I am very excited to be starting a new venture into teaching. I am now an Art Tutor for the Adult Education Service in Coventry and I will be teaching Acrylic painting and Oil painting once a week in 2 venues in the city.
I have painted all my life, drawing and painting being the first materials I used to create art. Acrylics have always been my 'go to' media. They are easy to mix, water soluble and they can be mixed with different types of mediums. I find them the most versatile of the paint groups and I like that they dry quickly. I have created many works in acrylics to depict a scene or an idea from my imagination and I love them.
Oil paints are my absolute favourite medium to work with. I was recently asked why? My answer was, 'because they are rich in colour and are mixed with media that keeps the pigment.' I like the fact they are slow to dry, I can move the paint around the canvas easier and create layers of colour that blend and sit against each other. Textures painted with palette knives give my work movement and depth in both types of paint. The oils just seem to glide off my brush or knife and are a dream to work with.
I find people can be scared of oil painting. To be honest I was apprehensive when I first started using chemicals instead of water, how would I manage those? How would I keep colours clean and fresh? Why do I have to wait for the paint to dry before I can add bits and bobs? Would it all just become one big mushy mess?
Painting with oils can be smelly, but its not harmful. There are a lot of mediums available to mix with the paints and some are lower in odour than others. Its being respectful of what you are using and how you dispose of it. Most of us have painted with gloss paint in our homes right? Oil painting mediums are just as easy to use as those. The results you can create from a few colours and a canvas by just 'playing' is amazing and with my classes I want to express this and get people enjoying oil paints like I do.
Oil paint is pure pigment mixed with oil. There are no other additives, no plastics, just paint. That is why the colours are so rich and why you sort of fall in love with them. I have..... again.. and again...
Acrylics can be used in the same way and in different ways. I love how you can mix them to almost like a watercolour thickness and let them merge like inks. I like how you can use them straight from the tube and build textures and mix those textures to create depth within a canvas, then it just dries and there is no mess, no smell, just your work.
Acrylics are mixed with plastic, they do dry a slightly different colour, maybe a touch lighter but with what they can do and how accessible they are, they are amazing too! A must for any painter to have in their paint box.
As I write this blog post I realise that some of you are not aware of my painting background or skills. I have recently worked in textiles, which I do still love to do and I will carry on producing felt and embroidery paintings. I have wanted to bring my oil and acrylic painting back into my body of work, and have been planning this for a long time.
As I have painted recently, I have found my work is looser and has more freedom of movement than before. The felt work has freed up my hand and mind to create more expressive work and the type of painting I strive to paint. It is good to try something different, developing my own style by using an array of media informs the other.
Textiles have informed my painting and vice versa.
I recommend it! Try painting, try it as a new hobby or brush up on your skills have a go at something new. You may surprise yourself and become addicted to painting with acrylic and oils as I am.
My classes start week beginning 27th September.
Exploring Acrylics is on a Thursday evening 6.45pm - 8.45pm at Southfields Old School, Coventry.
Painting with Oils is on a Friday afternoon 1pm - 3pm at Chelyesmore Community Centre, Coventry.
Enrolment is from the 23rd August online on the Adult Education web site
Download the Choice magazine to find these courses and sign up from the 23rd August.
It would be great to see you and to help you to develop your own creative practice in paint.
Fall in love with paint, it is a great way to spend your time :)