Thursday, May 21, 2009

Thanks Nick!

I thought I'd post an interesting comment from Nick about the waterlily .

"Lots of misconceptions and misinformation out there about fluid acrylic paint. Used transparently, it looks and behaves just like watercolor, except that it's permanent - which, depending on your technique and what you're painting, can help you or make things more difficult (it has to go down right the first time). Good luck on your picture, it's looking great!"

Thanks for the comments, Nick. I was ready to toss the paints (or sell them on ebay!). The part about "it has to go down right the first time" is the one that really has me thinking that I'll try it again. (But first, a regular watercolour of it that I've got drawn out, just read to pour.) It's the having to go down right the first time that caused the problems in the last one. I guess I'm so used to being able to correct, re-glaze, lift off, etc, that the 'go down right the first time' part just didn't happen. Next time, if it doesn't go down right the first time, I'll scrap it right away because, in retrospect, it was the constant adding to "the first time" that got me into the problems I was having.

There was one spot that I had sprayed off, as shown in Nick's dvd , Innovative Water Media with Nicholas Simmons, and I loved it - it looked just like the splash a frog would make after he jumped in the water. I mistakenly thought I'd tone it down a bit, glazed over it and lost it. That was another learning mistake.

The permanent part made it difficult for me but I swear, next time, the permanent part is going to make it easier. If it kills me, I'm going to get this technique down.

Okay, enough about the waterlily. Hopefully, I'll post some shots of it this weekend when I have more time to paint. The past two nights have been busy. Tuesday night was class night, which is fun and interesting and busy. Last night, Wednesday, was an executive meeting for the local art group, of which I'm now secretary. You know you're getting old when two late-ish nights in a row almost do you in.

3 comments:

cindi said...

will be looking for your acrylics.. after watchings nicks video, i bought some .. but havent had time to play.. art classes over for a few weeks, before summer classes begin.. thanks for the reminder.. will pull them out and give em' a try!!

Nick said...

You might end up using straight watercolor for some stuff, "acrylic watercolor" for others, or even a combination of the two. That's another reason I like Da Vinci, I have one brand for everything, and they beat everyone on price.
I'll check back to see the finished waterlilies!

RH Carpenter said...

Deb, where are you????