Watercolor v Acrylic

Golden Waves

Although at this stage I’m painting with watercolor for over 10 years, and on the other hand acrylic is a relatively new adventure for me, I can honestly say that i love both acrylic and watercolor equally.
Acrylic lets me work on one piece for longer, and the artwork evolves and grows on the canvas rather than all having to be planned ahead, which is often the case with watercolor. Watercolor paintings look so loose and fluid and accidental, but the truth is painting with water media is actually the opposite. It demands planning ahead and predicting results in your head. It forces the artist to accept what’s there and to change or evolve their vision according to what’s developing on the paper.

On the other hand painting with acrylic gives me more freedom. When I start an acrylic I don’t have to have a plan and I enjoy covering the canvas with whatever colors and shapes come to mind and then shaping it and changing it until I feel it’s finished. As a result I feel my acrylic paintings seem to evolve on paper and they always surprise me with the outcome, even more then watercolors.

As a case in point take the painting below called ‘Golden Waves’. In it I have actually used golden paint! After using different shades of green and yellow I decided that gold would represent that precise moment when the wave rises and just before it breaks.
You can also see tree different stages (of many more) how the painting evolved.

Enjoy!

Kate