A few weeks back I sat down with my wife and we setup a still life in front of the window. Two hours of beating my brush against the canvas resulted in the painting on the right. It was a frustrating experience. The root of my frustration was my inability to replicate in the acrylic paint the colour’s of my subject.
Now I’m not a painter and colour has always been my nemesis, but it got me to thinking about my relationship with the acrylic painting medium.
My Acrylic Painting History.
Squash Acrylic Painting
I remember my first acrylic painting well. I was 14. It was crap. Fast forward 30 years to my squash still life and that is my complete experience with acrylic painting.
Not completely true. I vaguely remember some acrylics on paper somewhere in that 30 year time span, but the squirrels got them so they don’t count.
Advantages of the Acrylic Medium
Despite never really using the medium it’s not because I dislike anything about it. Acrylic has may things going for it.
- It’s quick drying
- thins with water – no nasty solvent
- you can glaze with it
- it’s opaque – you can paint right over mistakes
So I think I’ve talked myself into painting more, and I think I may learn to like the acrylic medium.
I’ve made an appointment with myself tomorrow for an hour of painting, so we’ll see what comes of this.
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I think that turned out really well for not having painted much and not liking the medium! 🙂
Why not oil? I’ve tried both and prefer oil. Sometimes you have to walk away and let things dry a bit before a fix, but the blending and depth of oil out weighs any frustrating factors. Plus it smells better! 🙂
Serena,
The pic looks much better than the original. I think the frustration is a result of me not being able to match my expectations. Wanting to run before I can crawl etc.
I’ve tried oil as well. I think you’re right; the blending would be easier than acrylic. One day I’ll get back to oils, but for now its playtime with acrylics.
Thanks for the kind comment.
db
I think you are your own worst critic . I’ve seen your paintings. I think they are pretty darn good. I wish you would paint more. I have a spot on my wall for a db original 🙂
Thanks for your words of encouragement Anonymous. Can’t speak to the quality of anything I’ve done, but I agree that I’m overly critical of it.