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Acrylics

Acrylic Painting

Acrylic paints are some of the most versatile and popular art materials for contemporary artists.  They offer so many positive attributes: fast drying time, water cleanup, huge color selections right from the tube (including metallics and texturals), multiple surface preparations for both before and after painting, brushes and other tools to work with, wild creativity, plus a modern history that includes space-age polymer elements.  What more could you ask?

Acrylic paint was first discovered in the late 1940’s.  In its original state, it was formulated as house paint, but artists began to use it because it dried quickly and offered qualities that oil did not.  Whether rolled on or brushed, the paint was more permanent and impervious to water damage.  That opened lots of new areas of artistic application.

As more and more creative persons used the paints, demands for higher quality pigments and mixes were made.  Several companies that had previously manufactured only oil paints began to enter the market with acrylics.  Today there are many manufacturers, both domestic and foreign, that make acrylic paints.  Any artist has a huge field from which to select the perfect texture, pigmentation and formulation.

Permanence of the surface of an acrylic painting is created by the nature of the material.  Acrylic paints are formulated in combination with a binder that is water based and evaporates after the paint is applied.  This evaporation process bonds the “plates” of color together into a near-plastic surface.  It is far more flexible, stronger and fades less than oil.

Considering the fact that no art material is totally inert, one should exercise care and avoid prolonged contact with acrylic paint, just like oil.  But, having said that and considering the ease of cleanup (water with mild soap), there are huge advantages to using acrylics. No petroleum/solvent contact is a huge leap towards a healthier studio environment.

While the same brushes can be used for either oil or acrylic, those designed strictly for acrylic work do best with acrylic application.  They hold and flow the pigment with certainty.  Their shapes and designs offer great variety of line and stroke application.  When cleaned properly, they will last a very long time.  But one caveat is that you absolutely must clean brushes after painting.  Once set up, the paint is almost impossible to remove.  Accidents, if caught early enough, can be cleaned with regular alcohol, but this does not include completely dry acrylic paints.

A good product for cleaning, preserving and restoring brushes is General Pencil Company’s “The Masters” Brush Cleaner.  This removes oils, acrylics, watercolors, stains and varnishes and helps prevent paint buildup in the ferrule.  It also prevents the hardening and build-up so common with today’s acrylic paints.  “The Masters” also conditions and preserves your brushes to keep them like new. See your retailer and visit www.generalpencil.com.

Along with a selection of brushes, an acrylic artist might want to consider using some of the soft rubber, wedge- shaped tools for forming, slicing and incising the wet, malleable paint on the surface of paintings.  Sharp-edged designs, scribing and such can be easily done with these tools.

Many artists are taught painting with the understanding that it is somehow cheating or improper to use color straight from the tube or jar.  With acrylics and the choices of color you have, it is almost improper not to use paint directly from the tube.  Why not?  If the color needs some enhancement – make it and you will be that much closer to the result you want.  Jar paint consistency is usually thinner than tube colors.  For muralists and knife painters jar paints offer the exact texture they need.

The surface upon which an artist paints makes a huge difference in the completed work.  There are lots of materials to surface your ground when working in acrylics:  pumice, granular mixes, metallic powder additions and modeling pastes.  It is this variety of surface possibilities that adds to the overall acrylic experience.

Painters can use acrylics in a number of dilutions, depending on the effect they seek.  Water added to pigment will yield a nice wash or watercolor effect.  Thick, creamy pigment can be manipulated with a palette knife to yield delicious textures and dimensions.  Dry brush spot application can add drama to edges, ellipses or light concentrations.

Surface coatings range from matte to high gloss, so you can create or alter for any topical finish you want.  Liquid and thick, jar style coatings are used also for mediums.  Again, this is a versatility few other media offer.

From the point of more is better…acrylics are pretty incredible.  Ease of use, range of product choices and availability.  Acrylics have it all.  See your retailer and ask for Grumbacher’s Academy Acrylics in 24 colors (www.grumbacherart.com) and Da Vinci’s Heavy-Body Acrylics in 56 colors and new Fluid Acrylic Paint in 48 colors (www.davincipaints.com).

The Artist’s Marketplace

—Artograph – Limited Time Rebate

Save on select Artograph products!  Special rebates are available for a limited time with a mail-in rebate.  This offer is limited to qualifying Artograph products listed and purchased at a participating retailer and ends Sept. 20, 2009.  Go to http://www.artograph.com/rebate2.htm?cid=June Rebate and complete the form.

—Inovart – Products for Teachers, Artists and Crafters

Inovart, a manufacturer from Sarasota, FL, has served the needs of teachers, artists and crafters for 20 years with products used in art, education and recreation.  Included in the line that offers quality and value are printmaking, mat and framing, calligraphy, scratchboard and art and craft products as well as Lite Boxes and easels.  Visit www.inovart.net.

—Strathmore – New Artist Trading Card Set

Strathmore’s new Artist Trading Card Set includes all the paper essentials in an archival storage box.  Included with the box are 1 Assorted Pack with 12 assorted sheets, 1 Watercolor Pack with 10 sheets and 1 Vellum Bristol Pack with 20 sheets. Carry ATC’s to a swap, organize collections or store Strathmore paper surfaces.  This is a perfect gift for trading card artists and for artists who like to work small.  See your retailer and visit www.strathmoreartist.com.

Exhibitions

Santa Ana, CA – Bowers Museum – Opening Sept. 12- Dec. 6 the Museum will present the first major U.S. retrospective in 30 years by Columbian artist Fernando Botero:  The Baroque World of Fernando Botero.  Featured will be 100 paintings, sculptures and drawings of Botero’s favorite works as well as pieces he reacquired years after they left his possession. 714.567.3600. www.bowers.org.

Denver, CO – Denver Art Museum – Embrace! will officially open on Nov. 14, but throughout the late summer and fall, artists will be working to transform the Hamilton Building with works of art created specifically for the dynamic spaces.  Featuring 17 new works in a range of media, the exhibition marks one of the largest site-specific commissions in a U.S. museum.  And visitors will have the rare opportunity to see some of the artists installing their work.  “Insider Moments” will be announced several days in advance; and to be invited, follow @denverartmuseum on Twitter, become a fan of the DAM on Facebook or visit www.denverartmuseum.org/signup to start your free subscription to Art Mail.

Washington, DC – National Gallery of Art – Designing the Lincoln Memorial:  Daniel Chester French and Henry Bacon features the 6-foot-high plaster working model of the celebrated seated Lincoln statue by American sculptor Daniel Chester French, designed for the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall.  The sculpture is joined by the wood model of the Lincoln Memorial that renowned American architect Henry Bacon used to bolster his entry in the design competition for the memorial.  It is the original scale model of the actual building, inspired by the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and executed on the National Mall in white marble between 1914 and 1922. The exhibition honors President Abraham Lincoln’s 200^th birthday and is on view until Feb. 10.

Kids’ Korner

Store It!

Well, it is that time again – the start of another school year with old and new friends and plenty of cool things to do.  Why not be ready for all the fun by making great storage boxes for all the things you will acquire during the school year.  School supplies, games, books and even closet contents (shoes, hats, gloves and scarves) can be organized for easy access with no lost time looking for items.  This is a really easy project and one that makes storage containers for use over many months.

All you need to complete this project are some boxes and acrylic paints.  If you can recycle old corrugated boxes with flap lids, that will work.  Or you can purchase lidded boxes designed for office storage from any office supply dealer.  Either way, with a little paint and imagination, you can make your room or closet look really neat in no time at all.

If you recycle boxes, select the cleanest ones you can find.  If they are dusty, use an old rag to wipe them down to remove the soil.  This will help the paint adhere better.  If you buy the storage boxes, fold and build the bottoms and tops and you are all set.

Color selection is all up to you.  Consider coordinating the boxes with the colors in your room.  That way they will look like they are part of the décor if you decide to leave them out rather than store them away.  Color combinations that work well might be patriotic tones of red, white and blue.  Jazzy colors like lime, hot pink and orange look great if you are daring and like those colors.  Subdued tones – even camouflage – are good selections for the outdoors lover.  Sports themes are always good and if you like several sports, each storage box could represent a different sport.  Solid colors, stripes, patterns…you decide what type of patterns you want to create.

Some examples you might want to consider include:  floral designs in wild colors…very fashionable and easily found when looking for your goodies.  Solid colors that coordinate with a room’s décor can be very appealing.  A stack of boxes, all painted the same color or very closely related colors, look like a plan rather than a jumble of items.  You can see there are lots of different ways to paint the containers – anything goes!  You can do it.

Apply the color to the entire outside of the box.  For flap-topped boxes, paint all of the flaps, too, so that when they are open, they will look clean and tidy.  For lidded boxes, paint the top and bottom when separated for the same reason.  It may take more than one coat to cover any printing on the outside of the box.  Two coats is usually the maximum required to cover well.

Once the boxes are painted, you might want to add designs to them.  Even if you have painted stripes, you can add other designs.  Perhaps on one stripe you could paint contrasting dots or dashes, leaving the rest of the box as originally painted.  Or maybe you like stickers or stamped designs.  They are easy to add and will give your containers a personal touch.

As you can see, there are lots of ideas, and you surely have some of your own.  Colors are fun!  Use them any way you want and be creative.  Use lettering on some, make line drawings on some, make handprints, or trace shapes.  Have fun creating your own personalized storage/organization containers.  And watch them fill up!

Award Book Exhibition

Picture Perfect:  Art from Caldecott Award Books 2006-2009 is on view at The Art Institute of Chicago through Nov. 8.  The exhibition highlights 17 books that have received a Caldecott Medal or Honor Award for illustration between 2006 and 2009 and presents original picture book art that portrays real-life situations, adventure and family.  Families can explore a variety of different media including watercolor, oil, woodblock prints, scratchboard, collage, ink and pencil drawings. Parents and children can compare the original art to the works on the printed page to see how color, size and texture change when art is reproduced in a book.  September Family Events at the Museum include Scratchboard Scenes, Natural Wonders—Art and the Lurie Garden, and Drawing into Painting—Cy Twombly and the Lurie Garden. http://www.artic.edu/aic/calendar/events.php?&EventType=3&month=9&yr=2009 or call (312) 857-7161.

New NGAKids Interactive

Photo Op is a two-part interactive program that explores digital photography and digital photo editing techniques.  Young children will enjoy taking snapshots with a virtual camera and transforming their pictures with easy-to-use editing tools, while more advanced users can create complex artistic compositions by layering, applying filters and experimenting with various photographic settings, special effects and blends.  This Art Zone interactive is suitable for all ages.  www.nga.gov/kids/zone/photoop.htm.

High School Short Films Exhibition

The Indianapolis Museum of Art presents Smuggling Daydreams into Reality:  Yesterday, Today and Forever through Jan. 18.  This installation features short films produced by area high school students over the course of their participation in the IMA’s Museum Apprentice Program.  Acclaimed film director Julie Dash worked with the students over a six-month period as the students created a series of films exploring the concept of smuggling creative ideas into reality.  Visitors can contribute a representation of their own dreams to a “dream network” of visitor-created artwork.

Second Sunday Funday at the High

The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, presents a Second Sunday Funday on Sept. 13 from 1-4 p.m.  It’s art-filled fun for the whole family every second Sunday of the month at the High.  Delight in a dynamic artist demonstration, express your inner-artist in the open studio and connect to different cultures through magical live performances.  From painting and drawing to storytelling and music, this is a fun place to discover art—both indoors and out.  Free with Museum admission and free for members.

Art Competitions

—Create your own superhero or villain!  This fall the Los Angeles County Museum of Art will open the exhibition Heroes and Villains:  The Battle for Good in India’s Comics.  In conjunction with the show, you are invited to send your submission—including a one-page synopsis of your storyline, character designs and/or storyboards—to unframed@lacma.org by Sept. 15 and they will post the best on Unframed, the LACMA blog, on Oct. 19, the first week the show is open.  Visit http://lacma.wordpress.com/2009/08/03/create-your-own-superhero-or-villain/ for details.

—Learning & Product Expo: Art! Pasadena 2009 Juried Exhibition - This 4-day event from Oct. 16-18 (with classes starting on the 15^th) is held at the Pasadena Conference Center (CA).  It consists of a workshop program of 200 art classes in all mediums and techniques as well as an exhibit hall of art material manufacturers selling supplies at a discount.  Attendees learn about art products directly from manufacturers and see free demonstrations.  The juried exhibition is held Oct. 16-18 and is open to all fine artists who are over the age of 18 and able to hand-deliver their artwork to the Conference Center on Oct. 14.  Entrants must be registered for the expo and entries postmarked by Sept. 18.  Winners will receive cash or product awards.  Info/prospectus at www.learningproductexpo.com/pas/splash.html.

—The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, in cooperation with NYCDOT, invites artists and/or designers to propose conceptual designs for a temporary mural to be installed on the part of the construction fence surrounding the World Trade Center Site—located on Church St. between Liberty and Vesey Sts. in Lower Manhattan.  Designs shall incorporate bold, colorful imagery reflecting the vibrancy of the thriving downtown commercial and residential neighborhood.  The mural design will be translated onto vinyl mesh panels that will be installed on Dec. 1 and exhibited until Nov. 2010.  Deadline is Oct. 1.  Visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/sidewalks/urbanart_prgm.shtml for guidelines.

—The How Do You See Green? Illustration Contest from Strathmore Artist Papers invites you to submit your original artwork representing your own unique vision of green using any dry media on Strathmore paper.  The contest is open to all artists 18 years of age or older on or before Jan. 31, 2010, and categories include “student” or “professional/hobbyist.”  Four winners will each see their original artwork featured on 1 of 4 special edition Strathmore Premium Recycled pads.  Two student winners will each have a $1,000 scholarship awarded to their art departments and one carton of pads will be given to the winning artists to hand out to friends and family.  Twenty finalists will be selected on or before Jan. 1 and their works will be posted in an online gallery for final judging by the public, who will vote to determine the winners.  Deadline:  Nov. 20. Visit http://www.strathmoreartist.com/green_contest.php for info/entry form.

Airbrush

Most Paints Can Be Airbrushed

Artists often inquire whether they can paint a particular item with an airbrush.  The answer is that if it can be painted with a paintbrush, it can be airbrushed.  But the more appropriate question is, What type of paint can be sprayed through the airbrush? The fact is that all paints can be used as long as they are thinned to a compatible consistency, which can be compared to ink.  So, if you’re working on canvas with tube acrylics, thin them to this consistency.  The same rule applies to automotive paints for custom painting, industrial enamels and urethanes for sculpture, liquefied watercolors for photographic retouching, ceramic glaze for pottery, cocoa butter for culinary art, etc.  The only thing that would prevent a medium from being sprayable is a large particle size like metal flake auto paint, where the particles are larger than the opening of the airbrush tip.

Compressor Terms for the Novice

To the beginning artist using a paintbrush, there are many terms that would be new and unknown, such as the description of paint brushes—brights, flats, rounds, fans, riggers.  This is also true in the realm of airbrush technique.  The novice will be exposed to new terms, both in conversation and in literature, pertaining to materials and equipment, including air sources.  Here are some terms that are applicable to air sources for airbrushing.

Air Source – This refers to a device or unit containing or capable of producing pressurized air, such as an air compressor, propellant can or carbonic gas tank filled with CO2.  To operate, an airbrush requires an air source.

Cfm (cubic feet per minute) – This refers to the amount of air an air source can produce.  An airbrush usually requires ½ cfm to spray properly.  The more cfm an air source produces, the more advantageous it will be for the artist.

Psi (pounds per square inch) – This measurement refers to the amount of air that flows through the airbrush.  The psi is adjustable, whereas the cfm is usually one set amount.  The artist will work at different psi measurements to produce different effects or when using different mediums, e.g., acrylics, watercolor, ceramic glaze.

Air Regulator – This device is used to adjust the amount of psi that flows through the airbrush.  It usually has a regulating knob for raising or lowering the psi (air pressure) as well as a gauge that allows you to set the psi where desired for different effects. The brass air regulator that is used on carbonic gas tanks is much larger and more expensive than that used on compressors but also has an additional gauge that indicates the amount of gas remaining in the tank.

Moisture Trap – This device prevents moisture from traveling to the airbrush and being emitted with the sprayed medium.  It is usually attached to the air regulator, but there are also moisture traps that are placed in the airbrush hose.

See your art materials retailer for compressors and accessories and visit www.iwata-medea.com, www.silentaire.com, and www.sparmax.com.tw.

ArtPourri

NEA News – Rocco Landesman, nominated by President Barack Obama as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, was confirmed recently by the U.S. Senate.  Mr. Landesman, born and raised in St. Louis, MO, was previously a Broadway theater producer.

USPS News – A revered entertainer and humanitarian has been immortalized with the recently dedicated Bob Hope first-class commemorative stamp. The image is based on a composite of 1980’s photographs of Hope and was designed by Kazuhiko Sano of Mill Valley, CA.  —Five lighthouses that withstood the fury of devastating hurricanes now stand tall on Gulf Coast Lighthouses first-class commemorative stamps. Depicted are the lighthouses of Matagorda Island (TX), Sabine Pass (LA), Biloxi (MS), Sand Island (AL) and Fort Jefferson (FL). Stamp artist Howard Koslow of Toms River, NJ, based his artwork on photos taken by Frank Dedlar of St. Louis, MI.

Winners Announced – The Municipal Art Society of New York, a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation, has announced the winners of the 8^th annual MASterwork Awards.  The Standard Hotel was named Best New Building, the Times Square TKTS Booth was named Best Neighborhood Catalyst, The Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons, The New School for Design won for Best Renovation/Adaptive Reuse, and The Lion House at the Bronx Zoo won in the category of Best Restoration.

Schedule Announced – The National Museum for American Illustrators in Newport, RI, has announced the fall-winter schedule.  Labor Day weekend concludes the general admissions season. Until next Memorial Day 2010 they will no longer be open on a general admissions basis on weekends.  The Museum will continue to be open for guided tours on Fridays at 2 p.m., as well as offer guided group tours by advance reservation year-round.  They will be open by general admission on Sept. 26 for the Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day, in mid-Oct. will hold a special showing of Rockwell paintings for the Boy Scouts of America, and will be open in early Jan. for the New York Times Arts & Leisure Weekend.

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Copyright ARTtalk Vol. 19 No. 11 — September 2009