The Science of Acrylic Paint

Acrylic polymers began life early in the 20th century as replacements for glass and for use in textiles, far before they were thought of for use in artistic endeavors. Acrylic dispersions were eventually used in house paints until exploration in the 50’s and 60’s led to the creation of artist grade acrylic paints. The synthetic resin binder emulsion of extremely fine particles was dispersed in water, then milled with pigments, as moisture evaporates from the applied paint only the acrylic resin and pigment remain. The unique properties of acrylic resin combined with many of the same pigments used in oil and watercolors created a medium that dried quickly, was easy to clean up and could be employed effectively on a variety of surfaces.

The binder used in acrylic polymers dries rapidly and forms a clear film that does not yellow, is flexible and very adhesive. The solution behaves much like oil paint and can be manipulated to create similar effects, but it can also be watered down and used in the same way as watercolors. The main differences are the brushing quality (oils are more viscous and are workable longer) and permanence (watercolors can be lifted away to a greater extent).

(Reference material: The Painter’s Handbook - 1993 Mark David Gottsegan & The New Artist’s Manual - 2005 Simon Jennings

Acrylic as Water Medium

One of the major advantages of acrylic paint is it’s ability to be employed in a number of ways, opaquely right out of the tube, thinned to a transparent glaze with a medium or diluted with water to be used similarly to watercolors. It can even be thinned to the point that it can be used in an airbrush. This month in the Learning Center we’ll show you how to use your acrylics to mimic the look of a watercolor paint. Diluted acrylics will have more permanence in mixed media applications than traditional watercolors and they can also be used as a wet medium on canvas (watercolor paint has a tendency to bead up on primed canvas).

It’s a pretty simple process, the more water you add the lighter your color will be:

Here you can see we’ve made some nice puddles of acrylic color that can now be used to mimic watercolor techniques.

Here a sheet of watercolor paper has been dampened to employ a traditional wet on wet watercolor technique.

The damp paper will help keep the acrylic workable and you can continue to add wet on wet layers.

We allowed these layers to dry then worked in detail layers with a very thin but highly pigmented solution of acrylic and water. The final gives the look of a watercolor painting, but since it is acrylic based, the image is completely waterproof, meaning additional layers of wet or dry media can be added on top without affecting the original painting in any way.

Another great use for a watery acrylic mixture is a fast drying solution to toning a canvas or panel for painting. This ground (in our case, a blend of burnt sienna and ultramarine) will be ready to paint on in as little as ten minutes and it’s safe and completely archival to apply oil paint over the acrylic ground.

So take advantage of the flexibility of acrylic paint, experiment with layers and building up watercolor-like washes or try it out to quickly tone a canvas or panel for your next oil painting.

Did you know that you can order from your local Utrecht store here in Tempe and have your order sent to you for FREE if the order is being sent within the state of Arizona?

All orders of $100 or more qualify for FREE shipping within the state of Arizona if it meets the following criteria…

1. Order total before tax is $100
2. Order is being delivered in the state of Arizona
3. Ordered items are not over sized or over weight
4. Ground shipping is used (In AZ ground delivery is normally done within 1-2 business days)
5. Ordered items must not be vendor direct items

Orders of less than $100 can be shipped from your Tempe store at a small cost, only 10% of your order total. (ground shipping only)

To take advantage of this great idea, simply call the store at (480) 446-0800, Fax your order to (480) 446-0888, or email your order to store31@utrecht.com. Please call on faxed or emailed orders to make sure they have been recieved.

Artwork by Jessica Dolence

August 21st - September 12th

www.jessicadolence.com

eye lounge gallery

419 E Roosevelt St

Phoenix, AZ 85004

Win a 4-day artist’s retreat
at Weekend With the Masters!

American Artist magazine and Utrecht Art Supplies are celebrating Weekend With the Masters and we want you to be part of the experience! The Weekend With the Masters Workshop & Conference is designed to give practicing artists, art collectors, and art enthusiasts who are passionate about traditional art the chance to study with some of the top representational painters of our time.

ENTER TO WIN!

When you enter the Weekend With the Masters Watercolor Sweepstakes, you’ll be eligible to win a prize package including:

• Full-weekend tuition for the Watercolor classes (a value of $1395.00)
• 4 nights lodging
• $250 travel stipend

*If you have already registered for the full-weekend watercolor track, your name will automatically be entered into the Weekend With the Masters Scholarship sponsored by Utrecht Art Supplies. Hurry! Entry deadline is August 4.

This Saturday, June 27th, we will be hosting a FREE Tie Dye demo. Come in from 2-4pm and see how Tie Dye is done. Bring in your own per-washed 100% cotton T-Shirt or item and you can dye it yourself, we will help show you how.

Visit our store web page at www.Utrecht.com/stores ( The Tempe store page is under the Arizona heading) to sign up and reserve your space for this fun and exciting demo. We will see you then!

This Saturday and Sunday we will be holding a Speedball T-Shirt Screen printing demo. Demos will be at 12, 1, and 2pm both days.

The first 15 people to attend the demo Saturday, and first 10 people on Sunday will receive a free pre screened t-shirt. This demo will provide basic information about screen printing techniques. Many of the needed Speedball items will be on sale Friday through Sunday at 15% off their regular price.

 Hope to see you there!

Every spring Gamblin paintmakers collect pigments from their air filtration system & recycle them into Torrit Grey. The mix of pigments is differentevery year so Torrit Grey is always unique.

Our samples for this year have arrived, so pick up your FREE sample at Utrecht Tempe today! 

We have just received our racks for Permaset Aqua Textile Inks that will soon be filled with this great product.

Permaset Inks are 100% Solvent Free, waterbased, and environmentally friendly screen printing inks for t-shirts and any other textile projects you might have.

Stop in and check out these new items soon!

Screen Printing at Home

A great way to create multiples of an image is by screenprinting. In this post we’ll create a screen of a vintage “Utrecht Linens” logo that can be screened onto t-shirts, aprons or canvas bags. The easiest way to get started is with a screen printing kit, it will have everything you need to create your image either through the photo emulsion process or by drawing the  image directly on the screen. 

In order to achieve a vintage weathered look we’ve chosen to draw our image directly onto the screen with a brush and drawing fluid. We used push pins to elevate the screen while painting it (remember the screen is mesh, you don’t want the fluid seeping through to your image, they’ll get stuck together!).

Now that the image is painted on it’s time to add the screen filler. The area that is painted is the area where ink will be able to get through to transfer your image.

Cover the image in one pass, then use the excess filler to cover the areas of the screen that do not have the image. Make sure there are no puddles of screen filler and return the extra to the jar. Now you want to let this dry before washing out the drawing fluid.

Here is the screen before and after rinsing. We used a traditional sink sprayer, a hose will work too. Anything that can provide enough water pressure to wash out the drawing fluid. Allow the screen to dry then tape up the edges to prevent any ink getting through gaps that may exist.

We put another image on this screen for another project, since we don’t want it to print we’ll cover it with masking tape on the bottom of the screen (taping on the top, or printing side, of the screen will give you problems when applying ink). Now we’re all set to print and can spoon on some of the ink.

Lift one edge of the screen so it’s not making contact with your printing surface. Make a pass forward with the squeegee and one back to flood your image with ink. Now lay the screen flat on your printing surface.

Applying firm pressure make another pass with your squeegee. This forces the ink through the screen and results in the image transferring to your surface. Now you’re ready to make an entire edition of shirts or fine art prints!