2008-08-20T17:49:54Z http://blog.chriscozenartist.com/atom.aspx Quick Blog tag:blog.chriscozenartist.com,2008-06-26:6ad468fa-14a8-418a-bd8c-4427f330ef1e Chris Cozen Artist 2008-06-26T11:21:54Z 2008-06-26T11:06:00Z More than 20 years worth!

Golden prides itself in being an "artist driven" company.  That means a lot of their products have been developed because artists, like you and me, have asked questions that provoked them to explore an answer that ultimately led to the developement of a product to respond to the question...Did you follow that?  In other words, someone asked a question, someone actually listened, and someone made something to address the question. 

There are two exciting new product lines this year...Digital Grounds and "OPEN" acrylics.  These two lines are pretty incredible.  You need to log  onto Golden Artist Colors, Inc. and check them out.  Anyway I've got work to do and I need to be thinking about what color is next...shall we say YELLOWS!  See you soon.]]> tag:blog.chriscozenartist.com,2008-06-18:67b578d4-93cb-43e7-8c64-598f600710ae Chris Cozen Artist 2008-06-18T14:37:01Z 2008-06-18T14:20:00Z I want to thank all of you who have bought the book, tried out the techniques and are hopefully now busy making your own "altered surfaces!"  These past few months have really been busy for me between life and work.  As if it wasn't busy enough I decided to start writing another book and once that happened, I didn't have any time left! 

When I am out teaching I get a lot of questions about the difference between the Fluid Acrylic Colors and the Heavy Body Acrylic Colors.  Well, just so you know the major difference is simply the VISCOSITY of the paint.  The Fluid Paints are pourable, and have a thinner viscosity than the Heavy Body Paints.  You will find the Fluid Paints in pop top containers and the Heavy Body Paints in either tubes or round tubs with screw tops. 

The pigments are the same for both paints.  That means that there is no "watering down" of Fluids to get them thinner than the Heavy Body Paints.  You get the same amount of pigment ounce for ounce with either of the paint types.  If you like smooth paint surfaces, use your acrylics for "water-media" type work, or want to drip, drop or pour your paints, then you will like the Fluid Acrylic Colors.  If you want oil paint like textures with impasto effects, then try the Heavy Body Colors. 

Personally, I have a penchant for mixing them up on my surfaces and switch between Fluids and Heavy Body Paints all the time.  I prefer the Screw Top Tubs over the tubes because I can put my palette knife into the tub and scoop out the paint I need and then easily recap the tub.  Also I find they are easier to store.  I'm not crazy about a jumble of paint tubes in my studio.

Remember that Golden gives you a paint swatch of the color you are selecting right on the outside of the container no matter what size.  You can easily check to see if the color is transparent or opaque by how much of the black lines can be seen through the paint. 

But don't be confused by a couple of the really dark pigments such as Dioxazine Purple and Anthraquinone Blue.  These are Transparent pigments but are very dark in their mass tone (what it looks like before it is spread out).  

I'm hoping to get more regular about this blog thing.  But check back occasionally and see how I am doing.  Again, thanks for all you did to support the book.  The new one will be out next year.]]> tag:blog.chriscozenartist.com,2008-02-01:cfae978c-0c61-4e7d-95a6-69a2f6077db8 Chris Cozen Artist 2008-06-18T14:43:42Z 2008-02-01T07:37:00Z
I wanted a "RED" "BLUE" and a "YELLOW"....pretty standard for color mixing one would think.  But I didn't want anything to read as PRIMARY colors so here is what I chose:  Quinacridone Magenta (RED), Turquois Phthalo (BLUE), and Nickel Azo Yelllow.   ELECTRIC choices.  So the plan was to mix a set of secondary colors only these three.  It works beautifully providing a mid-green, a good purple, and a "rusty orange"  All of these colors were Transparent pigments and they gave everyone the clear mixes I was looking for.  Each student also got a little  Iridescent Gold, Micaceous Iron Oxide, Titan Buff and Interference Violet.  This allowed everyone to make a set of 6 colors (primary and secondary).  With the Titan Buff added to any color they could create "tints" of any color that would be more opaque since the Titan Buff is an opaque color.  If they added Iridescent Gold to any of their 6 colors they would get "metallic" colors.  By adding the Interference Violet they would create even more. 

Sometimes when you limit yourself you get more creative by trying to solve the problem that confronts you.  The need to work in a tight schedule with a big agenda on a limited color palette was a real challenge.  But hopefully the end result will be successful.

Maybe you can try the combination and let me know how you liked it.]]> tag:blog.chriscozenartist.com,2007-11-14:d26d270c-e982-44d2-b61f-11e21fa373e6 Chris Cozen Artist 2007-11-14T18:00:24Z 2007-11-14T17:18:00Z I have been wanting to tell you about a special group of colors that are "sheerly" delightful.  Quinacridone pigments!  Since I work with Golden Artist Colors exclusively, I visited their website to "read up" on these pigments.  I was happy to learn that Golden has more Quins in their paint line than any other company.  In fact, they produce SEVEN (7) in their Heavy Body (thicker paints) and 6 in their fluid line.  The colors range from deep yellow (Quinacridone/Nickel Azo Gold) to a vibrant violet (Quin Violet).  All of the Quins are great mixing colors because they are highly transparent and have vibrant undertones.

What do I mean when I say a color is "highly transparent?"  Well, since paint is made of particles suspended in something to make it into paint; this refers primarily to the nature of the particles in the paint.  The particles in the Quins are flat and sheer and a bit like "stained glass" bits that have been suspended in acrylic medium. This makes them great for adding color on top of color, or creating glazes over collage images.  The other great thing about transparent pigments is they tend NOT to get muddy or turn gray.  They stay bright for you!

Let's talk a bit about each of the Quins:

Quin/Nickel Azo Gold:  This is a reformulation of the original Quinacridone Gold that is indistinquishable from the older formula.  Although it looks a lot like a Sienna in its "mass tone" (that would be full strength right out of the bottle or tube), it is has a yellow undertone that transforms it when applied to a surface.  You can't find that in a Sienna!  Try it to "age a page" or create a golden glaze.  It is a delicious way to create a faux "tea-stain" look or create a leathered patina to textured paper. When you apply it OVER another color the results are amazing. 

Quin/Burnt Orange:  This is a color unlike anything you have ever tried.  I promise you that.  Again, the "mass tone" looks dark and can be confusing at first look, but the color which looks brownish-red reveals a red-orange undertone when applied.  Spectacular does not begin to describe it.  You must try it as a glaze over yellow, or magenta, or any other lighter color. 

Just so you know these two color above are unique to Golden!  They are worth their weight in gold in your palette!

The remainder of the Quinacridone colors range from Red through Magenta to Violet.  They are by name: Quinacridone Red (on the cool side of red), Quinacridone Red Light (in Heavy Body only), Quinacridone Crimson (a browner red), Quinacridone Magenta, and Quinacridone Violet.  All of the Quin "red" family tends toward the pink side when mixed with white allowing you to create a full range of pinks and lavenders.  Alone they can be mixed with various transparent blues (more on them at a later date!) to give you great transparent lavenders and purples.

The pigment load in all of the Golden paints is very strong and I recommend that you start your experimenting with the smallest amount possible and see just how intense each color really is.  This way you will have a better understanding of how much Quin you need to make a change in another color either by mixing it in or by creating a glaze to brush over. 

I highly recommend getting some Acrylic Glazing Liquid (also through Golden) for creating glazes and for extending your open time.  It keeps your paint on the palette from drying out too quickly and is a great product if you like creating layers of sheer color.

Well, that's all for now, I hope to hear from you about your own experiences with the "Mighty Quins!"  Happy painting.




]]> tag:blog.chriscozenartist.com,2007-11-04:a4930891-6d16-4a24-a1b3-b22514207207 Chris Cozen Artist 2007-11-04T15:03:26Z 2007-11-04T14:29:00Z Hi Everyone,  This is my opening entry in my new blog...Let's Talk Color!  I wanted to tell you about my fun day yesterday at Stamp Your Heart Outin Claremont, CA!  I love this place, it's fun, colorful (I take a little responsibility for that!) and it's alway great to visit with my long time friend and owner of the store, Joan Bunte. 

The class yesterday focused on creating colorful "hand-decorated" papers out of plain everyday papers!  By now, if you have looked at my website, you may have guessed I work with GOLDEN ARTIST COLORS exclusively.  Their paints are the most wonderful, luscious, and intensely pigmented artist paints you can find!  I speak from experience.  Anyway, 10 of us spent four hours learning the ins and outs of applying layers of paints on paper to create all kinds of wonderful papers.  For the one below we used crumbled up deli-wrap paper...YES, deli wrap papers.  They are kind of a sturdy transluscent tissue paper that has a fairly slick surface.  By applying fine layers of iridescent (these look like metals and pearls) and interference (a little hard to explain, but filled with sparkle and light) as well as some colors the results shimmer!  Really fun.  We also learned about creating patterns,glazing surfaces and manipulating the glaze, how the interference colors actually "flip" over black surfaces,using the iridescent and interference paints to change the surface of the paper and generally had a terrific time.  If you missed out on this class and are interested in taking it, I'll be repeating it in greater detail at TheARTbar in Santa Ana in early December.  


 
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Oh, and while you are out there looking for classes to take, please visit my friend DiAnn Ogawa at Stamping Details in Poway, CA near San Diego.  This is a great place to really build your creative abilities.  They offer SO many classes and have such a great staff!  I'll be there for a weekend of fun-filled new classes over November 30- Dec 1-2!  We are stretching our abilities to working on Plexi & Plastic with Acrylics!  So much fun.  Sign up early, classes fill up quick.  If you go for a visit, be sure to say hi for me.


One last thing, my book "ALTERED SURFACES" is due out in late January 2008.  I'm looking forward to all of your reactions.  The rough draft is beautiful and Suzanne and her staff at Design Originals did a terrific job with all of the layout and formatting.  I know you will find it really helpful as I explained so many of the details about Acrylic paints and products that I talk about all the time!

I'll say goodbye for now, but I'll be writing more soon.  Look for a little conversation about QUINACRIDONE colors...The Mighty "Quins".



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