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this-is-not-a-slow-burn · 17 days ago

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Traditional acrylic painting question

I tried to ask this over at r/ArtistsLounge but I am a new user to the sub and they won't let you post until you've reached some magical line, so here, have my question Art Tumblr.

Gentle note that I'm not new to art by any means, so let me start with that since I'm used to getting answers that seem to assume I'm a beginner. I'm not.

Ok with that out of the way.

I've never worked with acrylics in a large format before, and my past experience with them has been non representational abstracts (intuitive scribbles if you will) and like monotypes, so I have some questions about coverage, dry time, and how to navigate white paint opacity.

The canvas is 30"x 40" (stretched) and the previous owner of the canvas applied silver spraypaint to it for unknown reasons, so I will be covering that with gesso first. (fingers crossed that the gesso will adhere and not crack or peel off. will do a test on one of the edges to see if rubbing alcohol will remove the spray paint but I don't have high hopes)

The painting itself will only be three colors total. Red, black, and white, but mostly Pyrrole red. I have two 2 oz (59 mL) tubes of it in Liquitex heavy body that were a gift, and it's an expensive color so I need to make this amount work because I cannot buy more. (I would steal it but the only place in town is hardcore watchful) This means there's not enough to do a bunch of testing with.

The plan right now is to mix in a bit of Golden acrylic medium to extend the coverage and make the application a bit smoother, just the same as when I do smaller size work. (I also have Golden Open retarder to slow drying time)

Since the canvas is so large, would it be best to mix up a bunch of paint and use a large brush or roller like those used for home interior painting and do the whole surface in one go, or do it in smaller sections? I ask because I have a bum shoulder and doing it in stages would be best for my arm, but there's a concern that it would leave distinct demarcations where the application stopped and started. There is someone who would help me if it should be done all in one go. I could probably even do it with my other arm if it came down to it. I also have Golden Open paint retarder to slow the drying time if necessary. (wow I just wrote crying time. gods help me it won't be that hard will it?) Mostly to avoid the paint drying on the palette too quickly because I can be sllllooooowww with painting. I have covered containers for color mixtures, but they're not great.

Then comes the question of bringing white into the picture (pun intended by accident). The white bits will be about thumbnail sized details, with some a little bigger and some smaller. Would masking them off before applying the red work (so they will be gesso "blank" and then paint white over them), or doing more of a pochoir (stencil) over the red? Or do I just give in and paint them by hand and hope that they don't come out wobbly edged (i'm terrible with crisp lines ;-;)

Ok I htink that's enough questions for now. I have several other (muuuuch smaller) formats I will be making the same image in (gouache, linocut block print, screen print (paper and fabric), monotype, paper collage, possibly a quilt-ish pillow, a knit wall hanging, and an embroidery piece on a jacket and a bag) but that's for another time.

If you or anyone you know can answer even a fraction of these questions, or offer tips, I will love you forever.

Reblogs or tagging artists is encouraged! <3

#Art questions #Trad artists #traditional artists #traditional art #Acrylic paint #artists #Acrylic painting #Acrylic painting techniques #paint #paint opacity #large format paintings #I am not a noob to art just to big honking huge acrylic paintings

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rosenkranz-does-things · 6 months ago

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