Beards and Quality Paints

Beards are a pain to paint. And it seems that beards and tattoos are inseparable. However, the palette knife has become my best friend when painting beards, the palette knife and good quality paints. I have for the last few years been ignoring my tutors advice and lectures on the benefits of quality paints, I have been hearing the words 'add to the painting' and seeing my bank account drop very significantly. And with the work I was producing before arguably the paint quality wasn't that important but for my new series I finally took that leap and bought paint, Cryla Artist Acrylics. Why I ever used anything else I don't know. The colours are intense and the texture of the paint is fantastic, thick and smooth, impasto is no longer just a dream anymore, my paintings have life and a a body they never had before helped by the gel mediums I also bought. So now when I block out large blocks for the beard I block out what is underneath and leave palette knife marks behind to give texture and depth making those tricky beard a bit less of a challenge to paint.