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Message
Posted
I’m still experimenting with textures. I thought I would do a polyfiller rockface with an impasto gel gannet against it. The impasto gel has been a bit redundant as it did not seem to be able to get the peaks that I expected. So I’m trying to find a use for it. It has a very smooth surface as it settles, but it has taken over 24 hours to dry out! Not what I would have expected for something designed for acrylics. I think it is just pva glue, which is normally a lot cheaper. All in all not recommended. So the most expensive is not necessarily the best. If you want peaks then polyfiller is best.
Posted
To butt in - a) love Alan Beresford's beach huts: a study in patience as well as ability - when I had to paint them, I edited their number considerably. Repetition does not appeal.
b) honestly, I would NEVER use polyfilla, or any other domestic filler, and I'm not keen on texture paste etc either. You can achieve impasto in acrylic with Cryla heavy-bodied acrylics by Daler-Rowney, and they are NOT expensive: come on, compare them with oils for goodness' sake!
c) I had a bottle of wine with dinner tonight and am probably likely to be more downright than usual, but ..... I do think we should be treating acrylics with more respect than to seek bulking-out agents as a matter of course. Of course they can be useful, depending on the effects you want to achieve, but when acrylic paint on its own will do so much for you, why have resort to glue, for Heaven's sake? Use painting knife with them if you want ridges, depth, and sculptural qualities, and they'll provide it, IF you choose the appropriate paint: it's no good expecting easy-flow paint to do that for you, of course they won't!
d) It's true that you'll never get the glow, the richness, the sheer gloopy splendour, of oil in acrylic - it's a different medium, that's not going to happen. But you can achieve glazes and scumbles that oil would struggle to give, and watercolour rarely can (except with the highest grade of paper - which is another subject). I do get irritated with those who regard acrylic as a sort of compromise medium between watercolour and oil - it isn't. It's wholly different. And that's why I'd never abandon either watercolour or oil. But I won't be abandoning acrylics, either.
Posted
Love your fruity fruit, Faye.
Alan, love your distillery. You obviously have a lot of patience.
Robert, I have heavy body acrylic and the impasto gel is made by Daler Rowney so I thought it would be Ok. I’m not thinking of making this a permanent change to my normal practice, but it might help in certain instances. However I have been very surprised by the positive feedback!
Posted
Great sketch Alan. Yours also Paul. Lovely fruit Faye. My sketch today is done from memory of a homeless man I met many years ago. I stopped my car and said, the shelter is down the road on the other side. He said, I've been there, they are full. He was going to sit there until the morning. It was freezing and raining. I went and got him fish and chips and a drink. I chatted with him for a spell. Since then, I always carry a care bag in the boot of my car for a homeless person. This is the exact position and building.