Starting with Acrylics. What colours?

[Keith]

I want to buy some acrylic paints with a view to using these as my main medium. What colours should i start with to get a good starter kit. I'm looking to spend around 30-50 pounds (60-100 USD). What colours would you recommend?

As for the manufacturer, i do not have a local stockist for either Vallejo or Andrea so either will be mail order or a long journey. At this time i'm leaning towards Vallejo, is that the best way to go?

Keith

 

[megroot]

Hello Keith,

I still love painting with acrylics. This time i use Vallejo. But at my club there was somebody who uses POLYCOLOR. This paint is awesome. It give's you five minute's before it started to dry out. With Vallejo, Andrea and Jo Sonja it is just a few minutes.
So if you can find Polycolor then go for it.

Greetings Marc

 

[Keith]

Hmmm never heard of polycolor. I'll look into it. Aren't here medium you can add to acrylics to lengthen the drying time?

Keith

 

[megroot]

Keith i didn't either.

But in the artstore's you can find polycolor. It is produced by the italian firm Maimeri. Do a Google surch and you find it even in the UK. I find a internet store here in the Netherlands and several belgium retailers. If you interest choose www.schleifer.com.

It comes in tube's off 60 and 150 ml. The price is about 1 pound equal at 3 euro.

I believe me, it is very good stuff.

Greetings

Marc.

 

[VernM]

In the U.S. Polycolor is avilable from Jerry's Artarama

www. jerryscatalog.com

They have a free catalog, on line ordering,and the service is great.

 

[amherbert]

Hi

First, if you are spending that amount, you could buy a lot of Vallejos. I use these and enjoy them. There are lots of 5 available on eBay where you can mix and match colors. Do a search for Vallejo Paint, and you may find a deal. The other option is to buy one of their prepackaged sets. I bought the primary colors, some extra greys, game color bone white (very useful) and dead flesh, greens, browns, metal colors etc. They're easy to mix to get new colors once you have the basics.

I bought some Jo Sonja acylics a couple of weeks ago. These are very easy to work with too. I have been painting a figure using them, and find them good to work with. You get a lot more paint for the money, and I've been able to mix them with Vallejos easily.

I also recommend PollyScale paints if you can get them. They make military and railroad colors that are useful.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Einion]

Polycolor is an artists' vinyl colour intended for exterior work. They would make a good addition to a range of hobby colours but I wouldn't generally recommend them by themselves for modelling. Although they will work out to be very inexpensive they have a few drawbacks, the first being that they are much thicker than hobby paints so you'll need to thin quite a bit for any colour (with a knife preferably) and this can become very tedious if you're not used to it. Also, the colour choice might not be quite what you want, that's the main reason I think you'll prefer to have at least a core of Vallejo or Andrea paints. L&F offer a very similar paint called Flashe that I think are more common in the UK if you have trouble finding Polycolor.

Originally posted by Keith@Jul 2 2004, 01:31 PM
Aren't here medium you can add to acrylics to lengthen the drying time?

Yes, they're called retarders, most of the makers of acrylic paint for artists make one, in fluid or gel form. They will give you longer to work but you can easily do without and learn to paint with the acrylics as they are. If you want to try it Golden's is very good. They recommend no more than 15% so watch the proportions or you'll have trouble with shine and the paint might dry tacky.

Einion

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by amherbert@Jul 2 2004, 04:17 PM
I bought some Jo Sonja acylics a couple of weeks ago. These are very easy to work with too.

Hi Andy, are these the acrylic gouache in plastic tubes? If so, any trouble with graininess?

Einion

 

[amherbert]

Hi Einion

They are labeled as acrylic gouache, but they aren't a gouache. That is, they are not soluble once applied and dry. They dry dead flat from what I've seen so far (working with French blue, a pale yellow, light skin tone). I don't find them grainy. They really just dry flat. Some tubes are labelled as acrylic gouache some are just labelled as acrylic paint. According to the Art Store 'Guy', they're all the same.

I plan to post some pics of my Norman knight this weekend, so you should be able to judge. I find them very easy to work with. I've tried some of the cheapo craft paints before, and found some are good, some bad – probably the amount of filler affects that like with oil paints. These Jo Sonjas are quite thick, but thin down to a nice consistency.

They are selling for $2.59 a tube at a local art store, and so I have given them a shot.

Andy

 

[Keith]

Thanks for the tips on the other paints guys, i will look into them. However i'm gonna pick up a range of Vallejo's tommorrow while out o a day trip. Seems like they'll come in handy one way or another.

Keith

 

[Anders Heintz]

I would definately advice you to get some Vallejo's. They are super to work with and offers a lot of colors. As for colors, I would suggest getting a couple different blues (like dark and light), a few browns (From dark to a redish brown to tan), white ,black, some different greens, some ochre colors and ofcourse flesh tone colors. One color I use a lot for highlighting is light sand, very handy color that goeas with just about anything. Also get a couple shades of red. This should get you well on your way, you will find that you will need more colors and will expand over time.

 

[Einion]

Thanks Andy, I was intending to add a 'primaries plus' selection of these to an order from Dick Blick soon so it's good to get some first-hand feedback on them.

Originally posted by amherbert@Jul 2 2004, 08:30 PM
Some tubes are labelled as acrylic gouache some are just labelled as acrylic paint. According to the Art Store 'Guy', they're all the same.

Thought they had renamed their range, I was sure I had seen them labelled as acrylics in the past and they had to be the same paint judging from their website.

Can't argue with their price can you?!

Einion

 

[amherbert]

HI

We're off on a shopping expedition this afternoon, where my wife will be at Old Navy, and I'll have to drop by the art store in that mall!! Super shop, and I think I'll get some more Jo Sonjas.

The French blue I got is a great grey-blue, matching the Indigo patches that Gary Gates has been working on with the old dyes (see various threads on MedRom).

Cheers
Andy

 

[amherbert]

Here's a view of my Norman in progress. The extreme closeup should show the paint is pretty smooth. I have to work on my transitions...

Any other comments welcome. I have other pics to post.

The Jo Sonja French blue was lightened with a JS yellow, and some PollyScale white. Shadows are JS French blue with some Vallejo Red and PollyScale black.

Andy

 

[Automata]

Keith,

Don't think of either/or with Andrea and Vallejo. I mostly use Vallejo, but I also have a few Andreas. Their dark blues and greens are dead flat, unlike Vallejo. I mix the two brands together quite often.

I also have some Jo Sonjas and they are pretty nice. The only problem I've had is that some of the colors are much more translucent than Vallejo/Andrea. Prussian Blue and Alizarin Crimson come to mind.

HTH,
Barry

 

[Automata]

Andy,

That's coming along nicely. It just goes to show that you don't just have to stick with the commonly used brands.

Barry

 

[amherbert]

HI Barry.

Thanks. Magnifying the figure certainly shows it needs work!

I was at the Art Store today, and picked up some of the Jo Sonja literature and a tube of alazarin light. One important thing is to take into account the opacity rating of the paint. The blues and greens tend to have high ratings, not so much the reds and yellows (like with any paint).

Their website has the color chart with lightfastness and coverage for each color listed:
Jo Sonja Site

Cheers
Andy

 

[Keith]

Just a quick update to say i ended up buying around 30 pots of Vallejo paints (it's amazing how you say to yourself "just one more"). I got a store to knock me 10% of for buying so many so it didn't turn out too bad.

I'll post some pics once i've had a chance to try em out.

Keith

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Automata@Jul 3 2004, 06:31 PM
I also have some Jo Sonjas and they are pretty nice. The only problem I've had is that some of the colors are much more translucent than Vallejo/Andrea. Prussian Blue and Alizarin Crimson come to mind.

Thanks, I assumed that would be the case, I'm choosing colours with opacity in mind. But regardless, they can't be any more transparent than normal artists' acrylics!

Einion