How
to
Paint - Hints
& Tips
A Newcastle Arts Centre Guide
For Paper,Wood,
Canvas, Plaster, Glass, Ceramics, Metal, Plastics,
Textiles.
at Newcastle Arts Centre
we stock paints by: -
Winsor & Newton,
Daler-Rowney, Talens, Pebeo, Liquitex, Humbrol, Marabu
Textil.
Shop instore or online at
details-express.co.uk.
Choosing the right
medium:
To be sure of a good
finish it is important to chose the right paint for the
job,
Once a upon a time Paints used either water or oil as the
medium. Today there are
dozens of paints to chose from each with their own
special character. It is necessary
to know and understand something about the 'medium'. A
medium is a fluid that
carries binds and 'glues' the colour to a surface.
A medium defines the the Paint - Oil Paint uses linseed
or poppy oil as a medium,
Alkyd is named after a resin like sustance that is a good
fast drying substitute for Oil.
Acrylic is a water-soluble plastic. Watercolour uses
water and gum arabic.
Enamels and Lacquers
use a wide range of specialist mediums which each have
their own solvent.
Because of this diversity, mixing different types of
paints, mediums and solvents
should be avoided. Also be aware that the over use of a
solvent to dilute a colour can
damage the paint. When thinning a colour it is wise to
use some of the original medium
to maintain the performance of the paint. More
information is in manufactures leaflets
available from our shop or the makers websites.
Professional or Student
grade?
In the UK the quality of
colour products is roughly divided into three groups :-
- Professional -
traditionally known as Artists Quality the better makers
have always called their top grade colours 'Artists'
quality but this term is often abused by makers of cheap
poor quality colour and now causes confusion. Artists
quality colours sold at
Newcastle Arts Centre is always the best of that make and
are priced to reflect the quality of colour and
manufacture. For this reason colours are divided into
different price groups or series determined by the cost
of the genuine colour or pigment.
- Student or Amateur
Grade
These are good quality colours made to a single price
range. Expensive pigments are
substituted for cheaper colours often named as 'hues',
for example ' Cadmium red hue' is a colour that looks
like Cadmium Red but does not contain any of that
pigment.
- School Grade
Colours
Very cheap colours that
generally do not mix well and are not light fast. We
avoid them.
Painting
Tips:
Oil Painting is a
slow process but you can speed it up by underpainting
with Acrylic
and finishing with oil, but make sure that the surface
has been primed with acrylic gesso. Remember the 'fat
over lean' rule which means that you cannot apply acrylic
over oil.
Acrylic Varnish? -
Although acrylic varnishes are available we don't
recommend them because they are not removable, remember
that the easiest way to clean a painting should be to
remove the varnish with white spirit, however the varnish
must be soluble. Modern varnishes made with Keytone resin
are recommended.
Water soluble
oils. - Water mixable oil colours such as Winsor
& Newton's 'Artisan' are now popular because they
don't use smelly solvents; but are you aware that
'Turpenoid natural' is not only a non toxic brush
restorer, but can be used as a solvent for any oil or
Alkyd paint rendering the colour water
soluble.
Brushes for
acrylics - The most common mistake is to chose
natural hair brushes such as Hog or Sable for Acrylic
painting. Acrylic paints use a plastic in a solution of
water as the medium for the colour but once this is dry
it is waterproof. Brushes made from natural fibres absorb
the acrylic and quickly become useless. Always choose
brushes of man made fibres for Acrylic.
Colour Mixing - Keep it simple!
In theory you should be able to mix most colours from
Cyan, Magenta and Yellow as most print and photographic
processes achieve 'full colour' from these primaries. Its
well worth practicing with such a set to get to know the
basics of colour mixing and only buy additional single
pigment colours colours that you find hard to
mix.
Detergents and
Watercolours dont mix.
Ever blamed a watercolour paper for uneven washes? Well
it may be down to the use of washing up liquid on your
brushes, water jar, or palette. The tiniest amount of
detergent can spoil brushes, paper and colour. Clean only
with clean water when working with watercolour.
www.details-express.co.uk
or Phone
0191 261 5999
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