Guest Blogger: J. Richard Secor.
Photo Credit: Original Acrylic Painting, titled “Matchmaker-Matchmaker-Make Me A Match” by J. Richard Secor. Medium: Chroma Archival Oils. Note: See full size photo of this painting at bottom of page.
COLOR — TEXTURE — LOOSENESS
These are three words that describe how I paint. Over the years, my painting process has become less about rendering and more about expressing, and my style has evolved to be semi-abstract expressionism. Now I am concentrating on loosening my style, as I want it to encompass expressionism, emotion, rusticity and spontaneity.
To accomplish this, I have started using Atelier Impasto Gel, which is a product from Chroma. For the past several years, I have been painting with Chroma Interactive Acrylic exclusively.
Atelier Impasto Gel Medium:
This is a thick acrylic gel that creates an exaggerated structure and texture. When mixed with Atelier colors, the gel produces increased brilliance and transparency of color and gloss. It is milky white in color, but becomes transparent when dry. Clean up is very simple with soap and water. If desired, the gloss effect can be reduced when a final varnish is applied by using a satin finish varnish.
Close Up View of Atelier Impasto Gel
To try this product, I put some gel into a sturdy “cupcake” paper, loaded up my brush, first with paint and then with gel, and started painting. I kept adding more paint and gel to my brush until I had the desired textural effect on the painting surface. There was no complicated mixing formula; it was a simple process of “double dipping” into paint and gel.
I paint with a big brush and most of the time wet into wet – alla prima. I mention this because Chroma Interactive Acrylics have tremendous color blending capabilities, much like that of oil paint.
I always blend color directly on the painting surface – I never pre-mix on a palette. The combination of Interactive paint and impasto gel gave me greater blending capability.
I found the application of the “gel- induced” paint to be easy and smooth flowing. Chroma Atelier Gel will become a standard component in many of my textural paintings because it is easy to use and I really liked the result.
Following are two paintings I did that show the effects of the Atelier Impasto Gel.
“Merlow”, 18 x 24 Chroma Interactive Acrylic with Impasto Gel Medium
Acrylic Paint Review Disclaimer:
Although J. Richard Secor is not an employee of Chroma Paint Company, recently gave a demonstration of Chroma products at an art store in Santa Fe, and was paid for his time. He was hired as an independent contractor for this event.
—
Written by Guest Blogger: J. Richard Secor
A landscape and plein air painter, J. Richard Secor is well known for his use of bold, striking colors applied with both brush and palette knife in a free and loose manner. Mr. Secor began painting at age 54, after retiring early from a 32 year career in banking on the East Coast. He is represented by several galleries in the Southwestern USA as well as in Mexico. Visit his website: J.Richard Secor.
Artist’s Statement:
I enjoy painting Plein air in the mountains near my home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and also paint in my home studio. My style, which is primarily Impressionistic, continuously evolves through curiosity, intense observation, sudden inspiration and experimentation. Ultimately the style of any given painting will be the result of how I feel about that particular scene at the time I’m painting it, and is often influenced by the music to which I am listening. I like to paint “outside the lines” and “outside the box” as well as “outside the rules.”
Purchase a jar of Atlelier Impasto Gel by Chroma from Dick Blick.
