Acrylic Painting

(acrylic vinyl polymer emulsion paint)

 

 

A synthetic paint which combines some of the properties of oil paint and Water-Colour. It is thinned with water not oil, it is quick drying, and can be applied to almost any surface.

Its texture can range from thin washes (as in water-colour) to a rich impasto such as is used in oil painting.

Acrylic was first used by Artists in the 1940s, but improvements to the paint qualities and pigments in the 1970s-80s have made it  more popular today.

Acrylic, unlike oil paint, has little if no odour, being mixed with water, it dries very quickly and gives a brilliant clarity of colour. It is a most versatile medium, as it can be watered down to a Water-Colour consistency, and not lose its depth of colour or it can be applied straight from the palette with either a brush or knife as in oil painting.

Recently a manufacturer has produced an extra thick acrylic paint especially for this purpose.

Acrylic paint is my preferred medium because of its versatility and brilliance of colour, and being akin to Water-Colour, it produces the same atmospheric and luminous light effects which is so much an integral part of my work and is often remarked upon, yet I can achieve the same impasto and brush marks as in oil paint.

Examples of this work can be viewed on the Inspired by Nature Gallery page.