Filbert’s Newsletter: February 2008 Issue 27

Forthcoming Art Courses

• February Courses
• Painting with Knives at Storridge village hall on 27 February – only using palette knives we look at creating some fantastic images. A great way to get to know how paint actually feels.
• Intermediate Drawing (2) at Aston on Clun on 28 February – We look at ways of creating detailed observational drawings using graphite and pencil with emphasis on creating a wide tonal range.
• March Courses
• How to Draw Anything (1) at Hampton Bishop village hall on 7 March – simple techniques for drawing anything – suitable for complete beginners.
• Life Drawing and Painting at Aston on Clun village hall 0n 8/9 March – a structured exploration of how to draw and paint from life.
• How to Draw Anything (2) at Hampton Bishop village hall on 21 March – simple techniques for drawing anything – suitable for complete beginners.
• Pastel Portraits at Storridge village hall on 22/23 March – drawing faces and exploring colour through pastel

Courses up to September 2008 are now online; new courses include Pop Art Painting, Multimedia Experience and Life Drawing for Beginners. Also 2/3 day courses take place at the new venue of Berrington Hall, a beautiful National Trust Property near Leominster

• You can book courses online, for details click here

Acrylic Painting Tips

All good quality makes of household paint that are water based are actually acrylic so for a cheap way of painting on a large scale you could do the following: Take a large sheet of sugar paper or cartridge paper and paint both sides with white emulsion paint. It is less likely to wrinkle if both sides are painted. You can use card board, MDF board, almost anything that can be emulsioned you could use as a basis for an acrylic painting.

• Keeping Acrylic Paints Workable: Because acrylics dry so fast, squeeze only a little paint out of a tube. If you're using a 'normal' plastic palette invest in a spray bottle so you can spray a fine mist over the paint regularly to keep it moist. 'Stay-wet' palettes – where the paint sits on a sheet of wax paper place on top of a damp piece of watercolour paper – eliminate the need to do this.
• Blot your Brushes: Keep a piece of paper towel or cloth next to your water jar and get into the habit of wiping your brushes on it after you rinse them. This prevents water drops running down the ferrule and onto your painting, making blotches.
• Opaque or Transparent: If applied thickly – either straight from the tube or with very little water added – or if mixed with a little white, all acrylic colours can be opaque. If diluted with lots of water, they can be used like watercolour paint and to create similar effects.
• Acrylic ‘Watercolour’ Washes: When an acrylic wash dries, it's permanent and, unlike a watercolour wash, is insoluble and can be over-painted without fear of disturbing the existing wash. The colours of subsequent washes mix optically with the earlier ones, so a yellow wash over a blue wash will create green.
• Think Thin When Thinking Glazes: If you want transparent glazes, these should be built up in thin layers; a heavy layer will produce a glossy surface. Do not add white as this will make the glaze opaque.
• Improve Flow Without Losing Colour: Acrylic colours loose their colour strength the more you dilute with water. To increase the flow of a colour with minimal loss of colour strength, use a flow-improver medium rather than water.
• Blending Acrylic Paints: Because acrylics dry rapidly, you need to work fast if you wish to blend colours. If you're working on paper, dampening the paper will increase your working time.
• Hard Edges: Masking tape can be put onto and removed from dried acrylic paint without damaging an existing layer. This makes it easy to produce a hard or sharp edge. Make sure the edges of the tape are stuck down firmly and don't paint too thickly on the edges, otherwise you won't get a clean line when you lift it. Paint along the edge of the tape and not up to it as this may drive paint underneath the tape.
• Washing-up Liquid with Masking Fluid: Masking fluid can be used with acrylics washes, just as you do with watercolours. Once masking fluid has dried in a brush, it's nearly impossible to remove. Dipping a brush into some washing-up liquid before using the masking fluid makes it easier to wash masking fluid out of a brush.
• Using Acrylic Paint as a Glue for Collage: Provided it's used fairly thickly and the item to be stuck isn't too heavy, acrylic paint will work as a glue in a collage. Acrylic glaze medium is a much stronger ‘glue’ and will dry to strong, clear and flexible finish.

Regards

Filbert Splosh