"the frog and the missing princess"
Thursday, January 13, 2011I'm kidding.
There wasn't even a princess to begin with.
I'm sure you've seen my first acrylic painting of a frog in like, two posts ago.
Here's a close-up shot of it.
Here you can see the dried acrylic textures clearly.
My first encounter with acrylics. I love the canvas, love the colors.
But I sadly hate the waiting.
Unlike watercolor, you can't just mix and add colors as you go and let it magically interpret itself.
Acrylics need to be added on layer by layer, and there's a painfully long drying time in between. Like say if I mixed some paint with water (and you can't even mix it with too much water otherwise it won't stick to the canvas) the drying time would be about 20 minutes tops. (YES, I timed it)
But if you used like a pure dollop of paint (for the sake of the texture, color vibrancy), you need to wait for at least an hour or so. (45 minutes tops for smaller dollops)
So really, I kill time by painting my nails, watching some shows online but by the time it has dried, I would've really lost my interest in painting by then and I had to continue some other day. Which is a pain really, because I like getting my art done within the night/day itself if possible. I love to see results. Half-done works really annoys me.
I've bought another 3 blank canvases to try some more but as far as acrylics go, watercolor is still my fave.
This is the first of my many venture to come, I guess we shall see how it goes then, I might just grow into it. Never say never.
p/s: Watch your brushes, if you leave them overnight with some acrylics still on them, they become stiff.
xxx
3 comments
Hey, just a couple of tips for acrylics to cut down on the painfully long drying time.
ReplyDelete1. Start off with covering the whole thing with base colours, very lightly.
2. Yes, work by layers - but again, very lightly. Go bolder as you progress. No diff from watercolours.
3. If you find certain colours not thick enough and reveals layers underneath, (from my experience - it's usually the primary colours straight out of the tube), mix in a LITTLE yellow ochre or white. It'll thicken the mix.
4. It's ALL about the strokes. I can tell by your strokes on the leaves that you aren't accustomed to forming colours and strokes via acrylics. Actually, that's the fun bit of acrylics - the moulding!
When you find certain dollops of paint drying real slow, it's a chance to form and shape it with your brush - be it flat or textured. You can also add different shades to the mix, like watercolours -only that you'd have to manually shape it or feather it. Twist the brush or something! So yeah, expect the magic to happen with strokes - not with the colours.
Finally, try working on a bigger canvas! The reason why you may be feeling the long wait is because you don't get enough dry area to work on!
That's it :) Hope this helps.
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thanks so much for your advice, will definitely try that out when I paint my next piece. I guess the strokes were a little difficult to create seeing that my canvas is really tiny and my brushes were kinda big.
I totally have no idea how to mould. :s
But thanks so much for the tips. :)
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteHi there! Thanks so much for your advice, will definitely try that out when I paint my next piece. I guess the strokes were a little difficult to create seeing that my canvas is really tiny and my brushes were kinda big.
I totally have no idea how to mould. :s
But thanks so much for the tips. :)
Say anything but please say what you mean.