Acrylic
Artists
Lauren Stringer
Acrylic paint is made of powdered pigment suspended in acrylic polymer resins.
Acrylic is a relatively modern medium first developed in the 1930s. Acrylic paint is made up of powdered pigment like most varieties of paint, but the pigment is suspended in acrylic polymer resins. Acrylic paint’s fast drying properties, and its ability to easily change its drying time, texture, and other working abilities, made it an extremely popular painting medium.
A variety of mediums can be added to acrylic to make the paint thicker and dry more slowly, allowing for a style much like impasto oil painting. Acrylic can also be thinned with water and made to resemble watercolor, while adding white can make it appear like gouache. A relatively popular variant of acrylic paint, commonly used in illustration, is acrylic gouache.
Lauren Stringer: When Stravinsky Met Nijinsky
Lauren Stringer’s usual medium was acrylic paint on 140 pound hot press watercolor paper. “I paint illustrations in acrylic paint on paper. I use acrylic paint because it dries fast which lets me make quick, spontaneous decisions in the midst of painting. It also allows me to paint over an image with as many layers necessary to complete it to my satisfaction. Some of my illustrations have ten layers of paint on them before they are finished. Others come together in the first layer.”
In a February 2013 blog post, she wrote, “My favorite period of painting is the turn of the twentieth century when cubism, fauvism, expressionism, futurism all exploded our notion of how the world should be seen. Stravinsky and Nijinsky changed our notion of what music and dance should sound and look like. What a powerful and rich time for the arts. When I began the illustrations, it became clear that I would pay homage to many of my favorite paintings from that explosive time in the arts.”