[Aquanet] a question that verges on heretical

[Patrick Davis]

Barry Lindley wrote:
>
> There are two approaches I can think of for the drying problems with 
> tube acrylics:
>
>    1. If you really want to use the acrylics more like watercolor, use
>       a porcelain butcher’s tray or something similar, fold up a high
>       quality (Viva, e.g.) non-linting paper towel, soak it with
>       water, and lay it across one end of the palette. Squeeze your
>       paint into piles on this, mist from time to time, and you can
>       just pull whatever you need out into the mixing space and dilute
>       with water for painting. They will behave similarly to regular
>       watercolor, but when dry will not lift easily. This is Charles
>       Harrington’s approach (I don’t know if it is in his book; I
>       learned it at a workshop).
>
>    2. If you want to paint thickly with the acrylics, try Golden OPEN
>       acrylics. They dry quite a bit more slowly, and there are
>       special mediums which preserve the slow drying.
>
> Incidentally, M.Graham makes very high quality acrylics, as good as 
> Golden, but less expensive.
>
Hi, Barry.

Once again, I thank you for so generously shaing your knowledge. I 
realize that "know-it-all" is a negative phrase, but sometimes it seems 
that it could be used positively for someone who possesses the kind of 
encyclopedic knowledge you do.

I do have a sample set of Golden Open, but I was set aback when I read 
the notes with them about maybe a two-month drying time. It seems like 
it's one extreme or the other. That said, maybe what I need to do is 
take some time, forget about turning out "good" work and just play with 
them all for a bit, concentrating on doing/learning rather than achieving.

Also, I am now kicking myself for not checking out the Graham acrylics. 
I love their w/c paints; in fact, those are the only kind I buy now. I 
guess I was just stuck on Graham = Watercolour and didn't get into 
divergent thinking. Oh well.

Once again, thanks so much for the help!
pat