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| tubes of professional acrylic paints |
What I find very odd is the apparent fact that
- so MANY acrylic painters appear to want to be seen as painters in traditional media rather than a distinctive and different non-traditional medium.
- so FEW acrylic painters are concerned about promoting knowledge, education and best practice in the use of acrylic for artworks.
- acrylic painters start owning their media and
- stop pretending to be something else?
The acrylic painter with various hats
At present:
- Acrylic paintings have become a major presence on the walls of exhibitions by art societies which used to be focused on the use of traditional watercolour paints (i.e. ones used for centuries).
- While other acrylic painters appear to want to pass themselves off as painters in oils - because oil paintings are better regarded and typically sell for more money!
What is the problem about being open about the fact the media is acrylic - and that what it can do should be celebrated not hidden?
For a long time, I assumed what I have tended to regard as a bit of a 'masquerade' was because acrylic used to have a very bad reputation in the relatively past.
This was back in the days when
- lack of knowledge about how it works and
- lack of skill in use of acrylic painting
- RESULTED in a number of acrylic paintings cracking, peeling and flaking after a few years.
The behavior of acrylics as a painting medium and their physical and chemical properties are different from oil paint which warrants distinct guidelines for acrylic paintings' care. Some traditional conservation methods can be harmful to the acrylic paintings. The aging characteristics of acrylic paintings are just beginning to be understood. At present, preventative care seems to be the best care for acrylic paintings.
See also
In general, very few studies of the conservation of acrylic emulsion paintings have been published. Instead, concerns tend to be communicated through informal discussion.However, of late I've begun to wonder:
- why we've not yet seen any change and
- why acrylics are now the ONLY art medium lacking a major and well recognised art society dedicated to its use.
Art societies help educate artists
To me, one of the benefits of an art society which embraces a particular medium is that it can also
- educate and promote good practices in the use of a media
- through associated educational and charitable activities.
To not have a leading art society doing this for acrylics is, to me, very odd. Even odder, when you think that many artists are also art teachers.....
Acrylic Art Societies
There are of course existing art societies which focus on acrylics. However, none have the same status as the older art societies associated with oil or watercolour.As a result, in the UK we have acrylic crossing the oil and watercolour divide - and sometimes forgetting that
- those on the water side should NOT look like oils and
- those on the oil side should NOT look like watercolours.
Maybe it's a question of acrylic painters needing to achieve a much higher profile - in terms of an art society with a very clear focus and its own membership and exhibitions?
It's always interesting to see an art society which is explicit about the fact it includes work in oils and acrylic paints.
Below is a list of art societies which are EXPLICIT about their use of Acrylic Paint.
Some of the history of how they came about is also highlighted in extract quotations from websites - and current places you can find them online.
Some of the history of how they came about is also highlighted in extract quotations from websites - and current places you can find them online.
LINKS to their websites are embedded in their names.
