When do you use black acrylic paint out of the tube?

The most appropriate time to use the black paint out of the tube is to determine if the painting is going to be warm or cool and then go from there. I prefer to mix my black paint but if I do use it out straight of a tube I find that is best for abstracts or silhouette. If you don't use black paint correctly it can throw the entire painting off especially if you are going for a natural realistic painting.

Will the cold freezing temperature damage my acrylic paint if I leave them in the car?

Yes freezing cold temperatures will damage your acrylic paints. The pigments and water generally separate from the acrylic vehicle. They can thicken and have a tar like appearance or form chunks among other things. Most of the time the paint cannot be put back into a state of emulsion for stable adhesion to a canvas surface.

Can you use purple to make shadows?

Many artists choose to use dioxazine purple or a purple blend of their own for their shadow mix. If you are going to use purple for your shadow be sure that it will blend in with the color palette you are using.

Student Grade Acrylic verses Professional Acrylic Fine Art Paints by Kimbrella Adair

https://www.maxgrumbachergallery.com/products/collection/ZBp9s7i1s_NfK36H
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kimbrella.html
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http://www.kimbrella-studio.net 

What is the difference between student and professional grade acrylic paints? The answer is the pigments. The ratio of pigments to the vehicle carrier (or acrylic and water). Student grade fine art acrylic paint has less pigments in the acrylic base with more water. Professional fine art acrylic paint is loaded with pigments. Often very inexpensive brands of student grade acrylic paints are mostly acrylic base and water. The better grades of student fine art acrylic paints (including some very good craft paints*) are full of pigments. I recommend staying away from cheaply made fine art paints. Curators, gallery owners, professional fine art painters, appraisers etc. can will notice when the artist uses poor quality paint. Poor quality paint may have a negative effect on the appraisal value of the piece. If a customer is ordering an original painting from an online image and receives the piece painted with poor quality acrylic paints they may return it. You really don’t want the painting returned because of using poor quality acrylic paint.  (The customer generally has 30 days to return an item. Return time for purchases may vary from state to state. Ask your local chamber of commerce for more information.)

Professional grade fine art paints are loaded with pigments and you can tell with one swipe of the paint brush. If you are used to working with the student acrylics the professional grade will take some adjustment. Acrylic gel medium will work when you want to tone down the professional fine art acrylic paints to what you are familiar with in the student grade paints. (See Grinding Pigments in Student Grade Fine Art Acrylic Paints)

*DecoArt makes a fine art line of paint called Traditions that are heavily loaded with pigment. I highly recommend the Traditions line of paints for paintings with a lot of fine detail.

Grinding Pigments in Student Grade Fine Art Acrylic Paints by Kimbrella Adair

https://www.maxgrumbachergallery.com/products/collection/ZBp9s7i1s_NfK36H
http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kimbrella.html
http://kimbrella.artistwebsites.com
http://www.kimbrella-studio.net 

Boosting student grade acrylic paints to the professional level is easy. All you are doing is adding more pigment in the blend of acrylic mixture. Adding a tiny amount of water to the pigment (powered pigment) and then add the pigment to the student grade acrylic paint. You will be using the student grade acrylic paints as a base and tinting the base. This process is similar to tinting paints that are used for construction. If you are using a liquid or paste pigment limit or omit the water.

When you are adding the dry pigment to the acrylic you have to use a process called “grinding in”. Grinding in is using a palette knife that looks like a cake/pie spatula and applying pressure on the handle to push the pigment into the acrylic paint. Scrape and push (not stir) until you achieve the consistency that you want. Some artist like the paint thick and some like it thin. It depends on the level of detail I want in the painting that determines the paint consistency. As you prepare the paint don’t add too much pigment so that it affects the adhesion of the paint. You don’t want the paint to peel off of the surface because you added to much pigment. You must put an acrylic varnish over the finished painting to protect it. I prefer a varnish with a UV protectant.

There are certain colors that are more prone to fading. Purple is a good example so keep that in mind as you are mixing your paints. With today’s modern technology purple is more stable than it has been in the past but I recommend contacting the pigment manufacturer for more details about their product.

When you are grinding in cadmium yellow into a yellow acrylic base the yellow will intensify. Yellow is the only color that will become more intense with the addition of more pigment. As a final note always wear a respirator mask when working with dry pigments. Make sure the area you are working in has adequate ventilation. Pigments are made from toxic minerals and may cause serious illness. Please read the labels on the packages and take proper precautions to protect yourself. If you are under the age of 18 do not use any pigments without parent and/or adult supervision.

Colors and the Color Wheel

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http://kimbrella.artistwebsites.com
http://www.kimbrella-studio.net 

What two colors combines make a third color?

Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Violet
Red + Yellow = Orange

(Primary + Primary = Secondary)

Define Color Terms:
Primary colors-blue, red and yellow are basic colors. Basic colors cannot be made.

Secondary colors-orange, violet and green are made by mixing two primary colors.

Cool colors-blue, green and violet are perceived as moving away from the observer in a painting.

Warm colors-red, yellow and orange warm colors seem to come forward toward the observer in a painting.
Hue is the name of a color.

Intensity is purity of color that is related to the brightness or dullness; can also mean chroma or saturation.
Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.

Tint is white added to a color.

Tone is gray added to a color.

Shade is black added to a color.

Neutral gray is an equal combination of black and white.

Color is composed of three components hue, intensity and value.

Gray scale is a unit of measure for color value that goes from 1 to 10. One is true black (100%) through 10 true white (100%).

Color Harmony
Monochromatic color is any tone, tint or shade of only one color.

Analogous colors refer to choosing colors that are touching each other on the color wheel. Analogous color use at least two colors and not more than five as suggested by the color wheel guide.

Complementary colors refer to choosing two colors straight across from each other on the color wheel. (Ex. red and green)

Split complementary colors refer to using any color with the two colors on each side of its complement. (Ex. red with Blue-green and yellow-green)

Triad colors refer to using three colors equally spaced apart on the color wheel. (Ex. violet with green and orange)

Tetrad colors are a combination of four colors on the color wheel that are also two sets of complements. (Example 1: Blue-violet and red with green and yellow-orange)

(Example 2: Blue-violet and red-orange with blue-green and yellow-orange)

Key color is the dominant color in the painting.

Reference: Color Wheel by the Color Wheel Company

Polymer White Acrylic Paint by Kimbrella Adair

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http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/kimbrella.html
http://kimbrella.artistwebsites.com
http://www.kimbrella-studio.net

Polymer white acrylic paint is a titanium white paint used to make your acrylic paintings appear to have more depth giving them the appearance of oil paintings. Polymer white acrylic paint is very similar to “liquid” or “magic” white of oil paints. The simple formula for polymer white acrylic paint is as follows.

1 part retarder*

8 parts acrylic titanium white paint

Distilled water as needed until you get the consistency that is similar to heavy cream.

Store polymer white mixture in a plastic double walled jar

Work Fast 

The best subjects are landscape and seascape but polymer white acrylic paint can be used for any subject matter after you get accustomed to using the paint.

Application:

Pour about a teaspoon to a tablespoon onto a palette**

Spray canvas with water

Apply polymer white with a damp 1 ½” to 2” brush

Always remember to keep the humidity level set between medium to moist (about halfway) on the dial or gauge.

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*I use an industrial grade retarder

**I use hefty Styrofoam deep dish platter plates for palette