Rethinking Acrylic: Radical Solutions For Exploiting The World's Most Versatile Medium Spiral-bound – Download: Adobe Reader, December 29, 2008

Pretty well covers the topic with different artists

Patti Brady's "Rethinking Acrylics" has proved to be even better than my (previously reviewed) favourite, Nancy Reyner's "Acrylic Revolution, and that's saying a lot. As an artist, I have changed from pastel work to painting abstracts in acrylics, and I could not have developed the unique textural and reflective effects I wanted without the help of Patti Brady's book.One comment claims that most artists use only acrylic pigments and water. Maybe hobby artists do, but to create finishes that professionally replicate the beautiful effects of traditional mediums like oils and encaustics, it is necessary to go further than pigment and water alone. For example, there are artists like myself who do not have the correct ventilation for using encaustics. Patty Brady demonstrates an exciting "faux encaustic" using acrylic pigments and mediums that solves the problem and looks very like the real thing.Another challenge is in creating vibrancy and light. It is not possible to use ten to twenty glazes to achieve light refraction and depth without using the unique effects of acrylic mediums. And if you want to "float" objects in successive transparent layers, the use of an acrylic medium is essential. Brady covers all these techniques and more.Regardless of whether you like Patti Brady's style of art or not, she has the use of acrylic mediums down to a fine art. If you want to learn to exploit acrylics to the full, this is definitely the book. And it does show work in progress from other artists who demonstrate creative uses of acrylic pigments and mediums in very different styles.While the book does focus exclusively on Golden Artists Colours, it is possible to adapt the techniques to other quality brands. The emphasis is on quality. It is impossible to achieve the same effects (as Brady does) by using cheap substitutes. I have also found Golden Paints much more user friendly than other brands in regard to toxicity. Despite initial price, they are economical because they have a high chroma and so go a long way. No, it does not cost $50 dollars to complete a painting with Golden Paints" as one commenter claims. My most recent work was 39 inches x 45 inches and the Golden Products I used would have cost me less than $15 (and some were specialty products.)There are no "cheap gimmicks" in this book as one critic has claimed. It is the ability to achieve the visual statement you want that determines choice of paint medium. "Rethinking Acrylics" has helped me achieve results well beyond what I had initially hoped.

Pros:-A lot of good information for someone who already knows how to paint. Covers all of the Golden products. Seeing as she works for Golden, this didn't come as much of a surprise to me when purchasing the book. The information is very useful if you enjoy their products.-The project ideas are 'outside the box' and employ a lot of different applications of acrylic. I am a big fan of texture in acrylics, and this book has plenty of it.-The information given is solid, no glaring errors. The in depth information on acrylic was the best I've read yet.-The photographs look great and it is well written overall.Cons:-Would probably confuse beginners as there's very little basic information. It's assumed if you're purchasing this, you've used acrylic a decent amount in the past. I wouldn't recommend this for a new enthusiast or first year painting student.-If you don't use Golden products, she does not list alternatives/equivalents.-The projects don't have enough step by step pictures. The descriptions can get a little confusing at times as well. A beginner could easily get lost.-The artist's profiles were hit and miss.Overall this is a book for an abstract artist. There's not a lot about significant form, or traditional styles of painting. One chapter DOES cover using Open Acrylics (again, she's plugging a Golden product) in traditional/oil style and could be very useful for those who wish to venture into acrylic, but other than that you won't find much on traditional styles or the "Old Masters" as she refers to them in the book. If you are looking for a more traditional style of painting, try  The Acrylics Book: Materials and Techniques for Today's Artist

This is a fantastic book describing all the various techniques available with acrylic paints, gels, mediums and gessos. I have looked at all the many types of texturizing mediums, varnishes, and additives and own most of them but unless you really know what they are used for an how to apply them you will be at a loss when it comes to getting the look you want from them once you try to use them.This describes most of the texture gels available and shows how to apply them. Photos of abstracts utilizing them are shown so you can get an idea of how they look when expertly applied. This book was exactly what I was looking for.My one problem with this book is that it is in binder form, with a metal binder to hold the pages underneath the outer book binding. Therefore, the pages tear out easily when you don't want them to.The photos are large and some nice artwork is shown for examples. The descriptions of how to get the mediums onto your work platform, whether canvas, board or paper, could be more detailed, and in most cases there is only one or two brief sentences about how to do this.Of course this means you need to experiment, and that is left to you.I found this book to be exactly what I had hoped it would be. Lots of new projects aredescribed to try out the various mediums and types of acrylic paint, and details are given sufficiently in the descriptions of these projects that it will inspire anyone to try out a few. Even the paint colors are given if you want to try to duplicate some of the lovelyabstracts shown. I was very pleased with this book.

I’ve bought a lot of books on painting and mixed media and acrylic is one of my favorite mediums. As a “far from professional” but not complete beginner, this book opened up a whole new world of ideas with acrylics I can’t wait to use. I’ve already tried a few. Great demos and easy to read.

This book could appear as an all-out ad for Golden Acrylics - no-one elses products are mentioned, though this is hardly surprising, as at least two of the artists featured work at Golden and certainly amongst acrylic painters, Golden is a favoured manufacturer. However, this isn't really a critisism, as Golden produce an extensive range of gels and pastes, together with differing bodies of paint, and this book does a pretty good job of demonstrating how they can be used, through the work of several contemporary painters. A few interesting techniques are examined also. This book is good value and will certainly encourage a little experimentation. There were a few frustrating patches in the books where things could have been explained better or the words didnt necessarily match with the pictures, but otherwise I would recommend it.

This book, like Acrylic Revolution, has useful tips for everyone professional and student alike. They aren't redundant but compliment each other. I have a degree in art and have been using acrylics for years and I still found many things I didn't know. I think this book would be especially useful to anyone who wants to transition from oils to acrylics.

A great source book. Exciting and instructive. New mediums used in exciting projects. Good source and full of information.Projects outlined with good guidance. An inspiration for all levels. Really good value and a well presented bookHighly Recommended and a great reference source.

I am new to acrylics and this book opened my eyes to what is possible with this medium. I can't wait to begin exploring.

full of ideas and inspiration a new way of looking at acrylics, radical solutions for exploiting the worlds most versatile medium