My choice of Acrylic paint

Since I've been painting with acrylics, I have tried several brands over the past years.  I stayed with the professional brands as compared to the brands that are used more by the hobbiest.  A friend of mine, a professional artist, told me many years ago when I started painting with watercolor:  "Painting is hard enough to learn so don't make it harder by using inexpensive paint, brushes or substraights."

Having used several professional brands of acrylic paint, I have settled into my choice of
Chroma Interactive Acrylics.

Following is the link to the website:

http://www.chromaonline.com/

I am not a realist or a classical painter - my style borders on "almost sloppy!"  I like looseness and rusticity in most  my work and I am always trying to become looser in my style. I use very little water and most often I use a combination of a big brush and a palette knife.  Therefore it is important that my paint be thick but yet easy to apply to the many surfaces I paint on.
Chroma Interactives are a revolutionary paint in that they have a lot of the properties of oil paint especially in the area of blending.They also stay wet longer than the traditional acrylic paints which provides the abitiy to perform excellent blending.  The creamy thick texture of this paint is equal to that of oil paint and the color selection and saturation levels are fantastic.
This paint does not dry, it cures!  This takes longer than the typical acrylic paint but the advantage is they do not end up looking like dried shinny plastic as do many of the other acrylics on the market.  The apperance is more like oil.

Check out the website and gather some additional information on this wonderful professional paint and give it a try - I am sure you will become a user of Chroma Interactive Acrylics.

http://www.chromaonline.com/
      

STRATHMORE HEAVY LINEN CANVAS PAPER

In prepartion for traveling/living full time in a 28 - 30 foot Class C RV, I have been looking at options for painting surfaces that will be light in weight and not take up a lot of space.  RV's do not have a lot of storage space.  My choice of surface to paint on is archival linen panel - I don't think the surface can get any better than this.  I like the 18x24 format.

In a perfect world, I would also paint on 30 x 48 heavy duty gallery wrapped canvas and 24 x 48 MDF panels.  However due to the storage constraints of an RV, my painting world will no longer afford me large substraights or the weight of 18x24 linen panels.

Lately, I have been experimenting with Strathmore Heavy Linen Canvas Paper
18 x 24. I really like this surface as it has a "Linen Texture" to  it.  I do not gesso the surface, as I like this linen texture to show through in the finished piece.  The paint will dry quickly on the un-gessoed surface, but for me this is a good thing because I am always trying to loosen my style so I tend to paint faster when using this substraight.

The other thing I should mention is I use very little water in my painting - my brush is "JUST" damp.  I tend to put paint on in a sort of medium thickness and by no means am I a "watery" painter.  The point being although a heavy paper surface, with too much water it could buckle a tad - but for my style this is not a consideration.

I really enjoy this painting surface and can see it being my primary painting surface once out there living in our RV.

Following is the link - great product - check it out and give it a try.

  http://www.dickblick.com/products/strathmore-acrylic-pads/

ARTICLES ON ACRYLIC PAINTING

Following is a link to articles I've written about acrylic painting.  For all you acrylic painters out there I can recommend this site as a source of some very good information, ideas and a valuable source of painting tips.

http://acrylicpaintreview.com/tag/j-richard-secor/

Check it out and I hope you find it a valuable source of information.

RV Status

Well, we have not moved forward as of yet regarding our purchase of the RV.  We have our home up for sale and the Real Estate market being what it is, and Santa Fe NM is no exception, we of course need to sell our house before proceeding with the RV Venture.  This is a dream both Melissa and I want and we will continue forward.  When the house sells - it's time to buy the RV and start the adventure.  This is something that we will not lose sight of and it will take as long as it takes but we will reach the time when this adventure is real.  Stayed tuned!

ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME ????

This was done very quickly with a large brush wet into wet on heavy linen canvas paper - 10 x 8.  This is a study for a larger painting.  Quick studies such as this allows me to paint loosely which is a style that I'm trying to work towards.  I love loose paintings as compare to laboring over excessive detail.

LIVING ON THE EDGE

I paint still life - Plein Air as the lighting can be so much better outside than in the studio and I have a much better fluid arm motion while outside which results in looser paintings.  Give outdoor Plein Air a try and see if it brings about a "Happier" painting session.

"Living On The Edge"
Chroma Interactive Acrylics
16 x20 on Heavy Linen Canvas Paper