Used my new Liquitex acrylics for the first time
After I bought these (Basic set, 48 colors in 22ml/0.75oz tubes for $35 from Amazon -- such a deal!), I realized I would've been better off with bottles of acrylic craft paint, because these are either heavy or medium body, and what I want mostly is just to cover journal pages with color. So, after what seemed like hours of research, I found the right thing (I think) to buy to thin them -- Liquitex Matte Medium fluid medium ($12 for 8oz).
It seems like the paint doesn't go very far, even with mixed with medium or with water, so I'll try thinning it even more next time. Maybe it's because I'm used to using watercolors for my backgrounds. I bought cheap brushes (Darice, 11 brushes plus flat plastic palette for $7.73). This morning I used the two large flat ones, and both had bristles (tough straw-like bristles) fall out into the paint, but maybe they won't next time. I'll wait and see how I like using the acrylics before buying better brushes, because I don't want to use my (pretty good quality) watercolor brushes with acrylics. I also bought a palette, a hinged Loew Cornell with five large wells and twelve small wells. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to clean up either palette or brushes, all are now stained, although I got to them ASAP after putting my painted journal out of the way of the cats to dry.
I used medium magenta and bright aqua green (pretty much just looked into the box of 48 tubes and picked the ones that spoke to me at the moment). I like pink and green together, so I laid down pink first, then the green. I should've tried a little mixing on the palette, because they made an interesting indigo when I was washing up. My Sharpies are all buried at the moment, and I'm not sure if "regular" pens will work on the acrylics, especially the thick parts, but I've got a black Staedtler .07 pigment pen that I like a lot, so that will be good for writing.
Some of the green strokes remind me a bit of large sweeping palm fronds, so if I draw or paint something representational, palm trees might make a good choice. I don't do representational stuff too often because I'm not good at it, though of course I realize that if I actually did it more, I might get better at it. I keep forgetting that practice is usually required to learn a new skill. I expect to be decent right away and get frustrated and depressed and don't enjoy it when I'm not. I think I'll make of like a possible representational or semi-representational things to draw/paint, so I'll have that list to look at when I feel like such a thing.
My first reaction to the paints was that since they don't go very far, I should conserve them, but then I quickly realized that I always "conserve" things -- paints, food, whatever -- and before I know it, months/years have past, and the items have gone bad. I got the paints for a really good price, and when they run out, I can buy bottles of craft paint if I want. If I run out in three months, that's just fine. Most likely most of 'em will last at least a year, and when I run out of a color, I can buy a bottle of a similar color. Doing what passes for art and journaling is the important part.
It seems like the paint doesn't go very far, even with mixed with medium or with water, so I'll try thinning it even more next time. Maybe it's because I'm used to using watercolors for my backgrounds. I bought cheap brushes (Darice, 11 brushes plus flat plastic palette for $7.73). This morning I used the two large flat ones, and both had bristles (tough straw-like bristles) fall out into the paint, but maybe they won't next time. I'll wait and see how I like using the acrylics before buying better brushes, because I don't want to use my (pretty good quality) watercolor brushes with acrylics. I also bought a palette, a hinged Loew Cornell with five large wells and twelve small wells. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast enough to clean up either palette or brushes, all are now stained, although I got to them ASAP after putting my painted journal out of the way of the cats to dry.
I used medium magenta and bright aqua green (pretty much just looked into the box of 48 tubes and picked the ones that spoke to me at the moment). I like pink and green together, so I laid down pink first, then the green. I should've tried a little mixing on the palette, because they made an interesting indigo when I was washing up. My Sharpies are all buried at the moment, and I'm not sure if "regular" pens will work on the acrylics, especially the thick parts, but I've got a black Staedtler .07 pigment pen that I like a lot, so that will be good for writing.
Some of the green strokes remind me a bit of large sweeping palm fronds, so if I draw or paint something representational, palm trees might make a good choice. I don't do representational stuff too often because I'm not good at it, though of course I realize that if I actually did it more, I might get better at it. I keep forgetting that practice is usually required to learn a new skill. I expect to be decent right away and get frustrated and depressed and don't enjoy it when I'm not. I think I'll make of like a possible representational or semi-representational things to draw/paint, so I'll have that list to look at when I feel like such a thing.
My first reaction to the paints was that since they don't go very far, I should conserve them, but then I quickly realized that I always "conserve" things -- paints, food, whatever -- and before I know it, months/years have past, and the items have gone bad. I got the paints for a really good price, and when they run out, I can buy bottles of craft paint if I want. If I run out in three months, that's just fine. Most likely most of 'em will last at least a year, and when I run out of a color, I can buy a bottle of a similar color. Doing what passes for art and journaling is the important part.