'How to' increase opacity with trad paints?

[CCThrom]

I have a question for the traditional painters in the audience... I'm wondering how I can increase the opacity of certain colors (let's say, Ultramarine Blue) without mixing in white?

As background, most of my color work is done with watercolor and typically I've worked without any opaque paint at all... Now, I'm experimenting with mixing in gouache and casein to get a more solid "structural" look to my paints (inspired by Paul Bonner). The issue I'm running into is that many pigments are naturally quite translucent, and the only method I know for making them more opaque is adding white. Naturally, that changes the saturation quite a bit...

I realize any advice here may be media-specific, but I'd be interested to hear your methods, even of they don't apply to water media.

Sooo, are there any other tricks for increasing opacity without changing color too much? Any additives or combining techniques I should know about? Or is it mostly a matter of learning more about which pigments to work with, and learning how to deal with the effects of white paint?

Thanks!

[Elwell]

1) Use better paint. High quality paint will generally have a higher pigment load than cheap stuff.
2) Learn about and pick different pigments. Some pigments are transparent or translucent by nature, some are opaque.
3) There is no way to make a transparent or semi-transparent pigment opaque without adding white. So add white, and lean how to deal with the hue and chroma shifts that result. This will usually involve adding other colors to the mix besides white.

[kev ferrara]

There is no way to add opacity without changing some HVC parameter if you don't want to simply buy the color in question as an opaque pigment. If you don't mind changing the HVC numbers you can use any opaque watercolor pigment to increase the opacity of the color you would like to add opacity to. Of course, using opaque pigments that are close in color tone to the color you want to increase the density of, will result in the least HVC shift.

[CCThrom]

Thanks Elwell, Kev... That's pretty much what I figured I'd hear, but it never hurts to ask. Now it's a matter of learning more about the characteristics of individual pigments.

At least I am using good quality paints for the most part... Unfortunately with casein, the choices are pretty limited. The only casein manufacturer I've been able to find in the stores is Shiva. I figure that's fair-to-middling quality. Maybe it's time to look into ordering online.

[Chris Bennett]

With tansparent painting, i.e. waterclour, you are like somebody watching dark smoke in varying densities against a bright white sky.
With opaque painting, i.e. thickly applied pastels, you are watching the smoke drift in front of dark trees.
Both have their beauty.
This is why the queen of mediums is oil paint: you have the combination of both.
Use it!

[CCThrom]

mmm... you might have a point Chris, but I have to say oil has been very inconvenient for the way I work & I don't see that changing any time soon...also we have had a bit of a rocky relationship. (Still she's nothing like that beyotch acrylic... )

Still, a compromise might be possible... my latest "hero-du-jour" is James Gurney... and he often works in oil on illo board... he draws right on the board and seals it over with acrylic medium. That solves a number of my "inconvenience" issues with oil so I'll definitely think about it.

[Derek the Usurper]

Try mixing more opaque colors with similar translucent colors. Cerulean blue with ultramarine blue, or cadmium red with alizarin crimson, etc.

What are your problems with oil paint exactly?

[dbclemons]

You can't change a pigment's nature, but you can increase or decrease the density (amount) of pigment. One way is to buy paints with a higher pigment load. Another is to make your own. Making a good flowing watercolor is not that easy, but casein or gouache are fairly simple. Ultramarine can be a rather awkward pigment to get right.

[alesoun]

What's the problem with acrylic? She's a versatile sweetheart....

[Shatterdome]

Oils are great and versatile....but maybe how you work is leans better to another medium ?

Still, painting over dried oils, I have never had problems covering a colour mixing paints with little to no medium.....of course it has to go on abit thick....

Fine gradients I find you just have to use lots of layers and wait for those f'ing oils to dry...


That's where the beauty of acrylics comes in....if you mix them with alot of water you can do washes and fine shifts in coulour, etc....and you only have to wait 10 mins or so for your marks to dry....

[Chris Bennett]

What's the problem with acrylic? She's a versatile sweetheart....

...and I love her very much.
I paint with them almost excusively these days though I was trained as an oil painter and used them for some 15 years. There are obvious advantages of convenience with acrylic paint but if this is not an issue then this advantage is nothing compared to the durability, ability to work wet for long periods and with no shift in chroma and tone upon drying. Oil paint also maintains its body because it 'dries' by oxidation opposed to acrylic's evaporation process.

A bit like chess, acrylic is really like playing with a Rook and pawn against oil painting's Queen - a really close game but.......

Ultimately it all depends on the player and how good they are!

[CCThrom]

Ultimately it all depends on the player and how good they are!

Very true... and one of the reasons I've stayed away from painting entirely for so long...

But since you asked...
Oil is inconvenient because of the way I work and the way I was trained to think about it. I work small and immediate... I'm happiest when I don't have a lot of prep-time and can fit my artwork on my lap. I often carry my artwork with me, and frequently can only work in short blocks of time. I don't have much studio space and I frequently put longer works away for a while and come back to them later... sometimes much later. Now back in the day, I was trained to think of oil as a big, raw medium with a lot of prep and a lot of overhead in terms of space, setup, and cleanup... a very high-maintenance gal.

This is why Gurney's approach is so appealing to me... it lets me bring oils back into the smaller, more intimate "drawing sphere" that I'm comfortable with. I haven't had a chance to try it yet though.

Acrylic... well I probably never gave her the chance she deserves... but we clashed so strongly in our first few meetings, I just said 'eff this' and moved on. To me, acrylic has all the problems of high prep and high overhead, with none of the enjoyment. I didn't like the way she handles, or covers, or finishes, and the fast drying time drove me up the wall. I really have a big problem working with a medium that won't let you come back and modify things later. (Except for ink, but that's a whooole different ballgame).

To be fair, I have recently seen the work of some illustrators that use acrylic differently... in washy layers and glazes, similar to watercolor and it's beautiful. I can see working this way, but there's no real reason to since I already like working with watercolor.

So here I am... an illustrator with a lot of years and experience in "small" media (pencil, ink, watercolor, etc) but virtually no experience with "big" media (oil, acrylic, etc). If I can find ways to make the big media smaller, I can give them another chance. Trying to develop these skills now is a long process and often kinda frustrating... my life doesn't give me the same kind of room it used to. Of course I'm also looking forward to the learning, and I'm very grateful for all I've been able to do, and very grateful for the chance to learn from other artists in this forum.

Ugh, bla bla bla, me me me... if anybody else feels like waxing poetic about their media of choice here, go for it!

So, thanks Everybody!

[dpaint]

I hate to be contrarian but why not paint the image as a grisaille first then the opacity doesn't matter because your only adding color at the end of the process. Of course with water media you would have to seal the image before the color pigment is applied so as to not reactivate the grisaille layer.

[alesoun]

You can treat acrylic like watercolour, or lay it on with a palette knife. If you're quick, you can wipe off or mop up errors. You can add stuff like sand (washed, of course) and/or use sponges or tissues to add texture. If you paint it thick, you can use the wrong end of the brush to make grooves in the paint.

You can paint acrylics in washes in a way that would drive you crazy to try in watercolour.

Acrylic is a party chick; always up for some fun and ready to try anything. I'm not sure what you mean by high prep and high overhead. I've always decided what I want to do in acrylic and then just fired ahead on primed paper or board or canvas.

Oil handles differently and needs more patience; but it smells a whole lot better! ;)

Anyways, back to the original question. I have a small pad of primed paper that can be used for oil or acrylic, and I keep it near at hand. It's about 4 inches by 6. I use it to try out a colour mix or practice a wash that I'm not sure will work out. It keeps the worst of my mistakes off the surface I'm working on.

Best I can suggest, sorry...