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.
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.
Check out our
on-line store for discounts of up to 50% off art and
design materials by the leading brands.
Winsor and Newton, Daler Rowney, Royal Talens, Liquitex
Acrylics, Rembrandt, Unison,
Letraset Tria, Pro-Arte, Pebeo and more.
'details' is the
art store at Newcastle Arts Centre
Special
Offers online now at www.details.co.uk
details @ Newcastle Arts Centre, 67
Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SG.
phone 0191 2615999
Back
to "How To..." Index
More 'Help'
Pages:
Painting
Hints and Tips
....Simple
Gilding
...How
to Prime and Stretch Canvas
...
How
to Batik
....How
to Enlarge a Picture
....How
to Paint on Glass
.. Silk
Painting .
How
to Cut a Picture Mount
If in doubt ask ...we are here to
help..... phone 0191 2615999
