2iefh7kgbjd0a6c

the brush. Th e acrylic paint covered

well (over light and dark paint) and

fl owed easily from the markers (see

image above, left). If there was one

drawback, it was how easily the nib

distorted the mark when I was work-

ing on a textured surface. I admit I’m

an aggressive painter, and my paint-

ing included lots of previously applied

pigment—with the result that the

ground was rough. I think the mark-

ers would work best on a relatively

smooth surface.

SPRAYING UP A STORM

I had the most fun experimenting

with Liquitex Professional Spray

Paint. It’s highly pigmented acrylic

paint in a spray can. Th is is not your

hardware-variety, low-cost, low-qual-

ity spray paint. When I received the

materials from Liquitex I was working

on a large, nonobjective painting, so I

decided to incorporate the spray paint

into my work (see image above, right).

I found the spray width and pat-

tern to be very controllable (I’m well

versed in spraying), and it was easy

to achieve a smooth blending of dif-

ferent colors. One or two passes left

a transparent passage; further coats

provided an opaque passage: all very

controllable.

Liquitex can supply three dif-

ferent caps that will provide a small,

medium (standard), and large spray

swath. I found the medium (standard)

cap to be perfect for what I was doing.

Th ere is a “however” however: Th is

is acrylic paint, and just as with an

airbrush, you have to keep the nozzle

(cap) clean. I’d advise you to purchase

the spray Cap Cleaner and follow the

directions. If you do that, you should

have no problems with a clogged cap.

WORKS ALWAYS IN PROGRESS

As often happens, what I do in one

compartment of painting runs over

into another. While I was experi-

menting with incorporating the

acrylic spray into a current nonobjec-

tive work, my Wednesday Morning

Plein Air day was approaching. I took

FAR LEFT: Heavy

Body brushstroke

LEFT: INK! spots in

green

BOTTOM LEFT: Paint

Markers in yellow

and black

BOTTOM RIGHT: The

artist using the

Liquitex Spray Paint

outdoors

30 artistsmagazine.com

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