Magic Acrylic Paints

The  cover of the The New Acrylics drew me in. This texture is rich, lush and inviting, and by reading the book, I saw how to create this effect and so much more. I have never taken a painting class, and the book opened up a new world for me.

Reading The New Acrylics inspired me to start a project focusing on acrylic paint and the different techniques that can be accomplished with all of the "new mediums" (such as tar gel) and paints (such as iridescent colors). I have a show in September and I decided to focus on acrylic painting for the new work. (I can't resist adding other elements, so the pieces will technically be mixed media.) The focus is on paint and experimenting with different applications. My goal is to complete a painting a week and have at least 40 small paintings (mostly 6" x 6") to show. I started in January.

My first round of painting/experiments were playing with the liquid acrylics (by Golden) versus the heavy-bodied paint. In the past, I had mostly played with the liquid acrylics and during the experiments I quickly learned the difference between watered down heavy bodied acrylic and the liquids.

Next I made some attempts at adding lines with thick gel, but the results weren't what I wanted. I may come back to that later. Now I'm experimenting with palette knives and really having fun scraping.

Books and classes can be a waste of time, overwhelm me with information or spark the creativity. The New Acrylics accomplished the latter for me. If you are looking for some inspiration, you might find it here.