Acrylics .

History Acrylic paints are a modern medium derived from materials produced by the plastic industry. The Mexican muralists Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueros are often quoted as the inventors of acrylics. They certainly experimented with modern synthetic materials as early as the 1930s, and Siqueros delivered a paper on the subject to the American Artists Congress. As a result, in 1936 he established an experimental workshop in New York where artists are said to have manufactured acrylic paints for themselves. However, the modern artists materials are based on emulsion polymer acrylic, which were originally developed as high-performance exterior coatings and were first employed to paint wooden houses in North America. The chemical company Rohm and Hass produced acrylic resin around 1953 and very soon after that it was adopted for use in artists materials, though it was not widely available in Europe until the 1960s. The technology has since developed, and todays artists acrylics are a significant improvement on the original products. Although they have been exhaustively tested, acrylic have not been in existence long enough to assess their long-term performance. They have not lived up to the claims originally made for them, and although their popularity is growing, it remains to be seen whether they will be considered a major medium in the future. Composition Acrylic paints are made by dispersing pigment, previously ground with water, around an emulsion that has been made separately. This process produces a fluid paint, but artistsacrylics are usually given a paste-like consistency resembling oil colour by the addition of a thickening agent. A few manufactures supply acrylics in both forms. Because of their popularity with designers, an

increasing number of acrylic ranges offer specialized colours similar to those referred to under Gouache, in addition to those intended for ordinary painters. Commercially produced acrylic paints have complex formulations and contain many additives which produce precise performance qualities. They are made with a restricted range of pigments, because acrylic emulsions are not compatible with certain colours in their liquid state. Studio-made acrylics can be comparatively simple, however, and may be prepared in a similar manner to tempera paints. Since the acrylic medium is stable when dry, painters may in theory employ any pigment so long as the paint is used within a short time of preparation. Properties In many respects, artists acrylics are like the traditional egg tempera medium; this is hardly surprising, since both are based on an emulsion. Acrylics can be thinned with water and dry quickly, as their water content passes off and the paint film assumes a stable state soon after they are physically dry. Unlike traditional tempera, however, acrylics are very flexible, and their ability to withstand the contractions that occur during drying means that they can be applied in thicker layers. They are therefore suitable for use on canvas as well as other supports and will retain impasto and textural effects as they dry. Acrylics are said to offer very true and brilliant colour because of the clarity of the resins in which the pigments are suspended. Great permanence is also claimed, because the resins do not discolour with age. However, as acrylics dry, their colour does change noticeably and they become darker and flatter, losing much of the brilliance they possess in the wet state. If varnished their saturated colour effects return, and this can give rise to practical problems where colours are being matched from wet to dry or when varnishing distorts carefully planned colour effects. The fact that acrylics cannot be rewetted once dry makes this

more of a problem than with other media, which can be retouched by matching wet to wet. The other notable properties of acrylics paints are that they are strongly adhesive and supposedly insoluble when dry. In fact, they should not used on anything which is smooth, shiny, and non-absorbent. Neither are they completely resistant to solvents, and most artists acrylics can be softened or dissolved using alcohol. Acrylics pick up dirt as they age and so lose their brilliance. They also lose their flexibility at low temperatures, and severe cracking and lifting of paint can occur if an acrylic painting is subject to sudden stress when it is cold. In use The main attractions of acrylic paints are their speed and convenience, and the fact that they can mimic a wide range of technical effects normally associated with other paint types. To get the most from acrylic paints, you may have to employ specialized media, and in some techniques they can actually be quite troublesome to use. The drying time can be extended by use of a retarding medium, or by adding glycerine to the paint or the water it is thinned with. Their adhesive strength makes them suitable for use in collage, and because the dried paint film is inactive. They can be used directly on paper or unprimed canvas. When a priming is used it should be an acrylic gesso; acrylic should never be used on an oil ground or on top of a layer of oil paint. Theoretically, acrylic can be used to underpaint oils, but the long-term advisability of this is open to question. Brushes and painting equipment must be cleaned immediately after use using warm water to wash away any undried paint, and methylated spirit to remove hardened pigment. Plastic and disposable palettes are best suited to acrylics, and synthetic hair brushes are recommended, as they are better able to withstand repeated cleaning in strong solvents. Plastic or stainless steel palette knives should be used to avoid staining the blade. Acrylics may be mixed with

other water-based paints, but they should never be brought into contact with oils or the thinners and media that are used with them. PVA colours PVA colours, also known as vinyl paints, are nearer relatives of artists acrylics. Their background and properties are similar but they are generally regarded as a slightly inferior product, so far as artistic use in concerned. Most manufacturers supply PVA colours in pots and tubs, and recommend them for use on a large scale where economy is important. PVA colours have proved popular with scene painters and decorative muralists, whose work may be regarded as temporary, and are also intended for educational use, but are not always of a satisfactory quality for discerning painters. Common emulsion paints based on PVA media are widely employed by the inexperienced for grounds and primings. Whilst many paintings on such grounds have survived well enough, they have not shown themselves to be particularly suitable for this purpose. Acrylic grounds intended for painters are preferable, but are not to be recommended either, for techniques and materials that require a ground or priming with specific properties.