Discover the versatility of Flashe Vinyl Acrylic
Flashe Vinyl Acrylic is a unique artists acrylic that bridges the gap for many artists between the handling properties of both Gouache and Acrylic. These features make it a truly versatile artists colour that is worthy of being considered a staple for many artists and many techniques and applications.
It’s self-leveling characteristics, dense and opaque covering power and perfect matte surface finish are reminiscent of the favoured properties of gouache for artists and illustrators. However, unlike gouache, the paint film does not re-activate with water when dry and is more flexible and stable for use on a larger selection of surfaces and for outdoor display of artwork.
Flashe was developed in the 1950’s and was a pioneering vinyl colour, using a vinyl resin emulsion (unlike other traditional acrylic resins), with handling properties that gave artists new creative freedoms with their technical approaches, surfaces that they created on and the resulting expressiveness of their artworks.
A truly versatile colour, Flashe Vinyl Acrylic is used not only for fine art, but has found a home with artisans of all disciplines such as graphic art and illustration, comic artists, model-makers, mural artists, sculptors, and interior designers.
Flashe colour has a very high pigment load which guarantees vibrant colour integrity even in the thinnest of colour. Thin, watercolour-like washes retain strong vibrant colour, and you require very little colour to successfully tint your whites due to their powerful tinting strength. The dense pigmentation and solid matte finish gives Flashe Vinyl Acrylic great covering power across surface and other colours. Less overworking is required which all adds up to requiring less paint to do the job, and that has got to be a good thing for the hip pocket!
Another special feature is that unlike many acrylic paints, there is no colour shift from wet paint to dry, which is a huge advantage when trying to match and predict your colour mixing in the final work and when working on an artwork over different painting sessions.
Flashe Vinyl Acrylic's unique vinyl emulsion binder, has been specifically formulated to be supple and flexible, for the stability of the surface coat and to create a smooth, flat surface that does not retain brush mark textures and reflections that distract from the image created. The ultra-adherent binder formulation enables the paint to be applied to a larger variety of non-oily surfaces without the use of primers, which extends the creative freedom of the artist. Such surfaces as metal, stone, plastic, polystyrene, wood, canvas, paper are successfully used. These features, along with the flexible surface and light-fast colours make Flashe Vinyl Acrylic a perfect choice for any outdoor or mural painting and so mane different possibilities.
For those artists specifically creating for digital reproduction, Flashe Vinyl acrylics perfectly matte finish is the go-to choose for digital capture with the elimination of surface glare.
It is used also by some artists as an under-painting as its subtle matte surface does not distract the eye with reflection and the unique velvety flat surface texture provides great ‘tooth’ for applying other paint mediums in successive layers.
Explore your creative freedoms with this unique and versatile vinyl acrylic paint.
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Supplies stock the complete range of Flashe Acrylic colours, including their exciting Fluorescent and Iridescent colours.
DOWNLOAD The Lefranc & Bourgeois Flashe Acrylic Guide Here.
Application Tips:
Flashe can be applied with any type of brush directly without being diluted. Softer haired brushes will achieve the finest surface results however for other styles of marks stiffer hairs are often used. Foe other effects Flashe can be applied with sponges and rollers and for extremely smooth application and gradients, airbrushes are used with suitable dilution of the paint with medium or water.
For watercolour effects, dilute with 1/3 to 2/3 water as desired, creating beautiful intense washes and patinas on other surfaces.
If you want to varnish the artwork, a matt varnish is recommended to maintain the flat surface and dense vibrancy of the colour without altering the shade. A gloss varnish will make the tones deeper and more vivid.
To clean your brushes simply use water for wet paint and warm water with alcohol for dried paint.
We hope this little summary of Lefranc & Bourgeois Flashe Acrylic paint has been helpful.
Buy Flashe Acrylic online here at Parkers Sydney Fine Art Supplies.
