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Start Art 8 61 www.painters-online.co.uk Have fun and create this atmospheric country cottage scene in acrylics with Glyn Macey RT START R eeves acrylics are the perfect springboard for aspiring artists. Superb texture, high pigment content and inexpensive, they really are a winning combination. Acrylics were originally developed in the mid 1950s to imitate the qualities of oil colour, but without the hassles involved with long drying times and the need for special mediums and cleaners. Acrylics achieved this aim easily and they are no longer viewed as an alternative to oils but as an exciting medium in their own right; in fact acrylics possess qualities that both oil colours and watercolours can only dream of. You see, acrylics are water based yet dry to a permanent waterproof finish. This means that it is easy to work over existing dry acrylics without the worry of lifting the dry underlying colour, something that is very difficult to do with watercolour. The paints can be watered down for use in a watercolour style or used thickly in an oil style, or as we will explore in the demonstration painting that follows, we can use a cheeky combination of both approaches. Working methods Acrylics are mainly opaque which means that it is easy to work light over dark, again this is very difficult to achieve with watercolours. Acrylics dry quickly, usually between five to 15 minutes, whereas oils take hours, days and often weeks to dry properly. Like oil paint, once dry the pigment cannot be reactivated, so with this in mind be sure to clean your brushes promptly when finished as acrylic is extremely hard to remove when dry. Also bear this in mind if you are planning on wearing your best clothes whilst painting! You are spoilt for choice when it comes to surfaces on which to work. Watercolour paper, medium density fibreboard (MDF), canvas and boards of all types are perfectly acceptable to this friendly medium. For our painting we will use mountboard, which is heavy enough to take a bashing and smooth enough to enjoy a glaze or two. Acrylics are almost tailormade for creating glowing, scumbled texture and surfaces that allow underlying colours to show through. For this project I want to show you the truly magical abilities of acrylics by creating a painting that is full of implied interest and glowing colour, and yet is as easy as pie to put together. So, grab your palette, squeeze out a little paint and let’s do it! Cottages in acrylics You will need… l Reeves acrylics in the following colours: medium yellow, crimson, phthalo blue, blue lake, burnt sienna, titanium white l Brushes: Reeves flat No. 6 l Mountboard 12 12in (30.5 30.5cm) l B grade pencil l Palette knife l Small piece of household sponge l Water pot l Palette