Making Acrylic Paint, additives

Making Acrylic paint is similar to making watercolor paint, pigment + binder = paint, pigment + binder + additives = thick paint.  But I wanted slow drying Acrylic paint  

In 2014, I experimented with the various products available then to slow down the drying time on the canvas, a gessoed piece of 140# watercolor paper, and have workability similar to oil paint.

I mixed Matisse brand vermilion with

1. Open thinner, it dried on the palette in 15 minutes and on the paper in 60 minutes
2. Liquidtex Slo-dry, a very liquid mixture that dried in 3 hours on the palette and 15 minutes on the paper
3. Liquidtex Flo-aide, 30 minutes on the palette, 15 minutes on the paper
4. Liquidtex wetting spray, 30 minutes on the palette and 15 minutes on the paper
5. Golden Retarder, 15 minutes on the palette and 3 hours on the paper
6. Golden GAC 100, 15 minutes on the palette and 30 minutes on the paper
7. Golden Acrylic Glazing, 15 minutes on the palette and 30 minutes on the paper
8. Golden Self-leveling medium, 15 minutes on the palette and 30 minutes on the paper
9. Golden Open Acrylic Gloss, 15 minutes on the palette and an hour-ish on the paper

I found no product that allowed me to keep it alive on the ground (gessoed paper).  Considering my experiment, I have to comment, but who cares?  Acrylic paint is a fast medium that can be easily painted over, it’s not oil paint.

In 2015, I experimented with mediums

1. I mixed GAC 100 with Gouache and a little extender and had a wonderful paint
2. Dr. Martin’s pigment with Golden Open and extender makes a thin, very liquid, paint
3. Powdered pigment and Golden Open and extender makes a thin transparent pigment.  I felt that I should have continued and added more dry pigment to the mixture
4. GAC 100 plus Open Mat Medium and Gouache makes a wonderful paint, it will stay alive on a Stay Wet Palette 4 hours then begins to become Cottage Cheesy
5. GAC 100 plus dry pigment will stay alive for 6 hours on a stay wet palette and hardens at 7 hours
6. Dry pigment plus GAC 100 plus Windsor Newton Slow Dry is the winner

The Windsor Newton formula was clearly the winner (#6 above), but I reiterate what’s the point, this is not oil paint.  Acrylic painting is faster than oil painting.  If you want to mix paint of work on a lorge surface for a considerable length of time use a Stay-Wet palette.  I’ve had acrylic paint mixtures stay alive for weeks on the palette.  Over time the paint begins to smell.

Making your own paint

The note on the top of the Guerra website says it all, pigment plus binder equals paint, pigment plus binder and additives makes very thick paint.

The simplest paints to make are water-based paints, egg tempera, watercolor and gouache.  Egg Tempera is egg yolk and pigment.  One fresh egg yolk without the membrane sack a few drops of vinegar and an equal amount of water mixed together and added to the pigment equals egg tempera.  Koo Schadler has a wonderful book on the subject including the techniques for using this pigment.  I deviate from her recipe by using Dr. Martin’s pigments.  Dr Martin’s pigments are already in a water suspension, so one avoids the mulling of the pigment and the resultant hazards. The painting technique is tricky, but the result is a luminescent color that dries instantly and seems impervious to everything.   

Watercolor is almost the same but simpler still.  Water plus Gum Arabic equals paint.  Gum Arabic is the gum of the Acacia tree which grows in Africa (Gum Arabic got it).  You can buy it already process from an art supply store or your can purchase Acacia power from a health food store.  Acacia powder is used for tummy problems.  I purchased tummy powder and mixed it into a suspension as thick as honey.  The results are amazing.  This goop is so strong that when applied to a piece of 140# watercolor paper on a block (Fabriano hot press), it peels the paper off the block.  Truly this is a binder.  There is a question of creating a suspension of the dry pigment and Gum Arabic, this is named a surfactant. A surfactant makes the mixture more liquidy.  The traditional surfactant for watercolor paint is Ox Gall, Windsor Newton makes a good product.  So making a watercolor paint would be dry pigment mixed with surfactant+water+Gum Arabic.

I have a ton of tube colors along with large bottles of Dr Martin’s colors.  I plan to use these up this year and experiment with Gamblin dry pigment and Acacia powder.  If you read the advertising on the tube colors often it will say that honey is added to the pigment.  I believe that this is another way to water down the binder and create a better brush feel.  It does make a good feeling paint directly from the tube, but I paint from a re-wet palette or dry pan.  If I do add a smoother, I’d be tempted to add corn syrup.  It is thick and clear.

Gouache is watercolor with an opaque ingredient, Chalk.  The formula is pigment + acacia + chalk + honey (corn syrup)+surfactant + water.  I have not made any Gouache, I don’t see the point since I have quite a few tubes to use.  

Please remember this safety tip if you use dry pigment and you plan to use a Muller please either pre-mix the dry powder with water or wear a breathing mask, pigments are poison.  The technique is spelled out in the safety section of Guerra’s website.

Have fun, paint more

Buying pigment

If you've sloughed through all of my ramblings on color you should be ready to buy paint.  Let me recap.  I want true colors that are: reproducible, in other words my black is PBlk11 regardless of the brand I purchase, transparent and lightfast. I want to be able to make a watercolor palette, a egg tempera palette and an acrylic palette. I'd love the pigment to be available in tubes for watercolor and acrylic and ground and in suspension for egg tempera. I favor American products.  Please look back to my earlier post on my palette experiments to see the pigments I'm planning to use.

It seems to be a long standing belief that natural colors, NBlk11, made from ground burnt bones is a better way, a more natural way to have the perfect color.  I've experimented with natural pigments, while they are historically fun to use, it doesn't meet my needs.

An astute reader will point out that my demands for are bizarre, well Bunky here's another twist I want the pigment to be available in silk embroidery floche and 2mm silk ribbon!  Practically, my needs are impossible and can only be met if I mix my own pigments.  The next series of posts will be my experiments with mixing stuff.

I've researched these manufacturers and they're a great start to meet my demand of CI ASTM standards and availability

Daniel Smith, WA
A lovely website DS doesn't have my exact palette, but I'm certain that I can make a decent watercolor palette.
Gamblin, OR
I have experimented with their dry pigment and they're great.  I can make a watercolor and acrylic palette from their materials, but I would need to find different hues.
Guerra, NYC
An in-your-face website, with wonderful telephone support.  Guerra has all that I need to make my own palette and I'm planning on ordering shortly.  BTW my order for my hues plus binders will be $150.

I do not know these manufacturers, but my investigation suggests that their pigments meet my standards
Earth Pigments, AZ
RGH, NY
Kremer, NYC
Robertson, UK
Kroma, CAN

These manufacturers, I'm certain do meet the standards, but I'll be damned it's difficult to find.

Holbein, JAPAN
I use the Holbein enameled aluminium palette and their watercolors in my 2015 palette.  The Antique White is fantastic for the Zorn portrait colors.
Sennelier, FR
Used in my 2015 palette.
M. Graham, USA
Used in my 2015 palette.
Sinopia, CA
I do not know this natural pigment company
Stevenson, CAN
Their online catalog is excellent, but I do not know them.
Binders, GA
I do not know this firm.
Natural Pigments, CA
Used in an earlier palette, very nice people.