STATIC SPECIFICATIONS AND USES OF ARTIST ACRYLIC COLOURS. INTRODUCTION Since coming on board in the 1950s, acrylic paints have steadily through the years dominated the arts and crafts market in the world. It is regarded as one of the most important innovations for artists in this century due to its superior qualities to others and proven to be capable of replacing oil paints effectively. They are easy to mix, fast drying and produce brilliant vibrant colours and can take to virtually any surface, this and many more properties has made it to be the choice of contemporary artists over the years. GRADES OF ACRYLIC PAINTS AND THEIR USES There are various types of acrylic paints available in the market for different commercial purposes. Some of them are outlined below:
Artist or professional acrylics: The most common use of acrylic paints is for painting. It serves as a capable alternative to oil paints and it is mostly used due to the fact that it takes a very short time to get dry, most times after just thirty minutes in contrast to oil paints which takes approximately 48 hours before it can be touched with hands. It can also be used on any kind of surface as they are designed to resist chemical reactions from being exposed to water, oxygen or ultraviolet light. They have pigment content so as to be easily manipulated into any colour. Student and scholastic acrylics: This form of acrylics contain less pigments than the professional, this specifications are used for safety purpose for the younger artists and they are economical for classroom uses for secondary and primary school pupils. A very good example is the colour pencil for school students in use in many countries currently. Craft acrylics: This grade of acrylics can be used on surfaces besides canvas, such as metal, fabric, wood and ceramics for decorative painting and finishing and also to decorate objects of ordinary life. Exterior acrylics: They are paints that can withstand different outdoor conditions and they have some characteristics of craft acrylics being that they adhere to surfaces. They are also resistant to both water and ultraviolet light.
There are also numerous grades of acrylics worthy of note with each of them with a characteristic that makes it stand out. They include: acrylic gouache, fluid acrylics, open acrylics, interactive acrylics and heavy body acrylics. Artist acrylic colours however also have some problems which must be highlighted in order to achieve the perfect result we so much desire. Chief amongst them is the possibility of the paint attracting dirt to it easily as it has been designed in such a way that it would absorb the dirt into the paint. This however can be minimized by the use of a picture frame to prevent it from direct exposure to dirt. SUMMARY The coming of acrylic paints has no doubt contributed in no small means to the growth of the art industry in the world with some of its products also finding use as office stationery items, colour pencil for students and many more. However, more work needs to be done to correct the deficiencies being faced in its use at the moment and improve on the current ones available.
AUTHORS BIO Marco P is a writer with interests in writing technology, automobiles, sport and general
article. He has done researches on artist acrylic colours, colour pencils for students as well as office stationery.