must be careful in choosing the right panel and sealing it well. Using wood as a painting surface can create problems for a painter. As it absorbs moisture, it is subject to expansion and contraction. Permanent warping and splitting also may occur due to the grain structure inherent in solid wood panels. Plywood such as Baltic Birch is better than a solid wood panel because the layering process reduces the tendency to warp and split. However, the grain in plywood can create additional work for a painter who wants a smooth surface.

The Use of Hardbord - A Better Alternative

In 1924, William H. Mason solved many of the problems presented by solid wood panels when he invented hardboard, which is now commonly known as Masonite. The manufacture of hardboard consists of breaking down wood into its basic fibers. These wood fibers are then permanently bound together under extreme heat and pressure, using the natural lignin to reconstitute and bind the fibers in their new form The result is an extremely hard, grainless panel of uniform thickness and density, offering a dimensional stability not found in natural wood products.

The Tempering Debate

One debate that continues among those who use hardboard as an art substrate is deciding between tempered or untempered. Originally, tempered board referred to the thick tempering oil impregnated into the board during the manufacturing process which caused adhesion problems for the ground. Today, the manufacturing process, as well as the meaning of tempering, has changed. Tempered board now simply refers to the superior physical characteristics of the board, not the oil used in the original manufacturing process.

While many handbooks are still outdated, more recent articles attest to this new technology in the manufacturing of hardboard. According to Walter Garver, a contributing editor to The Artist's Magazine, approximately 15 years ago, pressed wood manufacturers in the United States stopped using tung or linseed oil in their board-making process. Instead, they now add resins, which, for lack of a better word, "plasticize" the tempered board and leave it inert.

Ampersand's Prepared Panels

After an exhaustive search working with conservators, The American Hardboard Association, and artists, Ampersand Art Supply has determined that while both tempered and untempered boards can be used successfully as a painting substrate, the tempered board is superior because of its additional strength and durability. Thus, Ampersand's full line of fine art panels are made with one of the highest quality tempered boards on the market.

Sealing the Surface - A Critical Step

Regardless of the substrate being used, all wood panels should be sealed before applying paint or gesso to ensure permanence and eliminate any leaching from impurities that may exist in the natural wood material. Ampersand seals their hardboard with a special acrylic emulsion before applying the ground. This sealing layer acts as a barrier between the hardboard panel and the coatings and artist's pigments on the surface. After laying the emulsion, Ampersand applies different grounds to create its various prepared panels. All of the grounds are pH neutral and acid-free. Thus, the artist using any of Ampersand's panels can be assured of working with an archival surface.

Choose from a variety of prepared panels depending on the medium being used. Claybord Original, a smooth Kaolin clay-coated hardboard is similar in nature and composition to the traditionally prepared panels of the Renaissance. The smooth board is ideal for egg tempera, ink, gouache, encaustic, air-brush, and pencil and allows reworking and manipulation of the surface. Claybord Textured has a rougher texture similar to cold press paper and is a phenomenal surface for watercolor. Gessobord is primed with a professional artist quality acrylic gesso and needs no further preparation before painting with oil or acrylic. Pastelbord has a sandy tooth surface that makes working with pastels and acrylics ideal. Claybord Black is Claybord Smooth perfectly coated with ink, creating a superior scratchboard. The Hardbord panel is of superior quality, and you can apply the ground of your choice. All Ampersand coated panels are pH neutral and acid-free. Most panels are available flat or cradled with 1" wood strips for more support.

See your retailer; and for a free sample, call 800-822-1939; e-mail: bords@ampersandart.com; or visit www.ampersandart.com.

Printmaking

Cleaning/Restoring Prints on Paper

The stresses of environmental and atmospheric conditions eventually take their toll on artworks. Sometimes the aging process adds character, but more often the unwanted blemishes of time visually distract from the works. When this occurs, the artwork should be cleaned and restored to its original condition.

Oil and acrylic paintings have a solid, impervious surface that can be cleaned with relative ease, but artist's prints--such as etchings, engravings, or lithographs--require more attention and care.

These types of works are fragile and sensitive (especially older works) so they must be handled very delicately during any cleaning operation - particularly when they are wet. When attempting to clean prints on paper, it is essential to first understand the properties and characteristics of the paper and the materials used to create the image(s).

Usually, print ink will remain fast when it is immersed in water, but the real consideration in cleaning a print is more with the paper that it is printed on. Many print papers contain sizing, and this material may be partially (or completely) washed away during the cleaning process. So the sizing may have to be replaced before restoration can begin. Other print sheets may be constructed from two or more plies (or sheets) of paper pressed together, and these may separate or blister when immersed in water.

Prints that are made with aqueous paste colors, such as Japanese prints, usually cannot be safely immersed in water like oily ink pigment prints can. Still, they can withstand a limited amount of treatment if performed expertly.

To properly clean a print on paper, you need to have the proper apparatus. One essential item is a large glass or enamel tray, such as that used by photographers. This is used to hold cleaning solution while the print paper is bathed and cleaned. Later when the print is removed, it is placed on plate glass, and blotting paper is used to delicately remove the excess moisture.

For delicate prints, a wide camel-hair or hog-hair brush can be used to clean the deposits of color. For cleaning a specific area of a print, try using a microspatula, scalpel, or tweezers to clean the surface. If a number of works are to be cleaned, you should use a sink or tub that has running distilled or deionized water (with a small plastic tube attachment for directing the flow).

The main consideration for cleaning prints is to remove as much surface dirt and accretions as possible. Since kneaded erasers and drafting powders leave surface residues, they should not be used to clean a print surface. Pencil marks, superficial dirt, and similar unwanted residues should instead be removed with artgum or soft bread pills.

Many types of paper cannot withstand the mechanical stress of vinyl erasers, so paper surfaces should instead be dusted with a soft brush (as described above). Always avoid direct contact with printed ink and design elements with both erasers and brushes.

To remove greasy or oily stains, try using a volatile solvent that is suited for a particular stain. Careful and limited testing should first be conducted in a small area of a print to determine how lines and colors may be affected by a particular solvent or with water.

Note that some types of solvents are highly flammable and can cause breathing and skin irritations, so they should always be used in an open area with protective gloves and breathing filters (and no flames!).

Turpentine and mineral spirits are relatively safe solvents, but gasoline, benzol, carbon tetrachloride, and acetone are far more volatile and should be handled accordingly. In all cases, the instructions, uses, and warnings for each of these solvents should be read and followed.

Writing-ink stains have traditionally been removed by bathing a print in a bleaching powder solution (about 1 percent) mixed with a small amount of C.P. hydrochloric acid. Oxalic acid can be used to remove more stubborn stains. Note that after these chemicals are used, the paper should be immediately bathed in running deionized water to remove all traces. Otherwise, any chemical residue can weaken the paper and cause eventual staining.

Prints in storage may absorb moisture which can promote the growth of mold. Some prefer to use a compound such as thymol to sterilize the paper and kill the disfiguring growth. In some cases, though, thymol can cause yellowing, so check results before you use it.

Pictures that are very fragile--such as prints on India paper, Japanese tissue, or images with soluble lines or colors--typically will not withstand immersion in fluids. These may be treated from the rear by pressing upon them with blotting paper filled with cleaning solution or by pressing them between two nearly dried blotters. The drawbacks of this type of cleaning are that partial cleaning results may occur, and prints that are badly soiled may not come fully clean.

These tips are provided to promote a general understanding about what is required to clean various types of prints. Before you actually clean a print, you should acquire more information on the subject and experiment with small samples first. With the correct tools, materials, and procedures, you can eradicate the unwanted visual element of time and restore your prints to their original appearance.

Airbrush

Free New E-Newsletter

A new e-newsletter for airbrush enthusiasts, Airbrush Talk, will be available beginning June 15th online at http://www.arttalk.com/airbrushtalk/airbrushtalk.htm. Here you can sign up to receive a free e-mail subscription to this quarterly publication that will include informative articles and tips by renowned airbrush artists.

Winners Announced

Airbrush Action magazine has announced the winners of the 1999 Vargas Awards as well as The 13th Annual Airbrush Excellence Awards. The Vargas Awards will be presented this month at the 14th anniversary dinner to Robert Grossman, Roger Huyssen, Doug Johnson, Martin Mull, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, and David Willardson.

First Place winners of the Airbrush Excellence Awards include: Paul Knight for Fine Art; Kyle Still for Commercial Illustration; Liz Fojon for Fingernails; Bobby Negrete, Jr., for Student; Stephen Schulte for Automotive; Bunthen Sou, Bill Lazos, Ian Jones and Anita Hurley for Signs & Murals; Todd Peterson for T-Shirt & Textile; and Stephen Schulte for Helmet Art.

ArtPourri

Designs Selected--Winning designs have been selected from a field of 121 for a new dollar coin which honors the Shoshone Indian Sacajawea. Glenna Goodacre, a Santa Fe, N.M., artist and sculptor, designed the profile of Sacajawea; and Thomas Rogers, a sculptor of Pennsylvania, designed the tail side which bears a soaring eagle. Look for this new coin in circulation by early 2000.

Fellowships Awarded--This year there are 179 recipients of over $6 million in Guggenheim Fellowships. Fellows include painters, sculptors, and photographers, as well as filmmakers, choreographers, scholars and scientists.

Milestones--Saul Steinberg, artist and cartoonist whose drawings appeared in The New Yorker for more than half a century, died in Manhattan at age 84.--Shel Silverstein, the renowned author and illustrator of acclaimed children's books such as A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk Ends, died in Key West at age 66.

Auction Results In--At Christies, a sale of 40 Impressionist and 19C. works of art resulted in a majority of the works selling well above their estimates. Van Gogh's Canal With Washerwomen sold for $19.8 million. A sale of modern art offering 62 works resulted in a record price for Henry Moore's Reclining Figure at $4 million. Meanwhile, at Sotheby's Impressionist auction, Monet's Haystack received the highest bid of the evening at $11.9 million. At the sale of the Whitney Art Collection, Still Life with Curtain, Pitcher and Bowl of Fruit by Cezanne received the fourth-highest price ever for a work of art sold at auction--$60.5 million.

Pavilion Exhibits--The U.S. Pavilion at the 1999 Venice Biennale opens on June 12 with an exhibition of work by the installation and performance artist Ann Hamilton.

Painting Slashed--A Dutch psychiatric patient has been returned to a clinic after ripping a huge circular hole in the center of Nude in Front of the Garden by Picasso in Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. Because of the bluntness of the knife used, restoration will be difficult.

Exhibitions

Washington, D.C.--The Phillips Collection - Georgia O'Keeffe: The Poetry of Things brings together 69 works, including paintings and works on paper from 1908 to 1963 drawn from the artist's major series of fruit, leaves, flowers, shells, bones, crosses, and doors. Through July 18.

Los Angeles--The Getty Center - Dosso Dossi, Court Painter in Renaissance Ferrara is the first exhibition ever devoted to Dosso Dossi, one of the most creative and engaging Italian painters of the Renaissance. It brings together nearly 60 of his best works from public and private collections in Europe and America. Through July 11.

Denver--Museum of Contemporary Art - New New Painters presents the work of eleven painters who have been most deeply involved with exploring the possibilities of the new acrylic paints and additives, which have undergone an extraordinary technical development during the last fifteen years. Through July 3.

June Birthdays

  1  Red Grooms

  7  Paul Gauguin

  8  Frank Lloyd Wright

12  Annie Albers

21  Henry Tanner

25  Antonio Gaudi

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 9 No. 8 -- June 1999