Color and Acrylic Paint

I’m not too familiar with acrylic. True, I’ve done a couple of paintings in it over the years, but always with an eye towards curiosity more than anything else. However, I've now reached the point in my Stephen Quiller DVD – “Color Foundations for the Painter” where he talks about underpainting in acrylic as a tool for better understanding color. 

Unlike watercolor and gouache, acrylic won’t move when dry. This makes it perfect tool for studying the effects of warm or cool light glazed over similar underpaintings.

In the video, Quiller makes two identical studies in acrylic which he then overpaints, one in warm yellows and the other in cool pinks. I endeavored to do the same. The acrylic colors I used in my underpaintings were: Turquoise, Manganese Blue Hue, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Red Medium, and Indo Orange Red.

Acrylic underpainting (right hand study)

I tried to keep both underpainting studies as similar as I could in value and color.

Two acrylic studies showing different light

Here are the final studies. The left is overpainted in yellows and yellow-oranges and shows a sunset scene. The study on the right, overpainted in cool pinks and magenta, shows a pre-dawn scene.

Pretty cool, eh?

Acrylics are pretty fun to work with, especially as they dry brighter than when applied. I'm looking forward to doing more with them.