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Acrylics Anonymous, Issue #090 -- Let's Go Back. Way Back.
March 01, 2020


Passionate about painting with acrylics? Need a monthly fix chock full of inspiration? Need some help to take the pain out of your painting process? It's all here for you. Acrylics Anonymous. Zero elitism. Dive in.



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Every month, we will produce a Subscribers Only "sealed section". It could be a painting technique, a short video tip, or anything we can think of that we reckon you might enjoy.

Please let us know what you think, we love your feedback! To leave comments, contact us here.



5 Tips For Beginners
Your exclusive video is now here!
Click the link below to access :)


Click here to view the video







Building The Foundations

Even after 40+ years of practicing Karate, when training with senior karate instructors, a huge part of the programme would be re-visiting the basics.

It’s easy to be distracted sometimes, but being very disciplined, and really mastering a few core skills, will have incredible flow on effects.

For your painting practise, this could mean mastering effortless gradations, brush technique that you don’t have to think about, and so many more benefits.





How To Fix A Beachscape


Join us for this compilation clip from our YT Stories as Mark fixes a beachscape he wasn't entirely happy with.

And make sure you follow our Youtube stories on mobile or tablet for all the latest in studio and behind the scenes.

Click here for the video!



Throw It Back

Diving into the archives today - we thought you might enjoy a couple of articles that may have passed you by. Click on the links below for articles on how to paint a mural, and creating your own impressionism art.

Click here for how to paint a mural - Mark style.

Click here for an article and some tips on creating your own impressionism art.


Every month, we choose an Artist from our forum to showcase.

You can even nominate someone if you like. (Or yourself!). To do this, check out the forum and then send us an email! It’s that easy.

This month we're featuring the fabulous Jules Sharman from Tasmania, Australia, with her piece "Swept Away". Thank you so much for sharing your art with us Jules. Your work is growing in leaps and bounds and you have captured the mood of the ocean brilliantly!

Click here for more information on Jules' "Swept Away"




Vincent Vincent Fantauzzo is an inspiring Australian painter. Watch his compelling Australian Story episode here:

Watch Vincent's story here.



Norwegian artist Lene Kilda creates figurative concrete and steel wire sculptures inspired by the emotions and body language of children.

Be inspired by these compelling emotive works!




If you have a link you like, please share it with us! You can contact us to let us know. Thank you!

This is the section where you can "get your name in lights!" (well at least out there in the internet world!).

If you have works in progress you would love to show off, or finished pieces you are particularly proud of, we would love to see them!

We especially like to hear about the story behind the creation.

This month's submission comes from talented artist and lovely human being Natasha Scott, from Brisbane Australia. Natasha has chosen not to focus on one particular image in this article, but to share an insight into her arts practise and how she best creates the energy in each piece.

From Natasha:

"I have drawn and painted my entire life. There is an expressed freedom in painting that is as close to the movement and emotion of dance as you could get. For me, the best thing about paint, is that the emotion that I am feeling flows through the brush and sits on the canvas for the viewer to explore. A lasting testament to that moment in time.

When I started studying Fine Art - I was determined to be a painter. However, printmaking stole my heart and ever since then I have had two loves.

I have spend years pondering why these two art forms - why I love them, where they are similar, where they are different... My current theory is that the emotion of the marks we make, their rhythm and form, is the very thing that makes them sing.

Which brings me to the most recent of my discoveries - the importance of drawing, and the act of editing visual information that is key to an artist telling their story.

For a time I was seduced by the idea of painting exactly what was in my source photographs (I take all my own photos for artworks - unless it is a specific collaboration). This led to me innovating transferring images onto my canvases, and finally, buying a projector.

And then my work became dead.

I lost the rhythm and emotion in my work, their visual interest and emotion was gone. In having the exact and perfect proportions and lines, I lost the very thing that makes my art my ART.

The interpretation of the artist.

I will use projectors to assist in placing images - in proportion perfection for commission portraits from photographs - but I have returned to the art of “drawing up” my canvases, and the life is slowly returning to my work!

See below images - Turtle done via tracing onto the canvas, and then “painting” it in.



And below, a painting that I completed in 1996/1997 - drawn by hand - and very much expressing the place I was in at that time mentally.



As much as the drawing was nowhere near perfect - the bottom painting is a far more powerful piece emotionally than the perfectly proportioned Turtle.

Going through my studio - I was able to place them side-by-side and ponder the journey I had been on since I painted the “sad boy”. What I know now is that an imperfect, but emotive drawing - is far more powerful than a static and perfect one, and as an artist - that is what I prefer...

See below image - a hand drawn block linocut of the Cleveland lighthouse 2016. It has a sense of history and presence, and it is still one of my favourite pieces.



And below - Blue Faced Honey Eater - from a photograph by Phil Robinson for the Triple Treat Exhibition 2018. Transferred on (I still like this one, but more drawing would have given it more life!)

Thanks so much Tash for sharing with us!

If you like Natasha's work and would like to see more, please check out her instagram page, here

And for her facebook page, click here.




Hope you enjoyed this issue of Acrylics Anonymous!

If you have any suggestions, comments or feedback for the ezine or our site, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Until next time, make sure you chuck some paint around!

Cheers from Frankie & Mark :)


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