Making Progress

The technical part is taking shape. After a few tests, two or three errands to the art store comparing and buying supplies, I am getting a handle on acrylics.

I had done acrylics before, but it had been a while and you do have to get back into practice with your tools to work with a free mind.

https://louisejalbert.com/en/oeuvres/orange-et-sortilleges/#/i/1

I find this medium rather easy and very versatile: it can thinned to do watery effect all the way to heavy textures, with fast drying times, and without worrying about cracking because the emulsion that holds the colors remains flexible.

I did this small painting above rather quickly, using very transparent colors.

Colors tend to vary in rendering from one medium to another, so you have to adjust. For example, the bluish green above was made with Phtalo green diluted with acrylic medium. In watercolor, to have this effect, I would use Viridian and water, as I would in oils but with thinner.

I am starting to see what colors and marks I can use with acrylics. I guess I am making progress.

 

 

 

Acrylic dries fast and hard
One of the reflexes I am getting back to is to wash brushes and plates immediately after use, because acrylic dries fast and is a powerful adherent.

 
Louise Jalbert, “Foliage in summer,June”, 2018, Acrylic on canvas 16 x 20 inches