Thanks for leaving such a nice comment! The fact that people find some sort of value in my videos encourages me to make more. 🙂

Thanks Wendy!

Blu Tansy you’re welcome! 😊

@@ChrisBreier I see that many painters sketch on the canvas before painting , so i wonder if i should learn to sketch before painting ?

can i replicate this as a begginer or its too soon?

I must agree as a watercolorist and career drawer (guffaw) the amount of hard information with no fluff blew me away, this will drastically change my acrylics!! Pure gratitude 🙇🏻‍♂️

Thanks for the encouragement! I plan on posting more videos.soon. I’m also working on making video courses, I just released one on color mixing chrisb.thinkific.com/courses/color-mixing-course

I love 💕 the amount of information you give,💝in this interesting💓💞video thanks for the beautiful💕video you shared.,..

Thanks for the compliment and the encouragement!

Thanks, I'm glad that it helped! 🖌

You’re welcome! 🙂

Thanks Michael for the kind words!

You're welcome! I don't like using solvents either. Aside from open acrylics, I occasionally use water mixable oils which clean up with soap and water. They have a faint smell of linseed oil which isn't that bad.

I’ve seen other artists use makeup brushes too. I’m glad you found my video helpful!

Thanks! I'm glad that you find my videos useful!

Thanks! 😊

Thanks for the tip!

Thanks! I try to keep my videos down to a length that's watchable, but maybe I'll do a full length video in the future. Thanks for the suggestion! 😀

Glad it was helpful!

Thanks! You should do it, that would be cool!

Thank! If you do try oils, you may want to look into water mixable oils. I like the ones from Cobra.

@@ChrisBreier Thanks for the tip. I did get a few neutrals awhile back to try them without getting into color at first, but, alas, have not had a chance to use them, but check them out. Love your tips about the stay-wet pallet and the Open brand, so am going to experiment a bit in grayscale to not have to invest too much at first until I see how it all goes. Thanks again. Hope you keep making such helpful videos!

Glad it was helpful!😀

You’re welcome Sarah!

Thanks! As I say at the beginning-the key is to use retarder to slow down the drying time of acrylics. It's not necessary to switch to open acrylics, especially if you already have a large selection of another brand. Almost every brand of acrylics has some form of retarder or slow drying medium. It's worth experimenting with them to find the one that works for you because the slower drying times will make it possible to use the blending techniques I used in the video. 🙂

The way that I normally deal with the color shift is that I mix the color that I want and then I just make it slightly lighter. If the color is really critical you can brush it on some scrap paper and dry it with a hairdryer to see if it matches. People often ask about having to remix a color when you run out. I find that it's best to mix more than you need and to keep a portion of it wet so that you can match the color of the wet paint, before it has a chance to dry and darken....if that makes sense.

I agree- mixing retarder with regular acrylics is definitely more complicated than just buying tubes of open acrylics! 😄 There are a number of factors that will influence the effectiveness of the retarder. For example, some brands of retarders seem to work better than others. One thing that I want to test out is using Golden open thinner as a retarder. I believe it contains the same retarder and humectants as their line of open acrylics. So it would be interesting to see if it's more effective than regular acrylic retarders. Another important factor is the temperature and humidity levels in your working environment. If your acrylics dry in less than a minute then you must live in a hot and dry location?For me, it's more humid in the summer so my paints don't dry out as quickly. Interactive acrylics are another interesting option. Once they start to dry you can rewet them by misting them with water. They also have an "unlocking formula" that you can spray on to the surface to rewet paint that has recently dried.

@@ChrisBreier thankS. That’s v interesting. I’ve only used Daley Rowney gel. I ought perhaps try the other retardants. I live in the UK but I find the paint dries pretty quickly, within minutes (ok...maybe not less than a minute, but it’s not much more than that).

Just answered my own question by watching the video again lol

Thanks! Yep, it’s a cheap watercolor brush from the craft store. Look for one that doesn’t shed bristles so you don’t have to pick them out of the wet paint.🙂

Thanks! I’m using Golden open acrylics in this video which already contain retarder. Liquitex makes a couple of slow drying products. There’s slo dri fluid additive which I believe is pure retarder without any acrylic medium. There’s a limit to how much you should add because it might take a very long time to dry if you add too much to your paint, or it might remain permanently tacky when it does dry. They also make slo dri blending medium which is an acrylic medium with retarder added to it in the right proportions, and I believe you can add as much of this product to your paints as you want. It sounds a little confusing but you just have to figure out which product you have and follow the instructions on the label..