30 May, 2018

163 & 164 of 86

HOT & COLD - Acrylics - 8" x 8"

Two small acrylics which I enjoyed painting and which I enjoy having on display at home in white box-frames.



162 of 86

FLORAL MEADOW - Watercolour

Just realised that I've never posted this painting that I did in 2016! This one is hung up in my lounge - I like it!


11 May, 2018

161 of 86

GOLDEN OPEN ACRYLICS! Test-Painting, 7x5"

I had the opportunity to try out some new Acrylics tonight, called Golden Open. They differ from normal acrylics in that they have a longer drying time. I was only given the three Primary Colours so I had to use a tube of System-3 White. The full range of Golden Open paints extends to 40 colours.

As usual, I added a little Flow Improver to my water and everything seemed pretty normal when I started to paint. The viscosity was a little on the thin side for my liking, but not vastly different to say, W&N Galeria.

Within a short space of time I began to get a little irritated at the drying time, because I'm just so used to acrylics drying very quickly. I thought that the Golden Open had a slightly longer drying time but for me, it was just way too long! Even when i returned to the painting the next morning, I was unable to complete it because areas were still wet, preventing me from getting the effect I wanted. 

I'm not sure I'd invest in a set of these paints because I have an "in-grained" expectation of acrylics and if I wanted to have a drying time of 24 HOURS (much longer if applied thickly), then i would probably switch to using Griffin Alkyds instead. Another point worth noting is that you cannot varnish your painting for something like 30 days! Now I normally varnish my acrylics a couple of days after completing them, so this is a big bugbear!

Having said that, I can imagine these paints would be quite popular with artists who do a lot of Plein Air painting on hot summer days when the paint usually dries way too quickly (or even dry windy days).

Photo to follow.

08 May, 2018

160 of 86

GOUACHE!  Blue Moon, 7x5"

I recently purchased some Gouache paints and decided to have a play with them this weekend. Bad idea, because it was BURNING HOT in the garden, so the paint was drying as quick as I could paint! I found it all very tricky and I need to watch some videos of better Gouache Artists on YouTube.



Our Own Art-Club!

Each Friday we go to the local Art-Club in Horwich. It's a thriving club with a broad range of people of all ages and skill-levels. Apart from the regular painting sessions, we have many professional artists visiting us to demonstrate their skills and to run workshops.

But sometimes, it's nice when just a few friends get together mid-week too, and so here we are in Simon's "studio", benefitting from the skill and experience of his father, Brian Waddington. It looks a bit cramped in there, but we were just huddled together to fit in the photo frame :-)



And you can drink beer in this club! :-)