INTRODUCTION TO ACRYLICS
LESSON TWO
LESSON TWO
What is acrylic paint?
Let's start with what is paint.
When you know how oil paint, watercolour and acrylic paint is made, you will more clearly understand what the benefits are for each type of paint, and why artists choose a particular type of paint for their work.
When you know how oil paint, watercolour and acrylic paint is made, you will more clearly understand what the benefits are for each type of paint, and why artists choose a particular type of paint for their work.
EVERY TYPE OF PAINT HAS TWO INGREDIENTS - A PIGMENT AND A BINDER
Whether you are painting with acrylics, oils, or watercolours,
each of those paints are made with two ingredients; a pigment and a binder.
(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.)
Whether you are painting with acrylics, oils, or watercolours,
each of those paints are made with two ingredients; a pigment and a binder.
(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.)
PIGMENT
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BINDER
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Pigments for sale at a market in India.
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Linseed oil, gum arabic and polymer acrylic emulsion
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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 therefore use similar colours that were used throughout art history, without breaking the bank, growing a lot of mangos, or raiding tombs.
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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. Each binder has pros and cons.
OIL PAINT BINDER - Linseed oil is usually 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 a long time for the painting to dry. WATERCOLOUR BINDER - 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 characteristic flow and looseness that watercolour paintings achieve. But watercolour paint works best on paper, not on canvas or wood . It is also very thin, meaning it does not allow the building up of texture in a painting. ACRYLIC BINDER - Polymer Acrylic Emulsion is a chemically created liquid and is the binder used in acrylic paint. When water evaporates from the acrylic polymer emulsion, the remaining molecules lock themselves into a stable solid paint film. This 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!
The paint stays fluid until it is exposed to air - when it is, it dries very quickly. But in sealed containers, it stays fluid for years and years. I have tubes of paint over 10 years old that are still good.
Acrylic paint is composed of tiny pigment particles dispersed in an acrylic polymer emulsion. The pigment particles do not dissolve, but remain suspended in the paint. Water in the polymer emulsion has been keeping the particles apart so they do not fuse and the paint stays liquid. When the paint is exposed to air, the water in the polymer emulsion evaporates and the polymer particles come into direct contact with each other and fuse together and trap the pigment in place creating a paint film.
That paint film is essentially a flexible coloured plastic, which is water resistant, and permanent.
There are three main components in any acrylic paint - pigment, binder and vehicle:
Acrylic colors dry as a result of water evaporation. Here’s what occurs as pigment, water and acrylic are transformed into a long-lasting paint film:
Stage 1.Squeezed from the tube, or scooped from the jar, acrylic paint is a finely balanced dispersion of pigment in an emulsion of acrylic polymer and water. The water serves to keep the emulsion liquid and acts as a kind of chemical ‘chaperone’, preventing the acrylic polymer particles from getting close and personal and locking together before you're ready
Stage 2.When exposed to the atmosphere, water in the emulsion evaporates, or is absorbed into the painting support. That’s when the acrylic polymer particles come into direct contact and fuse with each other
Stage 3.The clear polymer particles organize themselves into a stable, hexagonal structure, trapping the pigment in place. The result? A paint film which is extremely stable, water-resistant, permanent and vibrant
Acrylic paint is composed of tiny pigment particles dispersed in an acrylic polymer emulsion. The pigment particles do not dissolve, but remain suspended in the paint. Water in the polymer emulsion has been keeping the particles apart so they do not fuse and the paint stays liquid. When the paint is exposed to air, the water in the polymer emulsion evaporates and the polymer particles come into direct contact with each other and fuse together and trap the pigment in place creating a paint film.
That paint film is essentially a flexible coloured plastic, which is water resistant, and permanent.
There are three main components in any acrylic paint - pigment, binder and vehicle:
- Pigment - pigments are granular solids which give paint its color. Pigments can be organic, inorganic, natural and synthetic. They have little or no affinity for the surface to which they are applied
- Binder - a binder is the substance that keeps pigment in place after the paint dries. Acrylic paint has acrylic polymer as its binder and this forms a film after the water has evaporated
- Vehicle - this refers to the part of the paint that carries the pigment and binder. Water is the vehicle for water-based acrylic and when combined with the binder, it creates a polymer emulsion. Once the water leaves the system via evaporation or absorption, the paint dries, creating a stable clear polymer film full of trapped colored pigment particles
Acrylic colors dry as a result of water evaporation. Here’s what occurs as pigment, water and acrylic are transformed into a long-lasting paint film:
Stage 1.Squeezed from the tube, or scooped from the jar, acrylic paint is a finely balanced dispersion of pigment in an emulsion of acrylic polymer and water. The water serves to keep the emulsion liquid and acts as a kind of chemical ‘chaperone’, preventing the acrylic polymer particles from getting close and personal and locking together before you're ready
Stage 2.When exposed to the atmosphere, water in the emulsion evaporates, or is absorbed into the painting support. That’s when the acrylic polymer particles come into direct contact and fuse with each other
Stage 3.The clear polymer particles organize themselves into a stable, hexagonal structure, trapping the pigment in place. The result? A paint film which is extremely stable, water-resistant, permanent and vibrant
THIS VIDEO EXPLAINS :
HOW TO READ A PAINT LABEL
A Tiny Bit of Art History
You may have noticed that acrylic paint is the only paint that needs a binder which is laboratory-made rather than a natural ingredient (flaxseed or gum arabic used for oil and watercolours respectively).
Acrylic paint was not invented until the late 1940’s. Acrylic paint entered the commercial market in the 1950's as house paint. In 1955, Liquitex made it the world's first commercially available water-based acrylic paint, specifically made for artists. You won't find paintings painted with acrylics prior to the late 1950's so you will only find acrylic paintings in Modern Art Museums or Modern Art Galleries. Most paintings exhibited in museums are painted with oil or watercolour. According to Liquitex, acrylic paint is now the most popular medium on the planet.
Acrylic paint's ease of use and wide range of capabilities quickly gained traction with artists. It became hugely popular with artists during the Pop Art , Op Art, Colour Field and Expressionist movements of the 60's. Artists names you probably know such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Roy LichtensteinJack Bush and Basquiat all used acrylic pants in their work.
Acrylic paint was not invented until the late 1940’s. Acrylic paint entered the commercial market in the 1950's as house paint. In 1955, Liquitex made it the world's first commercially available water-based acrylic paint, specifically made for artists. You won't find paintings painted with acrylics prior to the late 1950's so you will only find acrylic paintings in Modern Art Museums or Modern Art Galleries. Most paintings exhibited in museums are painted with oil or watercolour. According to Liquitex, acrylic paint is now the most popular medium on the planet.
Acrylic paint's ease of use and wide range of capabilities quickly gained traction with artists. It became hugely popular with artists during the Pop Art , Op Art, Colour Field and Expressionist movements of the 60's. Artists names you probably know such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Roy LichtensteinJack Bush and Basquiat all used acrylic pants in their work.
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!
Their versatility is extraordinary - which I hope is illustrated by this gallery of acrylic paintings below.
Their versatility is extraordinary - which I hope is illustrated by this gallery of acrylic paintings below.