Uses of Acrylic & Plastic in Art
- Acrylic paint is water soluble.palette image by araraadt from Fotolia.com
Modern materials such as acrylic and plastic are commonplace in art and have been used increasingly since the 1960s. Acrylic paints, which were once feared to be prone to decay, have been proven to have solid archival qualities. Plastics are used in sculpture to produce baggy, soft or other types of forms not possible with harder media such as stone or cast sculptures. While some plastic and latex sculpture has degraded, such as the work of the pioneering artist Eva Hesse, the chemistry behind the work has improved such that plastics now have an acceptable longevity. - Acrylic paints were developed in the 1940s by Leonard Bocour and Sam Golden, but were not widely adopted by artists until the 1960s. Acrylic paints offer advantages such as fast drying times and low toxicity (they can be thinned with water). On the down side, acrylics hold less pigment than oil paints and are therefore less luminous. Some artists dislike the texture, which is less smooth than oil paints and is a little bit more difficult to manipulate.
- Acrylic gels are in increasingly widespread use as painters seek to include heavy textures in their paintings. Since the acrylic dries much more quickly than oil-based counterparts, painters can create much bigger masses on their paintings, some as high as an inch or more, which would be very impractical in oil. Substances such as sand or fiber can be added to the gels as well. These gels are fully compatible with acrylic paints, but not oil, though you can paint over them with oil once fully dry.
- Plastics have been used in sculpture extensively since the 1960s. Artists looking for new forms, such as Claes Oldenburg, employed plastic to make softer looking sculptures that at times resemble inflatable toys, injecting a note of playfulness. Plastic also is more lightweight than many traditional sculptural materials such as bronze, stone or wood. Recent technical advances have produced plastics that are more archival and durable than in the past.
- Plastic molds in the form of latex are now within the reach of the individual artist working in the studio. Where prior casting methods may have required a foundry, such as for bronze, latex casting makes it possible for artists to create and mold works that can be reproduced in large numbers.
