INTRODUCTION TO ACRYLICS
LESSON EIGHT
LESSON EIGHT
How to mix colours
virtual paint mixer
https://www.goldenpaints.com/mixer
https://www.goldenpaints.com/mixer
Let's start with what is paint.
When you understand what different paints are made with, you will see what the benefits are to each type of paint;
and what you can do with fabulous acrylics!
When you understand what different paints are made with, you will see what the benefits are to each type of paint;
and what you can do with fabulous acrylics!
EVERY TYPE OF PAINT HAS TWO INGREDIENTS - A PIGMENT AND A BINDER
Whether you are painting with acrylics, oils, or watercolours, all paint is made with two ingredients; a pigment and a binder. The pigment is the colour made from a dry powder and the binder is what holds the dry pigment together and let's you apply that colour on to a support like paper, canvas, wood etc. Depending on the paint and company making it, other additives may be added to the paint to thin, thicken or stabilize it, but all paint is essentially pigment and binder.
The pigment used to create a particular colour is going to be the same pigment used in an acrylic, watercolour, or oil paint (eg: Burnt Sienna oil paint will have the same pigment as Burnt Sienna acrylic, or watercolour paint). It is the binder that changes the characteristic of each paint. The binders used in acrylics, oils and watercolours are different and therefore influence the way each paint behaves.
Pigment
Pigments for sale at a market in India.
A pigment is a coloured organic or inorganic material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. Pigments can be made from rocks, dried insects, bones - all sorts of weird and wonderful things! In Renaissance paintings, the robes of the Virgin Mary and the patrons of the painting (often represented in these works) were frequently painted in the most expensive pigment - Ultramarine Blue - which was created by grinding up the semi-precious stone Lapis Lazuli. To achieve the bright pigment of Indian Yellow, cows were fed exclusively on mango leaves and their urine was dried into a powder - yup. Mummy Brown was actually ground up mummies from archeological digs! Laboratories also create synthetic pigments and have now managed to recreate a lot of the very expensive or the hard to come by natural pigments - like the mummies ..... We can use therefore use similar colours that were used throughout history without breaking the bank, growing a lot of mangos, or raiding pyramids.
Binders
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Linseed oil made from flax is the usual binder for oil paint.
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Gum Arabic from the acacia tree is the usual binder for watercolour paint.
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Polymer Acrylic Emulsion - from a lab - is the binder in acrylic paint.
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Depending on the binder used to create it, each type of paint will dry differently, move differently across the paper or canvas, create different transparencies, and reflect colour differently. It is the type of binder used in each type of paint that makes the paint handle in these different ways. An artist is able to do different things which each type of paint and paint quite different paintings depending on his or her choice of medium. Each binder has pros and cons.
- Linseed oil is frequently used as the binder in oil paint. Oil dries very slowly which means an oil painter can continue to move the paint around on his painting for a considerable amount of time. It also means they have to wait to a long time for the painting to dry.
- Gum Arabic is the most common binder in watercolour paint. Gum arabic is highly soluble in water and can create beautiful transparencies. This allows the beautiful flow and looseness that watercolour paintings achieve. But watercolour paint is very thin and does not allow the building up of texture in a painting.
- Polymer Acrylic Emulsion is a chemically created liquid and is the binder used in acrylic paint. It is not found in the natural world as the other two binders I have mentioned are. When water evaporates from the acrylic polymer emulsion, the remaining molecules lock themselves into a stable solid paint film. It becomes a flexible plastic. This binder allows acrylic paint to dry very quickly - this is acrylic paint's biggest plus, but can also be it's biggest weakness.
- Linseed oil is frequently used as the binder in oil paint. Oil dries very slowly which means an oil painter can continue to move the paint around on his painting for a considerable amount of time. It also means they have to wait to a long time for the painting to dry.
- Gum Arabic is the most common binder in watercolour paint. Gum arabic is highly soluble in water and can create beautiful transparencies. This allows the beautiful flow and looseness that watercolour paintings achieve. But watercolour paint is very thin and does not allow the building up of texture in a painting.
- Polymer Acrylic Emulsion is a chemically created liquid and is the binder used in acrylic paint. It is not found in the natural world as the other two binders I have mentioned are. When water evaporates from the acrylic polymer emulsion, the remaining molecules lock themselves into a stable solid paint film. It becomes a flexible plastic. This binder allows acrylic paint to dry very quickly - this is acrylic paint's biggest plus, but can also be it's biggest weakness.
Combining Pigment and Acrylic Binder - Polymer Acrylic Emulsion to make acrylic paint
And so we have acrylic paint!
You may have noticed that acrylic paint is the only paint that needs a laboratory made component rather than a natural ingredient as a binder. Acrylics were not invented until the late 1940’s and entered the commercial market as house paints in the 1950’s. They became popular with artists during the Pop Art movement – Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein both used Acrylic paint in their works for example. You won't find paintings done prior to the late 1950's painted with acrylics. For this reason, you will only find acrylic paintings in a Modern Art Gallery. Most paintings you find in museums are painted with oil or watercolour. Due to their many wonderful qualities, acrylics are extremely popular with contemporary artists who love their bright colours, ease of clean up, quick drying time and quick learning curve!