BURRIDGE PART 2: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN So, from my fresh new perspective of a novice acrylic painter, what is the difference between watercolor and acrylic pigments? The same things about the material applies in both—the more concentrated the pigment, the better the value and the further the product goes. In fact, often the same pigment is used in both products—the difference being the kind of “binder” used to hold the pigment together. Since I was just starting with acrylics, I did what I often tell my students in watercolor to do: if you are unsure, purchase the least expensive product for the value you can afford. I ended up purchasing Nova paints (www.NovaColorPaints.com) because I was told by some other artists that they are reasonably priced paints with good coverage—although the archival quality (for decades) might be questionable. But, I figured that if I put a UV archival varnish over them, it will slow down any possible deterioration….at least till after I am dead. But I digress. What differences did I find? Well, the acrylic paints I used were much “creamier” than the watercolor pigments I use. So, although I purchased some brushes to use with the acrylic, I spent almost no time using them! After seeing the brush strokes that I found distracting entering my work—and the way the creamy pigment moved so effortlessly—I tended to opt instead for paper towels, rags, and finally my fingers to move around the paint! (hint: use “Gloves in a Bottle” or some other similar product to protect your hands/skin). The other difference, of course, is that once it is dry… well, it is DRY. Almost all of my work in watercolor is about the mixing of color combinations on the surface that I am working on. That means that even after one color is dry, I can come back in if I want to and “rejuvenate” the color and do some color mixing. Needless to say that idea went absolutely NOwhere in my acrylic painting. So, I found that I had to work extremely fast if I wanted to do any color mixing on the surface. So, if I want to continue in acrylic I may have to rely on a palette more—something I don’t even own in my watercolor set-up. I was also surprised by the “glazing” ability of acrylic. I was under the mistaken delusion that all acrylics were opaque… there is as much variation in acrylic as there is in watercolor! There were transparent, semi-transparent, and opaque acrylics just like in watercolor. And, of course “glazing” becomes a lot easier when you use a transparent acrylic over already dried acrylic—after all the surface below doesn’t “come up” to mix with your glaze color. That could be an advantage, or a disadvantage, depending on what effect you were trying to achieve. The other main difference was that the surface I was working on was always the same. No, I did work on both paper and canvas, but the SURFACE was the same. Burridge always has a layer of gesso on the surface he is working (including a new layer of gesso even over pre-gessoed surfaces). So, other than the “springy” feedback from the canvas, the surface was no different. That is very different than working in watercolor where the surface can be extremely different! A hard press surface is different than a cold press, is different than a rough press, is different than a gesso surface. And, that does not even talk about the absorbency of the paper where the difference between sizing, or lack thereof, can make a huge difference in the way your watercolor pigment reacts! You could, undoubtedly, work on a non-gessoed surface with an acrylic, but that would only work for the “first layer” cause after it is dry you are working on a plastic surface no matter how you started—while the watercolor paper still retains a level of absorbancy.
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