Vivid Acrylics
Fri, March 6, 2009 at 05:00AM 
Good progress in the new altered catalog; a background of vivid, highly saturated Golden fluid acrylics and found stamps. The paint is simply unreal. My daughters and I use generic craft acrylics for painting birdhouses, and there is simply no comparison. Good quality art supplies make a difference.
The three types of acrylics I use in art journaling are fluid acrylic paint, thick-bodied acrylic paint and acrylic block printing ink. I do not have an art background, so I simply started experimenting with different paints, pairing them with various papers, a brayer, a brush, found stamps, etc. Experimentation.
I enjoy watercolor painting but because watercolors blend quickly and take longer to dry, I use acrylics in art journaling. I like to layer the paint and prefer saturated color that dries quickly. Practice and play help you learn the characteristics of your paints. What happens when you mix it with water? How do you thin the paint? How do you use it with a brayer? What happens if you mix it with gesso? How much to use for each purpose? How quickly will it dry on different types of paper? How to layer the paint to get the effect you want.
- Art with Fluid Acrylics ~ How to Make ATCs from Abstract Art and Imagination Circles
- Art with Block Printing Ink ~ Psychedelic Batik Cardstock and Plaid Backgrounds with Acrylics
- Art with Thick-Bodied Acrylics ~ Waste Canvas Textures
The more you use your paints, the more comfortable you will be with them. You know what to do... go create something!
Reader Comments (4)
hi, i love your backgrounds, i wondered do you use anything to dry them quickly like a heat gun or hairdryer? i find when using acrylics and inks that they take forever to dry and i find it frustrating to have to wait a day or two before i can move on to the next pages. it might be because im putting the paint/ink on too thick perhaps, im not sure.
<3
Missi, Thanks for your kind words. I don't use anything to dry the pages... these acrylics dry very quickly, just a few minutes until I can add a layer. It must be frustrating to wait!!! After about 20 minutes I'll put parchment paper between the pages and move on. Let me know what type of acrylics you use... you could experiment with less paint or different paint... I'm curious to find out what you discover!
I use cheap acrylics that I've had lying around for a year or so at the moment, but I mix them with acrylic block printing ink, which I'm guessing is where I'm going wrong.. I just find that the block printing ink is so much more vibrant than any acrylic paint I can find, but it seems to stay wet for a long time. I'm in the UK and find it hard to find the same kind of fluid acrylics and paints that you use, so I just ordered some DALER ROWNEY SYSTEM 3 ACRYLIC PAINT and I hope that they dry a little quicker that those I've been using.
I'm terrible for not putting anything between my pages and they tend to stick together, what exactly is parchment? would tracing paper do the same job?
<3
"Reynold's Parchment Paper" (it's for baking) works best for me. Wax paper works too; tracing paper would stick. Sorry you cannot find Golden Fluid acrylics... maybe someone knows where it can be purchased in UK? Keep me posted!