tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post1993228940752658200..comments2023-06-13T08:29:39.914+00:00Comments on MAKING A MARK: MAM Poll July: Which are your preferred media for painting in the studio?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-56327806655699405292009-07-05T06:31:37.743+00:002009-07-05T06:31:37.743+00:00My favorite painting medium-acrylics! When I began...My favorite painting medium-acrylics! When I began painting way back when I would use both oils & acrylics. One day while at the Art Students League my instructor Issac Soyer asked what was wrong. I told him that the fumes from the paint thinner were making me sick. He suggested that I work with acrylics each time I paint. Since then I have never looked back. I love acrylics because I find them to be user friendly. If I stuck in a creative slump I can take a canvas and begin to rework a failed painting w/o having to worry about if all the underlying layers are dry. I find that since I began to use a Sta Wet Palette I have cut down on wasted paint . Also by using one the paint is more fluid which means that I need to cut the paint with less water. I like the simplicity involved- I do not have to worry about lean over fat, which colors use more binder etc.I have few problems matching colors but since using the Sta Wet Palette that problem has been eliminated. I liked the fact that acrylics did not need to be varnished. In the thirty years that I have been using them as my primary painting medium research has shown that while it is up to the artist acrylics like oils could benefit from a final varnish. Since acrylics need an isolation coat before the final varnish the technical support people at Golden suggested that I practice first on a painting that I have no intention of selling or showing.<br /> I use water and sometimes gloss medium and at times gel medium. I have been experimenting with some of the Liquitex mediums that allow for more open time. Since I tried and used Chroma Atelier with the Thick Slow Medium and the Sta Wet Palette outside plein air is now possible. I usually draw outdoors with graphite and/or colored pencils so the Atelier acrylics have "opened" up new possibilities for me. I was seriously considering using water miscible oils before I bought Atelier and leaving the acrylics for the studio. My preferred brands are Chroma Atelier, Golden- Heavy Body & Fluid, DaVinci Fluids, Stephen Quiller, Liquitex, Soft Body and Regular and Daniel Smith. Each of these brands provide full rich color. <br /> I find that using the fluid acrylics for my initial layers helps to prevent that plastic "dead" look that can happen when one paints with acrylics on a prepared canvas. Sometimes with the thicker bodied acrylics you can build up the paint to the point that the canvas texture is gone. The fluids are great for underpainting. <br /> I use watercolors for mixed media work especially with colored pencils. Those two mediums make a great combo-the same with oil pastels and watercolors. I am thinking about working with soft pastels especially the Pan Pastels. BTW- I have nothing against oils. I love the smell of a completed oil painting. If I were to use oils I would consider the water miscible oils such as Duo. One more point- acrylics are tough on brushes. Out of habit I use hog hair bristles which wear down to some interesting shapes. I have been using synthetic hair brushes in addition to the hog hair ones.NJ ART 73noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-58970056890553674552009-07-02T18:38:43.922+00:002009-07-02T18:38:43.922+00:00Thanks, Katherine. Egg tempera has been my primar...Thanks, Katherine. Egg tempera has been my primary medium for over thirty years for several reasons:<br /><br />1) great capacity for textural effects and detail <br />2) quick drying time (almost immediately to the touch)<br />3) capacity for layering--unlimited glazing and scumbling are possible in egg tempera<br />4) luminosity--the translucent quality of the medium combined with layering permits greater luminosityMona Diane Connerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02022399915344870046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-54831009024509388972009-07-01T23:21:25.855+00:002009-07-01T23:21:25.855+00:00Lorna - have you tried Zest It? It's environm...Lorna - have you tried Zest It? It's environmentally friendly, non-flammable, non-toxic and biodegradable,Making A Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13509483023337008890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-74795212517467839652009-07-01T23:20:05.032+00:002009-07-01T23:20:05.032+00:00Mona - yes I mean egg temperaMona - yes I mean egg temperaMaking A Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13509483023337008890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-59060473762152839672009-07-01T20:52:59.140+00:002009-07-01T20:52:59.140+00:00I started using water miscible oils a few years ag...I started using water miscible oils a few years ago instead of water colour/mixed media because there was more 'status' given to paintings done in oils. Water miscible oils are almost fume free and does not cause me any asthma problems. I learned the hard way that the low odor solvents may not smell but are still noxious chemically. If someone knows of a better way to clean picture varnish from brushes I would be keen to hear of it.Lornahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01314427507584427965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-52325354500067299942009-07-01T20:23:15.075+00:002009-07-01T20:23:15.075+00:00I use coloured pencils because they are very easy ...I use coloured pencils because they are very easy to clean up and I'm not going to pass out from the fumes using them ;) They work just like paint for me when using a solvent so am able to get many of the same techniques with them that I would with paint.Jennifer Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06528908250338974537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20645140.post-83386409052893692782009-07-01T18:21:16.340+00:002009-07-01T18:21:16.340+00:00Katherine, by tempera, are you referring specifica...Katherine, by tempera, are you referring specifically to egg tempera? (Sometimes 'tempera' includes the paint which has glue size instead.)Mona Diane Connerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02022399915344870046noreply@blogger.com