Working Artist Review of Maimeri Brera Acrylic Paint

PHOTO CREDIT:  Maimeri Flowers, original acrylic painting by Canadian artist Bethany Vanderputten.  She recently completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in Illustration at the Academy of Art University located in San Francisco.

Guest Blogger: Bethany Vanderputten.

I have worked with the acrylic paint medium for many years solely with the Golden brand and more recently switching to the new Winsor & Newton Artists’ Acrylics for their more buttery consistency and lack of tonal shift. It was exciting to be able to try out another brand as various ones have different strengths.

The Maimeri Brera brand of acrylic paints looked quite vibrant out of the tube but more watery on my palette than Golden.

The Cadmium Red Medium’s label made it look more like a Red Oxide but on the palette the tone appeared more like a Naphthol Red. The yellow appeared strong and vibrant closer almost like an Azo. When I picked up the paint on my paintbrushes the paint felt thicker than Golden but not buttery.

Maimeri Acrylic Paint Review Details:

• Laying down the paint I was impressed by its coverage but as it dried it lost vibrancy and sheen appearing chalkier like a tempera painting. As I painted with it I became more discouraged. I tend to use layers of glazes to obtain luminescence in my paintings and even though the Ultramarine Blue was semi-transparent it still dried to a flat surface and didn’t create this quality.

• Perhaps the other pigments in this brand would offer more translucence to obtain this effect. Also I found the blue didn’t have a high tinting strength as I had to use quite a lot of it in order to obtain my darkest darks.

• Lastly I noticed a visible tonal shift from wet to dry. The paint both dried darker and more opaquely than when I first l aid it down. T his would discourage me from using it in the future as I seek other brands that are combating this effect.

• As I blended in an attempt to get some smoother surfaces I found this worked out okay when working wet into wet, but as I came back in once it was dry I noticed that I had to repaint sections. Because of the tonal shift it was difficult to create a smooth surface without these jumps in tone.

For this test I used both synthetic and natural chungking bristle brushes for a varied feel. I also made use of a palette knife mixing the pigments with the Coarse Pumice Gel by Golden to obtain texture.

For my whites I used Liquitex’s Titanium White. My surface was Ampersand Hardbord sanded and prepped with three layers of Golden gesso.

©2010 Bethany Vanderputten

Artist Bio:
I am a realistic painter from Canada passionate about telling inspirational stories through my artwork as I work mainly in acrylic paint on hardboard.

Recently completing my Master of Fine Arts degree in Illustration at the Academy of Art University located in San Francisco a few influences include Kazuhiko Sano, Dennis Budgen, and Paul Gauguin.

My studio is located near Chinatown in San Francisco, and when I’m not painting I spend my spare time shopping, playing music and singing, reading, or enjoying the Bay Area.

www.bethanyillustrates.com
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