Artists’ Paints

A close look at one of the most fundamental elements of creativity for many artists.

AT CHROMA, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PAINT!

Chroma is an Australian company that has been committed to providing high quality paint for artists, teachers and students for over 40 years. Founded in 1965 by artist and school teacher, Jim Cobb, Chroma’s focus has always been on the development of innovative new products rather than being tied down to old conventions and limitations. As a result, the company has created some of Australia’s most loved paint brands.

Atelier Interactive Professional Artists’ Acrylic is highly pigmented and lightfast with a thick and creamy consistency that dries to a beautiful matte/satin finish. This versatile paint has a unique formula that allows it to be re-opened for extended wet-inwet blending techniques; or it can be used just like a conventional fast drying acrylic as well. Atelier Interactive dries at the same rate as conventional acrylics – however as it dries it doesn’t form a skin like other products do. Instead, as moisture evaporates, Interactive will gradually go from wet, to tacky, to touch-dry, before it finally

One of the most fundamental elements of creativity for many artists is paint. The range of options is enormous. There are numerous manufacturers offering quality products to suit almost every conceivable painting style. Here are some outstanding products from a few of your favourite art materials suppliers.

becomes fully cured. If you want to develop a painting quickly you can just let the paint dry and use the traditional wet-over-dry acrylic painting techniques like glazing and scumbling. However if, like most artists, you need some extra time to blend and adjust your work then use a water sprayer or a damp brush to rehydrate your painting. When the paint becomes tacky or even after it has dried, give it a little mist of water and you can keep on working wet-in-wet for as long as you like.

Atelier Interactive offers the speed and simplicity of an acrylic with the option of extended wet-in-wet blending times, previously only possible with oil paints. The added benefit of Atelier Interactive is that when you have finished blending, the paint will dry off quickly and you can progress to the next stage rather than waiting for days or weeks like oils.

Atelier Interactive is an incredibly versatile paint when used straight from the tube and it has been designed to work well for a range of fast and slow drying techniques with no need for the use of mediums; however when combined with mediums the entire painting process can be greatly enhanced.

There is an extensive range of Atelier mediums available that can be used to adjust the qualities of the paint … and here are some of the most popular ones: Atelier Impasto Gel for heavy impasto effects; Atelier Clear Painting Medium is used to dilute the paint for blending, glazing and slows drying time; Fast Medium/fixer can be mixed with the paint to return it to a more conventional fast drying acrylic or can be used to seal a layer of paint so that it will not accidentally re-wet – useful for fast glazing and scratch back techniques; Slow and Thick Slow Mediums – these mediums will make Atelier Interactive stay open longer and be more easily re-opened with water – great for extended wet-in-wet blending sessions (use the thick version to maintain a heavy bodied consistency or the Slow Medium to thin the paint down); Unlocking Formula will allow you to rewet a layer of Atelier Interactive even after it has been dry for a day or two; Matte/satin/gloss Medium and Varnish can be used to adjust the sheen of the paint, either as a final varnish or mixed in with the paint as

a medium; and Matte/satin/invisible Chroma Solvent finishing varnishes are recommended for use with Atelier Interactive because they are strippable which means that if there is a problem you can easily remove them, and being solvent based they will not accidentally rewet an uncured layer of paint.

Atelier Interactive is the most interesting development in acrylics since they were first introduced in the 1960s. To help you learn how to use this exciting product there is extensive information available on the Chroma website at www.chromaonline.com and in the Chroma enews email, Chroma Link, which contains links to all the most up-to-date tips, techniques and video demonstrations. The new ‘Using Atelier Interactive’ DVD featuring Mitch Waite is a great introduction to the paint and is available direct from Chroma – telephone 1800 023 935.

Archival Professional Artists’ Oils, like traditional oils, are linseed based with a rich buttery consistency and intense lightfast colours. But Archival is more than just another high quality oil. It has a distinct technological edge over other oil paints because it contains a special modified polymer that makes it permanently flexible.

This flexibility offers unlimited freedom of technique and when you paint with Archival Oils you don’t need to worry about the traditional oil painting rules like fat over lean and so on. An Archival painting never becomes brittle or cracks, no matter how much you punish it!

The slow drying time of oils can be a frustration, especially for art students who regularly need to have artwork ready for assessment deadlines. It is possible to speed the drying time of Archival Oils by using the product with the alkyd based Archival Odourless Mediums, or replacing your Titanium White with Archival Fast Drying White. All the Archival Odourless Mediums are fast drying except for the Classic Medium which is linseed based and dries at the traditional slow rate. Lean Medium is a liquid, and dries in one to two days; Fat Medium is a liquid and dries in about one day and increases gloss and reduces brush marks; Classic

Medium is a liquid and dries in about five days. Smooth Gel is a paste, bodied like the paint, and is used to stabilise impasto and speed drying; or it can just be added to the paint to make it move more easily and dry quickly without losing any brush marks. Smooth Gel dries in one to two days or longer, depending on the thickness of application. Texture Gel is a paste like Smooth Gel, with a rough gritty feel. Flow Gel is a soft gel verging on liquid for more fluid techniques – it dries in one to two days. Fast Drying White dries in about one to two days; while the standard Titanium White takes about five days.

By using a slow drying linseed based paint with fast drying Alkyd mediums, you can keep the paint wet on your palette but have it dry quickly once it is mixed with the mediums and applied to the canvas.

As the name suggests, Archival Odourless Mediums have a very low odour – in fact the Odourless Solvent has virtually no smell at all. The oil paints only have a very slight odour and don’t contain any harmful solvents. It has always been the turps based mediums which have made oil painting such a smelly and hazardous exercise. Archival Odourless mediums evaporate very slowly and are much less toxic than turps based mediums – but as they are a solvent some ventilation is still required.

The Archival Oils Gold Series is a selection of the most useful 20 colours in Series One. It is great for art students and amateurs who want to limit their costs and also for professionals who use big quantities of paint. The Gold Series has a complete mixing palette all at a low Series One price – which means that even art students can now afford a professional quality, highly pigmented, lightfast oil paint rather than having to settle for student grade paints which contain fugitive colours or low pigment loads. The Archival Oils

Gold Series is sold along with the full range of Archival colours and is available in 40ml, 120ml and 300ml cartridges for selected colours.

Jo Sonja’s Matte Fluid Acrylic is a professional quality, highly pigmented and lightfast acrylic. It has a creamy flowing consistency with a velvet matte finish and is perfect for artists who require an even smooth result, flowing brush strokes, and fine details. The paint also dilutes beautifully for watercolour effects; and the even matte finish makes it suitable for use as an acrylic alternative to gouache. Jo Sonja’s is well known as a popular paint amongst decorative artists, but it is also used by professional fine artists who prefer a low viscosity paint. There is a wide range of Jo Sonja’s Mediums available that can be used for decorative art techniques and also allow the paint to be applied to virtually any surface – including wood, metal and glass. Jo Sonja’s can also be used with the Atelier Mediums and the Atelier Interactive acrylics for fine art applications.

More information about quality artists’ paints is available from Chroma – telephone 02 9457 9922.