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Acrylic paints became commercially available in the 1950’s but were a mineral spirit-based paint. The water-based paints sold shortly after were a combination of binder, filler, pigment and water. Artists began to discover this acrylic paint and artist quality acrylics became commercially available in the 1960’s.

Acrylic paint is a modern media when compared with watercolour and oil. Oil for example has been used by artists as far back at the 15th century and watercolour has been used as an artist medium since the Renaissance. With such history of these other two mediums, acrylic is always fighting to gain recognition. Acrylic has distinct characteristics as oil and watercolour do and the National Acrylic Painters’ Association was set up in 1985 to champion and support this media. Acrylic is capable of the widest range of approaches of any artist media and enables even more creativity, fresh ideas and progression. Artwork has been created in acrylic paint but artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Motherwell, Mark Rothko, Bridget Riley and David Hockney to name just a few.

There are now a huge number of artists producing canvas artwork using acrylics and making the optimum use of this versatile media. It has enabled canvas art to be bought by a wider audience due to its fast drying nature and artwork can be created much quicker so a real business can be made out of acrylic artwork. Exhibitions have been in such prestigious venues as the Westminster Gallery and the Durham Art Gallery solely exhibiting and championing acrylic work. Books have been written purely on the characteristics of acrylic paint such as “New Tricks and Techniques for Working with the World’s Most Versatile Medium” by Nancy Reyner and “The New Acrylics:Complete Guide to the New Generation of Acrylic Paints.

Kris Hardy, the artist based in Hull, East Yorkshire who produces original acrylic on canvas artwork, has been selected by 60 Minute Makeover to supply the show with his canvas artwork. The first show for Kris will be in Cobham in Surry where he is due to produce two canvas art pieces for the living room/dining room. It is anticipated that he will also be supplying the Taunton show two weeks later.

Unlike many of the suppliers to the show, Kris will be producing his canvas art in real time within the 60 minutes. He is due to be painting under a canopy outside. The colour pallet will be given to him by the show’s designer which in the case of the Cobham show will be Derek Taylor. Derek will advise Kris on the colour scheme so his artwork can complement the decor. He is due to be interviewed regarding the work he is supplying by Terri Dwyer, the shows presenter.  Kris is hoping this fantastic opportunity will showcase his art to a wider audience. Launched in 2004, 60 Minute Makeover is a very popular daytime, reality television show on ITV aired at 2.00pm until 3.00pm. The designers and crew makeover four rooms in each house as a surprise for a nominated owner or resident. At the end of the show, the revamped rooms are revealed to the deserving person.
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East Yorkshire is not an area that is first thought of when talking about art hot spots in the UK but this part of Yorkshire is fast becoming one.

One very famous artist by the name of David Hockney, although from West Yorkshire, produced a series of paintings of the East Yorkshire landscape. David Hockney is arguably the most famous and influential British artist of the 20th century. David Hockney’s paintings are renowned around the world having exhibited his canvas art in New York, Germany, Japan and Portugal.

A series of five East Yorkshire landscapes were shown for the first time at Tate Britain in 2007. This beautiful area is often misunderstood by the people of the UK associating this area with fishing and flat, unspectacular landscapes. Hockney changed this perception and along with the regeneration of East Yorkshire, most notably Hull, this area is finally being put on the map for the right reasons.
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