The worst thing about acrylics is that they dry fast, and the best thing about acrylics is that they dry fast” Debbie DeBaun

Acrylic Paints

Love ‘em or hate ‘em! Acrylics certainly divide the art community down the middle!

Ok here’s the technical bit – Acrylics are a paint that contains pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. No, I didn’t understand that either! What I do know is that they can be diluted with water when you are painting with them – and then they become water resistant when they are dry. Depending on how much water you use (or not – see my tips below!) your painting can look like a watercolour – or an oil painting – or even (better!) an acrylic painting!

Acrylic paint dries very quickly – you can use all sorts of strange and wonderful palettes and retarders to slow it down – or you can just roll with it and enjoy the fact you can crack on with a painting. Sniffy oil snobs will probably look down their noses at you – and historically acrylic paintings I think were seen as far inferior to a ‘proper’ oil painting – but thankfully those days are over (I hope!)

Acrylics were first introduced for use in the art world in the 1950s under the name of Magna by Bocour Artist Colors. These original acrylics were mineral spirit-based paints, a precursor to the water-based acrylic paints we now use.

Many famous artists have used acrylics, including Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, and David Hockney; so I am in very good company!

Acrylics are very versatile, and allow you to add multiple layers of paint very quickly, due to their fast drying time. The paint adheres well to any porous, non-oily surface, allowing you to paint on paper, cardboard, wood and canvas with minimal preparation (I will cover canvases and boards later in this series – suffice to say for now that a good gesso primer will become your best friend if you want to use acrylics!)

You can also add a range of different glossing and glazing mediums to acrylic paint – I will cover more about this when I cover G is for Glazing! You can add body and texture to the paint, create glazes and transparency, or increase its thickness. What isn’t good is adding too much water to the paint – it’s better to use a glazing medium if you can.

You can use quite inexpensive synthetic bristle brushes with acrylic paint – save your best Kolinsky sable for your watercolours! As long as you wash them out in soapy water fairly regularly you will be fine – don’t leave the paint to dry out on the brushes though!

Recommended basic colours

You can start with a few basics and then build up slowly – I’m a bit of a purist so why buy a green when you can mix it! Colour mixing can take some getting used to with acrylic paint – when wet the paint will have a semi-opaque milky look to it – and it will then dry more transparent. It just takes some experimentation and time to get used to each colour you use to find its different drying qualities – and how opaque or transparent they will be when dry.

Personally I would steer clear of buying sets of paints – they are often student quality paints and often have colours you wouldn’t need – or shouldn’t use!

Why not try these colours as a starting point – I have * asterisked the most basic starting colours I think you will need, and added the others as an ‘extended palette’

Student Quality Vs Artist Quality.

If there is any way that you can afford it – then my recommendation is always to buy Artist Quality paints – even if that means you buy less colours to start with (not a bad thing anyway – most artists have far too many colours they hardly ever use!)

It’s not just price – the quality is SO much better – there is more pigment, so they will be richer colours – and that means you will use less – so they will be worth the extra cost. And please don’t be ‘precious’ with them – dive in there and try them out! Buy smaller tubes to start with – they last a lot longer than you think they will!

And here’s my recommend – Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paints – yes they are a bit more expensive – but they are rich, creamy paints with fantastic colour and handling. They are a joy to paint with.

“It’s the challenge of trying to breathe ‘life’, to breathe ‘resonance’ into an otherwise rather impersonal ‘plastic’ that keeps me sitting at the easel hour after hour” Mark Jacobson.

So there you have it – a starter on acrylic paints – as this ‘My Personal A to Z of Art’ series progresses I will cover more about how to use and enjoy acrylic paints – including supports, glazes and mediums and how to paint vibrant and eye-catching acrylic paintings.

And now for my first featured artist:

Giuseppe Arcimboldo

Born in Milan in 1527 and died in 1593. Originally hired for his traditional paintings of religious subjects, but now better known for his fantastical portraits made up of fruit, vegetables, flowers, and fish!

Who hasn’t looked at an old gnarled tree stump and seen a face peering out at them – or seen a face in an old cabbage leaf or doodled drawing – or perhaps it’s just me!

I find his paintings fascinating – not just for the subject matter – but also in the era of traditional religious paintings and frescos in which they were created – their vibrancy of colour and boldness of design must have been such a contrast to the more traditional Renaissance paintings of their time. These paintings also fascinated the Surrealists when they emerged – no surprise to find that Salvador Dali was a fan!

His name has even been used as a descriptor for a particular painting style – ‘the Arcimboldo effect’ referring to paintings that have a ‘double meaning’.

I particularly like this painting entitled The Admiral, with its amazing use of fish and other sea creatures to create a detailed and descriptive face, full of character. You can almost smell him!

For more about Arcimboldo, visit this website The Complete Works

This is the first in a new series of posts – My Personal A to Z of Art – click on the button below to find out more about this:

This series is linked to the successful My Personal A to Z Challenge – you can read more posts that begin with the letter A by clicking on the banner below – why not join us?