Maimeri Brera Acrylic Paint Review

Maimeri Flowers, Acrylic on Hardboard, 8”x10”, Sold. 

(painted with Maimeri Brera Acrylics)

Maimeri Brera Acrylic Paint Review

by Bethany Vanderputten BDes MFA

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.

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 laid it down. This 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.

Detail from Maimeri Flowers 

(showing attempts at glazing for luminescence)

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, Originally published with Acrylic Paint Review (www.acrylicpaintreview.com)

Pantone Images Artist Acrylics

©2011 Bethany Vanderputten, Acrylic on Hardboard, 8"x10", Sold.

Pantone Images Artist Acrylics 

by Bethany Vanderputten BDes MFA

First Impressions

I was really attracted to the trendy Images Artist Acrylics Inspired by Pantone. I thought their 2 oz. containers would look great in my art studio but also my designer side wondered if they matched the Pantone color system (in addition to wondering about their quality as a professional artist paint). So I purchased the Primary Color Set to give them a try. 

Upon opening the containers the promised heavy body of the paint was evident right away. Each container had an inner seal which was a little difficult to remove as the paint had congealed to the under side of the seal. When removing the paint from the containers I first tried a wet paintbrush, and it didn’t work very well compared to a palette knife, also revealing the thickness of the paint. All of the colors showed very good and consistent coverage on a gesso-primed board. Chili Pepper, Jelly Bean, Deep Ultramarine, and Empire Yellow appeared fairly translucent while the Bright White and Caviar both were quite opaque.

Painting 

After trying out the paint on a sample board I decided to do a study to further discover the qualities of this brand. I first painted a thin layer watering down the paint to produce a nice green/yellow glaze. This worked well and the color was bright and consistent. As I went on the to the initial drawing and color blocking I discovered that glazing the paint thinly was enjoyable. When painting more thickly it took time to mix the dense paints until I added some water to help it along. It was harder to blend the thick paints softly, while they were great for painting expressively and boldly.

As time went by that the paint began to dry on my palette. As I mixed on top of the semi-dry paint, pieces of the dried bits would mingle in. Other brands I have tried stay dry on the palette and I am able to mix on top without fear of this happening. Another observation was that the paint had a faint odor (no more than other brands) but it reminded me of the smell of house paint.

I found it easier to paint in short stages than all at once and I ended up resorting to painting really thickly to finish the study. I did observe a noticeable color shift from wet to dry, the paints getting darker as they dried. The paintings dried within 10 minutes, if still a little tacky to the touch, and had an all-over glossy sheen.

Conclusions

Overall I thought that the Images Artist Acrylics Inspired by Pantone are a great paint for the beginner, or for the artist who enjoys thick impasto techniques but I would recommend using mediums and retardants for a greater range of techniques. I also thought that these had a very plastic feel to them and I would personally only use them more for solid color poster paints and crafts than for fine art techniques.

With some online research I realized that the paints are based on the Pantone FASHION + HOME Color Guide. This makes me think that they are meant to match your interior designer’s home décor color choice rather than a graphic designer’s color choice. If you’re interested you can find out more about the Pantone color systems at www.pantone.com.

Colors – Primary Set

• Bright White – Inspired by Pantone 11-0601
• Empire Yellow – Inspired by Pantone 14-0756
• Chili Pepper Red – Inspired by Pantone 19-1557
• Jelly Bean Green – Inspired by Pantone 17-6030
• Deep Ultramarine Blue – Inspired by Pantone 19-3950
• Caviar Black – Inspired by Pantone 19-4006

Supplies

• two panels of pre-gessoed ampersand hardboard (6”x6” and 8”x10”)
• water and no mediums, retarders, etc.
• three flat art brushes #10, #6 and #2
• 9x12 disposable palette
• palette knife

©2011 Bethany Vanderputten, Originally published with Acrylic Paint Review (www.acrylicpaintreview.com) 

To Contemplate is to Toil

“One is not idle because one is absorbed. There is both visible and invisible labor. To contemplate is to toil, to think is to do. The crossed arms work, the clasped hands act. The eyes upturned to Heaven are an act of creation.” - Victor Hugo

What lies behind my art? I like to think about it so here are some fresh thoughts... forgive me if they're not as straightforward as you'd like.

I am conceptual, yes. For me this is not just the portraying of one idea. I love a concept that can be expressed definitively but not by negating all the thought processes put into finding that one idea. As I seek to find the focal point of a realistic painting, essentially looking for the one concept that underlies what I'm creating, I come through a complex and not quite linear painting process. What I'm enjoying about painting is that all of these thoughts are put together on the canvas with the final idea coming out with the most clarity. Well... sometimes.

I seek to show forth my mistakes and side roads in the final piece and not hide them from sight in thumbnails and sketches (although these are also a part of my process). I think this is why I've stopped transferring my final drawing directly onto the final painting surface. This is too controlled and unlike real life... instead I paint freely from the original sketches and photographs (and life, if possible). Although I look for refinement in my image and keeping elements in the same place throughout, there are many unexpected things that happen when painting like this. The freedom excites me!

Also, I really enjoy comparing and contrasting completely different ideas within one piece. Many times this makes a simple orange have a lot more meaning than just its appearance. What happens when you put it under a bright light, or a blue light, or candlelight? Different light situations affect how I'm viewing this orange. But not just with my physical faculty of sight. Different lighting situations bring out different thoughts and emotions as I paint. A brightly lit flower can cause joy and lightheartedness to be evident in my paintings. A somber candle in moody darkness can bring out depressive and sorrowful thoughts. Yes, I can control this to some extent by the ways I know I react to certain situations but the exciting part of painting from life is bringing about the unexpected. Life is unexpected. The longer you look at something you think is concrete the more it changes and can surprise you.

This may not jive in an environment that looks for strong concept and simple statement for impact on it's audience. But what about an environment that looks for the complex, thriving in mystery? Enjoying the seeking out of answers more than actually finding them, and much less than being shown them explicitly.

I'm not yet sure where this type of art fits commercially. It is more contemplative than direct. But that's an extension of who I am.

IMAGE CREDIT: Orange Photographs ©2010 Bethany Vanderputten.

An Insight into my Process

Detail from my hand-painted artwork "Back Home".

The following is an excerpt from my thesis summary complete with my thoughts and sketches leading up to the finished production of my painting "Back Home". I completed this painting in a directed study with Kazu Sano in the Fall of 2009:

"This illustration is based on a view of a stage setting where an artist like Celine Dion may perform. The lyrics inspiring this painting were: “And yet through this darkness, there’s a light that shines through and brings me back home, brings me back home.” Depicted is a grand piano, a microphone, a couple of chandeliers and more.



Research

I looked through various shots of a stage set up for a performer, including personal photographs from past concerts I’ve attended like at The Fillmore in San Francisco that has unique chandeliers in its ballroom.



Thumbnails

At the thumbnail stage for this illustration I developed the idea of coming home to the “light that shines through”. I portrayed the chandelier alone to signify the lights, also a higher view of an empty stage and others.



Photo Shoot

I am fortunate to have access to a stage through my church and photographed almost the whole set-up for this illustration all at once in the right lighting. This included a grand piano, microphones, and strong light sources. I also brought my own props including a scarf, candles and feminine jewelry.


The initial line drawing done in pencil on Strathmore's smooth drawing paper.

Value / Color Comps

I completed the sketch for this illustration based off the photographs I shot myself. I developed the composition more and broke the bottom of the picture frame with an element. Also, to consider even more the atmosphere being a room in a home, or a stage, or a street scene. I was encouraged to go more surrealist and not worry if the perspective doesn’t make sense completely as long as I’m telling the story. I scanned the line drawing into my computer and completed the value and color studies digitally in Photoshop while playing with the placement of the piano within the frame.



Final

I was encouraged to study the description of light by American Illustrator Drew Struzan. As I had a lot of various light sources in this painting I explored also varying the lights’ vibrancy and color and paid attention to the perspective of the piano and the temperature of my whites. Kazu really enjoyed the green scarf."

See the finished painting here.