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Post by jong on Jul 13, 2006 15:17:04 GMT -5
hey, i'm wanting to do some acrylic painting now and would appreciate any and all advice i can get, but i have some specific questions i'd really like to get answered before i start. i've bought some canvas and i've got a few (very few) paints, and brushes and stuff. i wanted to get some gesso and acrylic medium, but i'm dirt poor, and i thought it best not to buy it until i really was convinced of their purpose. the main thing i'm wondering is if gesso is really important? is the main purpose just to guarantee permanence or is it important for a quality painting? and is there any substitute for gesso.. preferably something that's fairly easy to get a hold of and cheap? and i know that acrylics are water-soluble and shouldn't be diluted with too much water, but do you really need acrylic medium? and what type of medium is best.. i thought at first that there was only one type of acrylic medium, but at the art store i saw gloss medium, matte medium, and some other medium.. which one would i want if i wanted some acrylic medium for diluting the paint? do you have any advice about blending with acrylics.. any techniques that work well for you? i know i have a load of questions, but i would be extremely grateful for any advice you guys could give me.
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Post by aaronwvu on Jul 13, 2006 15:51:32 GMT -5
are you going to do the painting all at once. if you are going to do it in one sitting then you dont really need anything but the paint. i know when i was in college i was broke and only used the acrylic. but you have to paint quickly. it gives you more time then watercolor so if you have ever used watercolor, this should be a piece of cake. good luck. let me know if you have any other questions.
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Post by horate on Jul 13, 2006 15:59:01 GMT -5
Jong, it sounds so serious, that i begin to be worried about that....i like to paint with spray, when i have money, i buy the skins tones , and some others,...i paint later the lines or something detail with acrylics also oils....anyway anything that i can use for paint, and as medium for oils i´m using now cheap varnish. The rest is only inspiration hehehe....this is a link with the paintings i have done with this way. horaciobrandi.blogspot.com/ |
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Post by jong on Jul 13, 2006 17:13:27 GMT -5
thank you very much for responding aaron and horate .. aaron, most likely i wouldn't do it all in one sitting..probably over a couple of days.. in that case would i need to gesso the canvas first? i've only ever done one watercolor abstract, but i don't know how to use watercolors very well at all.. atleast doing stuff like faces. i have done one painting in acrylics before for an art class. it was an impressionistic painting using pointillism.. but what i want to do now is very different because i want to do smooth blending. so if you have any tips on getting smooth transitions, like say, for skin tones, i'd really appreciate it.. (i'm glad to know that it is atleast possible to do acrylic painting w/o the gesso and medium and all)
horate, yeah, i do sound a bit serious, don't i?i know that the best thing to do is practice to be able to get the hang of it, but i don't want to ruin my very expensive canvas with mistakes i could have avoided had i known better. you have some interesting stuff on you blog. i didn't know that you did other stuff besides caricatures. do you sell those or are these done for your home?
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Post by aaronwvu on Jul 13, 2006 17:35:36 GMT -5
the good thing about acrylics is that you can layer it. so if you were blending the face and got tired and wanted to come back the next day, you could. all you have to do is make sure you can blend the same color again and start where you left off. even if it is not the exact same color you can blend the new into the old. blending is not that difficult you just have to "smudge" one color into the next. if you use a lot of the new paint over the old paint you will only see the new paint. if you use a little of the new paint over the old paint you can make a smooth transition.
'
i don't know if that helps or not, but that is how i do it.
aaron
as far as the gesso most canvas that you buy that is already framed has gesso on it.
even some of the more expensive canvas that is on a roll has it on it. so check to see if it has it on already. if does not have it, i would use it.
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Post by jong on Jul 13, 2006 18:25:15 GMT -5
aaron thanks a lot for taking the time to answer some of my questions! i know that asking so many questions can get really annoying, so just tell me when to shut up!  i bought some ''un-gessoed'' canvas from a roll. i saw a little demonstration on the net about how to make your own canvasboard so that's what i'm gonna try to do or i might just stretch it. hopefully it works. what you said about the blending will be helpful. i guess i'll be buying some gesso then.. although i have to admit that i'm still sorta confused about it's purpose.  |
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Post by horate on Jul 14, 2006 12:11:45 GMT -5
Jong try to do yourself your canvas, obvious if you can and have the space for do that,...i do and is much more cheapy...yea this year i begin to prostitute my paintings doing something like that,...and with good results at the moment.i hope to continue, anyway i like more waste my time doing caricatures....
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Post by jong on Jul 15, 2006 11:30:45 GMT -5
i'm gonna try to do the canvas myself. horate, you prostitute your paintings???!  what's that supposed to mean?sounds scary! ;D |
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Post by horate on Jul 15, 2006 13:04:32 GMT -5
Jong to see the money between me and my painting ...it remember something like that...i´m very romantic you know...hehe..
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i bought some ''un-gessoed'' canvas from a roll. i saw a little demonstration on the net about how to make your own canvasboard so that's what i'm gonna try to do or i might just stretch it. hopefully it works. what you said about the blending will be helpful. i guess i'll be buying some gesso then.. although i have to admit that i'm still sorta confused about it's purpose. 
what's that supposed to mean?sounds scary! ;D