New paints really work!

[Carol Morimoto]

I've just begun using acrylics and am still stumbling along since all I have used in the past 15 years or so are oil paints. Any additional advice to an acrylic newby would be greatly appreciated. I bought both open and heavy body paints in colors not available in open as well as matte medium and open thinner to help extend drying time with the heavy body paints. Thanks again for your comments.

[Steven Sweeney]

I've downloaded but haven't yet viewed instruction videos on painting with acrylics, from http://www.craftsy.com, but I've watched several of their drawing and oil painting courses and, while I'm sure there's the odd experience that's "off," I've found tremendous bang for the buck out of these offerings. I very much encourage browsing around the site, or at least getting on their email list, as there are very frequent sales on select courses. Even at full price, most run $20-$40.

Fairly detailed introductions and syllabi are available for each course, before you commit to it. As I say, I haven't watched the acrylics courses in my library yet, so I don't know if the matter of open time is addressed.

I try to watch one 30-60 minute lesson each evening, as I wind down after other chores are done, and I not only wonder "how they do that" for the price, but I'm almost always much inspired to pick up pencil, charcoal or brush at the end of each.

The "Craftsy" name may seem a little off-putting, but understand that the site focuses on a very wide range of artistic and creative pursuits in addition to painting and drawing.

[Ngaire Winwood]

Hi Steven

What are your thoughts of these now that you have seen a few more?

P.S. It's been a long time since I connected with you all here. I have finished my business degree and now (thankfully and finally) I have a permanent full time job. All I have to do now is reconnect and develop my artistic skills that were left abandoned 6+ years ago.

Hope you have been keeping well.

Kind regards
Ngaire

[Steven Sweeney]

Really love them, Ngaire. One great bit of serendipity: I started watching a course in acrylic landscape work and quickly realized that the instructor, Bennett Vadnais, was a guy who was a studio mate back in around 2001-2002, at a classical realism atelier in Minneapolis called The Bougie Studio. He was tremendously gifted and driven, and left Bougie to go back east, to work with Jacob Collins at his Water Street Atelier. I've now watched instruction courses in oil, acrylic and drawing/sketching, in landscape and still life, and haven't been disappointed. It seems larcenous to get hours and hours of this kind of instruction for $20 to $30 a pop--especially considering the costs of atelier training, workshops with notables, and DVD courses.

Not everyone will take to these, nor does everyone here need them, but I'm a very happy customer.