Art and Thoughts #2

Last week, I decided to get myself more acclimated with the acrylic markers I brought. I got them at TJMaxx so they aren't some big brand. I just want to play around with them and seeing what they can and cannot do.

They are basically paint markers with acrylic paint. Many people use these on surfaces like plastic, pottery, and wood. I'm using them on bristol board. Here's the thing, I hate acrylic paints. While the appear more accessible than oil painting, I still find oil painting far more superior. Why? Because the open time is longer. Oil paint dries slow. Slower than watercolor. It's also more forgiving and not that difficult to pick-up. I used to find oil paints intimidating but I love oil painting.

And no, I do not do Bob Ross style paintings. I do love Mr. Ross and his paintings, however, oil painting shouldn't be restricted to just mountains and trees. Oils are so versatile. You can paint nearly anything. Yet, on YouTube, where my entertainment comes from not to mention tutorials on how to art, every artists on there has done an oil painting challenge. Every time, it was a Bob Ross styled painting and I always cry out in frustration. I wanted them to give oil painting a good attempt and they are too busy doing a single style of painting.

Just so you know, Bob Ross used a wet-on-wet technique. And that's good for if you need to paint a bunch of paintings a day to film for a TV show, but it's not the only way. Wet on wet works better with a thick paint and you layer from thick layer to light layer of paint. It's actually not that easy and feels like it's better for certain things.

I however, I like patience. I let my layers dry a little. Meaning an oil painting takes me across two weeks to complete. I find it easier to add in detail when the paint is tacky because it's very easy for paint to become basically mud if you aren't being thoughtful about wet-on-wet. And I can't use that for acrylics. It just feels all now or nothing.

Yet for some reason, I find acrylic markets fun. Yes the open time is like seconds. I mean, you can manipulate you work a little.

See above fish. I was able to kind of blend. Blending is something I like doing. It's probably because I started out with watercolor to learn how to paint. It's the most accessible paint, but it's not very forgiving. And this was of course has some watercolor usage. You can't tell in this photo but I used glitter watercolor on the fish. Why? Sometimes glitter is the appropriate response. Yes, you can also mix watercolor and acrylic because they are both water-based paints. In fact, you can use watercolor, gauche, and acrylics together. Though, you need the use acrylics as the base layer. Once it's dry, it doesn't lift and isn't very transparent.

Also, this was accomplished by many, many dots. Think stippling but not.

Anyway, that is the art post for the week. I decided once a week here is good. I haven't decided what I want to try next with the pens. I do want to draw something more colorful.