Shirley May enjoys discovering the vibrancy of System 3 Acrylics.
Daler-Rowney System3 Acrylics are versatile water-based colours made from high-quality pigments. The paints are lightfast, flexible and quick-drying, making them suitable for applications on multiple surfaces and working both indoors and en plein air.
Top features:
- Bright colours
- Mix easily with water
- Quick drying
- Creamy consistency
- Lightfast
- Good value for money
- Can be purchased individually and in sets
Price: From £3.78 per colour
Where to buy: Art Supplies with Painters Online
Putting System 3 Acrylics to the test
I started by using my palette knife to spread out the paints on acrylic paper, to see the colours.
I found them to be strong, vibrant and buttery, especially the titanium white, which is marked as Heavy Body.
I then made some mixes using a palette knife, and as you see above, the mixtures were lovely and bright.
And lastly, I used them as watercolours on 140lb watercolour paper, see below, the colours mixed well and retained their vibrancy.
Painting with System 3 Acrylics
I then proceeded to use the paints for two different projects.
Project one - Hove Beach
Annotated sketch
The first project was the recreation of a memory, using an annotated sketch I made in my sketchbook after spending an afternoon by the Lifeguards on a windy bright Hove beach (see above).
Colour palette
I set about painting from this sketch by creating a palette of colour mixes.
I then masked off areas with tape and proceeded to paint the sky first, followed by the sea and the beach, before adding the final details.
Hove Beach, System 3 Acrylics
My findings
I found that the paints behaved very well, responding to thinning with water, and to being used neat.
They dried quickly when used neat, so I might add a retardant medium in future.
Project two - Grange Gardens, Lewes
Grange Gardens, Lewes, Sussex, System 3 Acrylics
My second project was using the paints to paint en plein air, out of doors, on the spot, in the Grange Gardens, Lewes, Sussex.
I found a quiet shady place in the rose gardens and set up my easel and paints. Looking through the trees I was drawn to the brightly lit grasses and pampas grass beyond.
I painted for about two hours. Any longer usually creates difficulty with the light changing.
Working on 25 x 30 cm canvas board, I primed in a dabby, spotty underpainting using the crimson, diluted with water.
Then I used the burnt umber to lay in the main structures.
I moved things around until I was happy with the composition, which was easy to do this with these paints.
Adding water and thinning created a nice undertone for new darks to be added.
I allowed the underpainting of crimson to peep through and appreciated the dottiness of it.
I identified the darkest areas and darkened them with the ultramarine blue plus the burnt umber.
Then I found the strongest lights, which were visible in the distance between the trees, and placed them to help me navigate the composition.
Yellow was added to create the lights, along with a nice feeling of sunlight coming from the right and the well-lit trees behind at the right.
I then moved on to the shaded soil, the paths, the lit-up spiky plant and the silhouettes of the rose supports. I worked back and forth across these objects and simplifyed the foreground to finish
Conclusion
So, the paints were lovely and behaved well for all of my tests.
I will enjoy using them again and I recommend them for their bright colours, consistency, colour mixing abilities and dilution with water.
Well done Daler-Rowney!
About Shirley May
I am a lifetime painter and artist, and have studied both art and printmaking at Brighton University.
I taught watercolour in my home for seven years before Covid and have been painting en plein air for the past four years.
I am a member of Brighton Painting Group, and the Society of Sussex Painters (SSP).
Shirley has been exhibited regularly in our TALP Open Art Exhibitions at Patchings Art Centre.
You can see more from Shirley in the gallery by