by Wendon Blake
Roslyn by Seymour Pearlstein, acrylic on watercolor paper, 19”x19½”. Here is a particularly free and interesting use of acrylic watercolor, ranging from very fluid passages at one moment to fairly dry, gummy passages nearby. The model’s torso is rendered in very thin, transparent washes. Directly behind her is a wet-in-wet effect. To the viewer’s right is a thick, scrubby passage of color that behaves almost like oil paint, retaining the impression of the bristles. To the viewer’s left is a veil of color which has been made slightly smoky by a touch of opaque white. The whiteness of the bed is bare paper, in the tradition of transparent watercolor. The warm, bright color at her hip is thick color, hardly diluted, quickly blended with the brush. This apparently casual painting fully exploits the wide range of brushwork and paint consistency unique to acrylic.
PAINTING WASH OVER WASH
New England R.F.D. by Claude Croney, acrylic on 300 lb. watercolor paper, 15 “x22 ”. This vividly colored landscape seems indistinguishable, at first glance, from a traditional transparent watercolor. Yet acrylic lends itself particularly well to such effects as the complex, broken color of the autumn trees or the foreground stone wall. The trees are built up in a series of rough strokes piled over one another, and the rocks are handled in a similar way. These multiple overwashes are more likely to keep their luminosity and their purity of color in acrylic than in traditional watercolor. As each stroke or wash dries, it becomes insoluble; thus, each color application retains its freshness no matter how much more paint is applied. Study the ragged, drybrush strokes in the foreground trees and stones; applied thickly, straight from the tube, or thickened with acrylic medium, acrylic lends itself to especially rough drybrush textures. The wet-in-wet reflection of the barn at the end of the road is particularly effective, as is the warm reflection of the trees in the lower left.
EXPLOITING BARE PAPER
Newburgh Winter by Michael Rossi, A.W.S., acrylic on Arches watercolor paper, 15”x22”. Painted with great economy of means, this acrylic watercolor is entirely transparent. The foreground snow is bare white paper and a few bold, deftly placed strokes of cool color indicate the shape of the snow. The distant mountains are an irregular wash of blue into which soft patches of warm color have been painted wet-in-wet at right and left. The only really heavy buildup of dark tone is the big tree left of center, which carries a hint of drybrush. The linear accents on the buildings were drawn with the tip of the brush or scratched away with some sharp instrument like the end of the brush handle.
EMPHASIZING TRANSPARENCY
The Glade by Irving Shapiro, A.W.S., acrylic on watercolor paper, 19”x29”. Despite the unique ability of acrylic to retain its translucency even when painted light over dark, the artist has chosen to paint this complex subject entirely in transparent color. The flickering tones and shapes of the forest growth are rendered almost completely in flat spots and dabs, one placed over another to achieve the full buildup of detail. Because each successive touch of the brush doesn’t dissolve the underlying tone, every stroke retains its precise shape and color. The artist is able to add layer upon layer of strokes without any fear of his liquid color merging into a lifeless blur of muddy tones, which is always the risk with traditional watercolor. As the viewer’s eye moves beyond the immediate foreground, the focus of the picture blurs, and the artist shifts to a wet-in-wet technique for the dark, distant forest beyond the single treetrunk. Dark, warm and cool tones fuse with unusual drama. Acrylic lends itself particularly well to vibrant darks, as we see in the background of the forest. And if the first application of dark color isn’t dark enough, it’s simple to let the passage dry, and then add another dark wash without fear of dissolving the first.
WORKING WITH VARIED BRUSHSTROKES
Val di Rizzo by Ward Brackett, acrylic on gesso board, 12-1/8” x 17-1/4”. Opaque and semi-opaque acrylic color are usually most effective when applied flatly. Thus, this artist has handled his landscape as a fairly flat pattern of colored shapes, rendered with crisp, distinct brushstrokes. The flatness of the shapes is enlivened throughout by the casual, spontaneous quality of the strokes, which follow the direction of the landscape. Thus, the rolling hills in the distance are rendered in long, flowing, rhythmic strokes; the more geometric fields in the left foreground are rendered with short, straight strokes; even the slanting rooftops of the houses in the foreground are rendered with straight, diagonal strokes that follow the pitch of the planes. Although the color is thick, it’s never entirely opaque, but the viewer always has a sense of inner light.
SCUMBLING SEMI-LIQUID COLOR
Evening Quiet by Hardie Gramatky, N.A., A.W.S., acrylic on gesso, 16” x 22”, collection Miss Helen Heinrich. One of the most effective ways to handle acrylic, particularly in a deep toned picture like this one, is with the rough, scrubbing stroke sometimes called scumbling. The clouds appear to be scrubbed in with semi-liquid color, rather than washed in with more fluid color. Thus, their shapes have a special vitality. The foreground darks are handled in the same way. And the scrubby texture of the paint really communicates the feeling of wood in the house itself. The distant trees are drybrush, and the ruddy patch of ground is enlivened with drybrush, too. Like so many successful acrylic watercolors, this painting combines transparent, semi-transparent, and semi-opaque color: the sky is a veil of transparent color; the clouds are heavier, but still allow the sky tone to come through; and the darker tones are heavier still, but are still translucent enough to allow the luminous gesso ground to come through. Nothing in the picture gives the feeling of complete opacity. Even the darkest tones are enlivened by an underlying glow of light.
BROKEN COLOR
Tremosine by Ward Brackett, acrylic on gesso board, 12” x 17¼”. Painted with the scrubby, scumbling stroke which is so characteristic of opaque passages of acrylic, this colorful Italian landscape reveals a great deal of luminosity despite the thickness of the paint. The whiteness of the gesso still shines through. Knowing that acrylic holds the shape of the brushstroke with unusual precision, the artist has planned the directions of his strokes to express the shapes of the landscape. Notice how the strokes roll up the side of the slope, swing around in the direction of the road receding into the distance, become jagged to express the shapes of the trees, and even suggest the direction of the windblown, cloudy sky. The greens are a striking example of broken color, in which a yellow underpainting constantly breaks through the overlying greens and the two mix in the eye of the viewer.
DRYBRUSH TECHNIQUE
The Quarry by Claude Croney, acrylic on 300 lb. watercolor paper, 15”x22”. The wide range of textural possibilities in acrylic watercolor painting is evident here. The rocky foreground is an impressive combination of wet-in-wet, alternating warm and cool washes, drybrush, and scratching out. The rock formation began as multiple washes of delicate browns, grays, and blues. On this foundation, the artist has built a rich pattern of drybrush strokes, irregular flecks of color, and scratches with a sharp metal instrument. The trees and houses along the horizon combine wet-in-wet effects—where the trees merge with the sky—with touches of drybrush and occasional scratches to indicate light tree trunks.
RENDERING COMPLEX TEXTURES
Mabel, Minnie, and Maud by John C. Pellew, N.A., A.W.S., acrylic on 300 lb. cold pressed watercolor paper, 15”x20”. This amazingly rich, lively color effect is particularly suited to acrylic. Study how large, rough strokes of warm and cool color are laid over one another to develop the complex texture of the stone bridge in the upper half of the painting. The color is handled in the same way in the foliage in the lower half of the painting. The artist has painted stroke upon stroke without any fear that the underlying color will dissolve and turn the fresh color to mud. On the contrary, the final effect is a ragged weave of glowing color which would be virtually impossible in traditional watercolor. Although there are some touches of semi-opaque color, these are lost in the overall feeling of transparency. Some of the foreground weeds are picked out with opaque colo
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MODELING FORM WITH MULTIPLE WASHES
Early Winter by John Rogers, A.W.S., acrylic on watercolor paper, 22”x28”, collection Mr. and Mrs. G. R. Schreiber. Painted entirely in transparent color, an acrylic watercolor is indistinguishable from traditional transparent watercolor. The various treetrunks are interesting combinations of multiple washes, one laid over the other, to build up subtle warm and cool tones. Notice where the artist has used touches of drybrush for the rough texture of the bark. The blurred trees along the horizon are wet-in-wet. The snow in the foreground is carefully modeled in graded washes to give a three dimensional feeling, so that the drifting snow seems round and solid.
WORKING WITH THICK COLOR
Fish and Copper Skillet by Sergei Bongart, A.W.S., acrylic on gesso panel, 36”x48”. Working with thick, opaque acrylic tube color, applied on a Masonite panel coated with acrylic gesso, the artist has created an effect similar to an oil painting. The paint is scrubbed on roughly, leaving behind the texture of the brush. The highlights are applied with impasto, while the background tones of the wall are semi-opaque, broken color effects. One color has been scrubbed over another, with each stroke allowing the underlying color to shine through. Even here, where acrylic is applied quite thickly, its inherent translucency is exploited so that the colors break through one another to produce a very elaborate range of tones.
WORKING WITH A LIMITED PALETTE
Damian by Seymour Pearlstein, acrylic on watercolor paper, 19”x24”. Painted entirely in tones of blue and brown, this very subtle acrylic watercolor gives the impression of containing far more color than is really there. By blending various proportions of warm and cool color, the artist achieves an amazing range of tones. Note how the head is painted in overlying washes of warm and cool color, with just a touch of warmth for the hair. Although the color is applied in a very fluid manner, the stroke of the brush is retained throughout and enlivens every inch of the painting with the gesture of the artist’s hand. Each swing of the brush retains its individuality.
WORKING ON CANVAS-TEXTURED BOARD
Porto by William Strosahl, A.W.S., acrylic on gesso board, 22”x28”. The canvas-like texture of this picture comes from the painting surface, a type of wallboard that has a fabric texture stamped into it. The board was then coated with acrylic gesso which made the surface even more like canvas. The brush glides over such a surface very swiftly and leaves behind the exact texture of the stroke. Notice that the paint is scrubbed on very much like oil paint, but remains transparent or semi-transparent throughout. Optical color mixing is used frequently: that is, warm and cool tones are washed over one another, blending in the eye of the viewer, but never dissolving one another.
ACRYLIC MEDIUM FOR COLLAGE
Oarweed Cove by Edward Betts, N.A., A.W.S., acrylic on illustration board, 20”x27”, collection Mrs. Edward Betts. Acrylic color combines beautifully with collage elements, because acrylic medium—and the paint itself—have powerful adhesive qualities. This artist builds his pictorial textures with wrinkled layers of thin paper cemented to the painting surface. Fluid acrylic color is washed over and into the rough, wrinkled collage ground. Color isn’t only brushed on, but spattered and dribbled on, as you can see in the left foreground. In the dark areas, there’s a dense buildup of warm and cool tones, applied one over the other. This contrasts nicely with areas of bare painting surface in the foreground and the delicate, transparent sky. (Courtesy Midtown Galleries.)
PAINTING WITH OPAQUE COLOR
Cascade by Lawrence C. Goldsmith, A.W.S., acrylic on watercolor paper, 18”x22”. Painted entirely in opaque and semi-opaque color, this acrylic watercolor retains far more luminosity than traditional opaque watercolor, which is often called gouache or designers’ colors. Opaque acrylic never seems as chalky as opaque watercolor. The acrylic always seems to reflect a kind of inner light. The newer medium also permits a far richer buildup of color upon color, as in the glowing, cool tones of the sky, in which strokes of many colors are painted into and over one another. The same passage in traditional opaque watercolor would be far less rich—and perhaps dangerous to try— because each new color application would run the risk of dissolving the underlying color, resulting in a muddy blend of both. Particularly interesting in the foreground is the range of warm and cool grays that can be produced by mixing blues and browns. These grays are far more lively than anything you can produce with black and white.
ACRYLIC WITH PAPER COLLAGE AND SAND
Coastal Storm by Edward Betts, N.A., A.W.S., acrylic on Masonite panel, 30¼“x43¾”. This powerful composition combines liquid acrylic color with heavily textured collage elements, as well as sand cemented to the painting surface. Despite the density of the foreground color, the paint retains its transparency. Warm and cool tones are washed over one another to build an effect surprisingly like stained glass. The rock formation, washed by the breaking waves, is glistening and transparent. (Courtesy Midtown Galleries.)
Skating, Central Park. by Hardie Gramatky, N.A., A. W.S., acrylic on gesso board, 11”x14”, collection Mr. and Mrs. Cecil West. Retaining the white of the gesso board for the luminous color of the snow, the artist has applied broad, decisive strokes of transparent and semi-transparent color. Although the acrylic tube color has been diluted to a fluid consistency, it remains just a bit thicker than a wash of traditional watercolor and therefore retains the texture of the brushstroke in this painting. Gramatky uses this streaky texture to render the shiny reflections on the ice in the foreground and also to give texture to the shadows on the snow beyond. Liquid paint was spattered in the upper right hand corner to suggest the falling snow.
Having described stretching in such detail—for those who want to try it—I still think you should buy the heaviest sheet of watercolor paper you can afford and forget about stretching, unless you really like the character of the stretched sheet. For example, some painters like the “bounce” of watercolor paper on a wooden stretcher frame. But don’t imagine that stretching will save you a great deal of money. If you invest in a 300 lb. sheet, remember that you have two sides to paint on, and that a coat of acrylic gesso quickly gives you a fresh painting surface on a sheet you may have spoiled. When you consider how many times you can use and reuse a heavy sheet, you may find that the heavier paper saves you money in the long run.
Japanese Papers
The larger art supply stores now stock a great many Japanese papers which are worth trying. They’re often a good deal cheaper than European and American papers, but they’re every bit as good in their own special way.
The Japanese papers were developed for a method of painting that relies on rapid brushstrokes, extreme spontaneity, sudden changes from a sopping wet brush to an almost dry brush, and liquid color that may be thick and gummy, or thinned with water to such an extent that there’s only the faintest hint of color.
Japanese artists over the centuries have found that the ideal paper for such a technique is something like high grade blotting paper: soft and absorbent, yet tough enough to take vigorous brushstrokes. The absorbency means that the paper soaks up the paint as soon as your brush touches the surface; thus, the exact character of the stroke is held absolutely intact, as precisely as your fingerprint. The paint doesn’t wander around on the surface of the paper, blurring into other wet strokes and washes and losing its individual shape. On the other hand, I hasten to point out that Japanese paper is unlike ordinary blotting paper in that the stroke doesn’t spread and blur when it hits the paper, but the paint stays exactly where you put it.
As I explained earlier, paper which is soft and absorbent makes corrections difficult. Hard as such corrections may be on one of the soft European papers, they’re really impossible on Japanese papers. Because the liquid color soaks in instantly, there’s no chance to change your mind once the brush hits the paper, and no way of getting the paint back out once the paper drinks it up.
This is why it’s such good experience to work on Japanese paper. Every
step is so final, so irrevocable, that you’re forced to plan your attack with great care and not muddle around on the paper, brushing and rebrushing your color until it turns to melted mud. You’re forced to be absolutely decisive and to develop the valuable habit of spontaneity—because the paper won’t let you work any other way. The paper is a tough taskmaster: it won’t let you hesitate, won’t let you change your mind, won’t let you patch up a mistake, won’t let you get away with anything! Japanese paper trains you to think out each stroke carefully beforehand, then make a decisive attack.
Working on Japanese paper isn’t only good training in decisiveness and spontaneity, but the surface also lends itself to a number of techniques particularly suited to acrylic watercolor painting. Japanese painters work with water soluble inks which can be varied greatly in consistency; the artist prepares the ink as he paints, pulverizing a dried stick of ink and adding varying amounts of water—sometimes producing ink as thick as syrup, sometimes producing ink which is thin and runny. It depends on the kind of stroke he wants to make. As you’ll see later on, this is one of the great advantages of acrylic watercolor: you can vary the paint consistency to suit the requirements of different parts of a picture. And Japanese paper is designed specifically to absorb paint that’s thick or thin or somewhere in between.
