Acrylics Step-by-Step Demo: Heron

Artist Greg Biolchini says that for years he "stayed away from acrylics, thinking they were certainly not a medium for a representational realist painter". Acrylics "dried too fast, making it impossible for serious paint manipulation." But his "curiosity finally got the best of me" and he "began to experiment with this wonderful, timesaving, uncomplicated medium."

On his website Greg's posted a step-by-step demo of a heron painting that's well worth a look. (For those of you with fast connections, there's also an animated version in Flash.)

I was fascinated (and a little in awe) with the detailed charcaol drawing Greg does first, "composing the preliminary drawing directly from [his] photographic references onto the canvas". The drawing is fixed with clear acrylic fixative before starting to paint.

Also note what Greg says about brushes: "I always do better using a brush that is a bit bigger than would seem necessary to do the job. I have found the slightly larger brushes do a better job and are a bit faster." It's a tip that I think is well worth trying.