Acrylic Series: A Cuppa

When I happened upon some mini-canvases at the art store this winter, I decided to take up my old acrylic painting habit.  

Acrylic is not popular with everyone. One of my art teachers hated acrylics with passion:"it's like trying to paint with bubble gum!"

Acrylic was what we were taught with back in school- because it was inexpensive.  And I'd gotten used to it, and continued painting with it a long time precisely because it's cheap.
And because it dries fast. I'm admittedly impatient about drying time.  Well, okay, and because gouache just never really did it for me. Gouache doesn't have the clear and pretty tones of watercolour/inks, nor the body of acrylic, and it just dissolves when you try to layer it up. Though, perhaps that was due to my lack of patience, too.

So throughout my design training, I'd stuck to my lumpy acrylics.  I'd thin then into fake watercolour, and thicken them into fake oils. 

But after these past few years mostly dedicated to ink and watercolours (with the exception of making props or random murals), I have to admit, it's trickier now to handle the old bubble gum. It's still fun though!

Wanting to pay tribute to the delightful tea tradition here in in the UK, I'm made my own take on a cuppa. I adore a good cup of tea. 

The painting itself is all in acrylic, with a few helpful drops of Encre Sennelier ink in the background to boost the yellow background colour.

As for the biscuit, it's just a bit of fun.
I will be picking up oils at some point, when I decide my patience can handle it.