I've been on an "acrylic kick" for a few years. Somehow it seems to work for me: the immediacy of pastels with the freedom of mixing my own colors, and the forgiving nature of the medium allows me to cover up previous layers entirely. My last two series of paintings, Little Coast and Femme Flora, have both been entirely in acrylic.
Yet there's an elephant in the room with most paint, especially acrylics: where does the waste created by painting go?
I'm currently enrolled in a Master of Arts in Professional Writing degree at New England College, and just completed my first course, Business and Technical Communication. For an infographic assignment, I decided to research this topic and find a solution. (Shoutout to my good friend Kathleen, who used to work in the water treatment industry, and encouraged me to learn more about the pigments I'm using that aren't filtered out at most treatment facilities.)
I've already implemented some of the options suggested here into my painting practice. If you're here, you're probably interested in making your painting practice more sustainable, too. Let's not delay any longer, then- here's my infographic with what I learned and what we can do about it!
I hope this information will help you make your painting practice more environmentally friendly. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Is there anything you were surprised by, or anything you're going to start doing?