Patti Brady - Rethinking Acrylic: Radical Solutions For Exploiting The Worlds Most Versatile Medium

rethinking
acrylic

radical solutions for exploiting the worlds most versatile medium

Patti Brady

NORTH LIGHT BOOKS

CINCINNATI, OHIO

www.artistsnetwork.com

Rethinking Acrylic Copyright 2008 by Patti Brady. Manufactured in China. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by North Light Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio, 45236. (800) 289-0963. First Edition.

Other fine North Light Books are available from your local bookstore, art supply store, online supplier or visit our web site at www.fwmedia.com.

12 11 10 09 08 5 4 3 2 1

DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY FRASER DIRECT
100 Armstrong Avenue
Georgetown, ON, Canada L7G 5S4
Tel: (905) 877-4411

DISTRIBUTED IN THE U.K. AND EUROPE BY DAVID & CHARLES
Brunel House, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 4PU, England
Tel: (+44) 1626 323200, Fax: (+44) 1626 323319
Email: postmaster@davidandcharles.co.uk

DISTRIBUTED IN AUSTRALIA BY CAPRICORN LINK
P.O. Box 704, S. Windsor NSW, 2756 Australia
Tel: (02) 4577-3555

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brady, Patti.

Rethinking acrylic : radical solutions for exploiting the worlds most versatile medium / Patti Brady. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-013-4 (enclosed wire-o : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-1-60061-653-2 (EPUB)
1. Acrylic painting--Technique. I. Title.

ND1535.B73 2008
751.426--dc22

2008025049

Edited by Kelly C. Messerly
Designed by Guy Kelly
Production coordinated by Matt Wagner

Photographs by Eli Warren appear on the following pages:
www.eliwarren.com

Photographs

Fruitless Fruitlla

Patti Brady

Acrylic on wood panel

4" 13" (10cm 33cm)

about the author

Patti Brady received her BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Her paintings, prints and hand-painted books have been exhibited nationally at the Brand Library and Arts Center in Glendale, California; the Arch Gallery in Chicago, Illinois; Mills College in Oakland, California; and U.C. Berkeley in Berkeley, California. In 1994 her paintings were reviewed by the New York Times. She was awarded a Silver Award in the California Discovery Project in 1995 and was the recipient of the South Carolina Arts Commission Fellowship Award for 2006. Her work is in the collections of the Greenville County Museum in Greenville, South Carolina; County Bank in Greenville, South Carolina; and the Contemporary Carolina Collection in Charleston, South Carolina, among others. She is currently the Working Artist Program director for GOLDEN Artist Colors, Inc., and has lectured and taught on the use of GOLDEN Acrylics at a number of universities and art schools around the globe. Visit her Web site at www.pattibrady.com.

On a Silver Platter

Patti Brady

Acrylic and mixed media on paper

27" 27" (69cm 69cm)

acknowledgments

I must begin with thanks to Mark and Barbara Golden for creating the company Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and for their trust, friendship, and of course, for letting me hang out there for the last sixteen years. Much thanks and appreciation to my many friends there who have helped me, put up with me, supported me and shared much laughter: Ed Hettig (who believed I could do it, whatever it was), Jodi ODell, Sarah Sands, Jim Walsh, Bill Hartman, Dana Rice (endless editing and allowing me to whine), and especially Pat Pirrone, who supports me and all the fabulous artists that I work with in the Working Artist Program.

A heartfelt thanks to all the artists in this book, who shared their work, ideas and support. A special xxoxx to Jaq Chartier, who was my first collaborator, and to Barbara Jackson, Bonnie Cutts, Corrie Loomis-Dietz and Nancy Reyner, for hanging in there these many years, and Val, Roy, Tesia, Kevin, Judy, Adriana, Chris, Mark C., Sandie, Mary, and all the rest!

Many thanks and hugs for the support on the home front to Phil Garrett, husband, artist, musicianand big contributor to this book in many more ways than what appears on the pages.

And to the kids Aggie, Maddie and Rosie. And the behind-the-scenes support of Cyndi, Kimberlee and Emimy family.

Thanks to the Fine Art Ramblers, for putting up with so many missed practices and gigs.

Thanks to Kate Spigner, my studio and office assistant. Without her, life would be a rocky road for sure.

Thanks to Eli Warren, who did the photography and was able to capture my vision.

Last but not least, thanks to Kelly Messerly, who understands deadlines and has nerves of steel. And to Jamie Markle for chasing me down.

dedication

To my father, James Ferrell Brady, who would have loved to see his daughters name on the cover.

table of contents

All you need to know about the worlds most versatile medium.

Learn how to apply watermedia techniques to acrylic for effects that will blow you out of the water.

Get your creative juices flowing with the endless possibilities of acrylic gels.

Uncover new ways of pushing your creative boundaries by excavating the acrylic surface.

Learn how to exploit acrylics flexible skin.

Discover how acrylics versatility can be used for nontraditional forms of image reproduction.

Use pours to push acrylic paints physicality to the limit.

Discover why acrylic is the bees knees when it comes to encausticlike effects.

Unlock the secrets to these glittery pigments and youll know why all that glitters doesnt have to be gold.

Unleash your inner child by squirting, squeezing, dripping and splashing acrylic paints and mediums.

Rediscover traditional applications with modern acrylic methods.

Everything you ever wanted to know about the art of preserving your artwork.

Loop de Loop

Patti Brady

Acrylic on wood panel

36" 36" (91cm 91cm)

Tripod

Patti Brady

Acrylic on etched Plexiglas