Tastes of Culture

What does acrylic paint consist of, we may well ask? The right answer to this being a consistency of mixed resin and the pigments. Altogether it is a synthetic type mix. The paint is soluble with water, although it dries quickly, making it possible to use for many projects. Fairly pliable too, as they can in fact be used just like oils and watercolours, taken straight from the tube itself.

If you dilute them with water they become transparent, but are also pretty fluid. However, if you do use them directly from the tube, they are quite thick and appear a bit cream like in appearance. So many people love the different usage that can be applied with them, most of all, they are well loved for their drying qualities.

You find that people paint with acrylics very like oils and they seemed to be quite the rage in the 1960s with the pop artists of the time. I think mainly, because the colours had strong colour depth and permanence too.

Acrylics have many advantages when you actually work with them. The colours do not tend to yellow, the intensity achieved is good and they are waterproof. It is better to have primed your canvas or surface first with an acrylic primer, then the paint will cover most surfaces.

Try painting on canvas, card, paper or even hardboard. It can be primed first, then painted on, in a short space of time. To change the actual textures achieved, try adding different mediums to your paints on the palette. Otherwise you may come to the realisation that your texture seems to be even and flat.

Advertisement hoarding boards were just one way acrylics have been used to create striking art. Comic strips too. For example, take David Hockney, he used them as you would oils. On the other hand Van Gogh used the creamy paint directly from the tube.

What do you need for a basic palette? Do not go mad and buy too many shades to start with, you can always do that later. All you need are a few basic colours to get started, namely black, white, yellow, blue, red and green. You can make quite a few colours from these by mixing them.

This paint is used in many fields as it is so very adaptable, so it is not surprising so much of it is sold in our art shops. It is also important to remember to always clean your brushes after use.

Everywhere you go these days you come across art. We see it in our banks, cafes, restaurants, dentists etc. People appreciate it and abstract paintings seem to fascinate the general public.

There are so many abstracts and collages around, wherever you travel, which have been achieved with acrylic paint. This being the case, as long as we have art supplies, we will have many more up and coming artists in the years to come!