Artists' materials such as oils, acrylics, and watercolor are composed of ground pigments combined with binding solutions that are applied to a surface in wet form. How these ground pigments are combined with different binding mediums is what makes them have a different appearance.
Oil paint matures to a film of dried oil and pigment. Colors can be easily blended because the paint dries slowly. It is versatile because it can be applied in thin transparent layers as well as thick opaque layers.
Acrylic polymer emulsion is a water-soluble paint when wet and a flexible, waterproof, non-yellowing film when dry. Developed and refined since the 1950’s, it shares the same versatility as oils except that it dries much faster and mixes with water instead of oil.
Watercolor pigments are bound with water-soluble mediums that act as a vehicle for the pigment to flow. The paint does not dry to a film as do other wet mediums, which allows transparent layered effects. It will dilute with water even when the paint dries.
Shane McDonald works mostly in oils, charcoals, and pastels; however he has experimented with many other mediums—watercolor being the most significant.
Shane occasionally works as a pastel portrait sketch artist for various companies. Here he works on a pastel portrait at Saks Fifth Avenue.
Naturally-occuring elements such as graphite and carbonized wood can be applied to a surface in dry form without the use of water or other solutions. Ground pigments can be compressed or bound with semi-dry binders to make crayons or colored pencil leads.
Pencil lead is made from graphite, a plate-like crystal of carbon formed from earth’s heat and pressure.
Charcoal is made from carbonized willow wood that is kiln-fired in an air-tight fashion.
Pastel is a dry powdered pigment molded into a crayon shape with binding solution. The word pastel is derived from the paste made by grinding the pigment and liquid binding solution. When properly framed and displayed, pastel is among the most permanent of all media.