Incredible Acrylics: Techniques, Ideas and New Ways to Use This Versatile Medium

(Paperback)

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Description

Well-known contemporary artist Jean-Paul van Boxtel introduces many innovative techniques and applications for acrylic paint, whose physical composition makes it incredibly versatile. The book also deals in detail with the latest trends, including gels and media.

The first part of the book answers the question 'what is acrylic paint', and goes on to describe the various products that are available. Following on from this is a 'gallery' section, providing examples of paintings that show the wide range of styles and finishes possible using acrylic paints. The author then guides you step-by-step through sixteen 'workshops', each of which uses a different set of materials, so that the reader can learn how to create their own beautiful paintings. These include still lifes, landscapes, architecture, portraits and abstract art. Careful attention is paid to health and safety throughout, and a useful colour chart at the end of the book introduces you to the range of colours available from which you can put together your own palette.

The book includes exceptional photographs, taken by the author specially for this book.

Reviews

This is a pleasant guide for those who want to understand the properties of acrylic paint and how it can be used. The paintings and workshops further enhance that knowledge by putting it into practice. Exploring a medium is always a good way to stat and this book gives you a thorough grounding. There is enough information here for you to develop your own style.-KarenPlatt.co.uk Rather than a conventional instruction manual, this is more of a celebration of the medium of acrylics that reads like one of those good enough to eatA" cookery books. It's not often than an art book features pictures of swirls of paint, but the author started out as a photographer and he captures some startling images. Even in his paintings, the paint itself becomes part of the composition and there's something somehow luscious about the results. It's all intriguing and sometimes a little disturbing, too. This certainly isn't a book for anyone looking to learn how to paint but, as an immersion in the medium, it's really rather beautiful.-Artbookreview.net If anyone were in any doubt about the versatility of acrylic paint and the endless opportunities the medium offers, then this book should put paid to them. Far from being purely instructional, it's more of a manual for anyone hoping to use acrylics. Author Jean-Paul van Boxtel gets right down to the nitty-gritty, kicking off with a history of this relatively new medium. Next up, it's the science of acrylic paint and all of its properties. Types of paints, additives and varnishes useful to the budding acrylic painter are all investigated at length, and you're halfway through the volume before any suggestion of actually getting down to work has been made. This is both refreshing and valuable; far too many how-to books launch straight into practical instruction without providing readers enough information on the materials they are using. Van Boxtel dedicates a chapter to a gallery of his work, which demonstrates the range of styles that can be achieved by the medium, before embarking on his first of 16 workshops. Here, the text is minimal and less instructional than you might expect. In fact, it serves as more of a running-commentary to step-by-step displays of van Boxtel's work. In theory, this is to make artists appreciate what can be achieved with the colours and materials suggested at the start of each task, and to let them follow using their own initiative. However, it is likely that beginners would need more support, despite the book being a bible for new ways and means to use acrylics.-Artists & Illustrators Incredible Acrylics is unusual amongst art instruction books. Although its author shows 12 paintings and provides 16 short demonstrations, the focus is more on the properties of the medium than guiding readers through motivations for painting, or the process of composing an image. It is an attractive book, and those who enjoy experimenting with the whole spectrum of media available to the acrylic artist will benefit from the extensive coverage of this. For those who need more general guidance on creating full compositions, the lack of commentary would be an issue.-Theodora Philcox, Leisure Painter

Author Bio

Jean-Paul van Boxtel is an internationally known artist who teaches courses in painting, photography, and digital art.