the.com/acrylic
plastic pretending to be glass, paint, or fingernails — and nailing every disguise.
means A synthetic plastic or resin derived from acrylic acid, used to make clear sheets, fast-drying paints, fibers, and false fingernails.
from From 'acrolein,' the sharp-smelling compound first distilled from glycerol, whose name fused Latin 'acer' (sharp, pungent — the same root behind 'acid' and 'acrid') with 'olere' (to smell). Chemists derived 'acrylic acid' from acrolein, and the family of plastics and paints made from it inherited the name — so 'acrylic' literally carries the memory of a smell that made early chemists wince.
- Origins
- First synthesized commercially as Plexiglas in the 1930s.
- War service
- Shielded WWII fighter pilots as bulletproof canopies.
- Artist favorite
- Dries fast, lets painters layer in hours not weeks.
- Aquarium walls
- Holds back millions of gallons better than glass.
- Lighter
- Half the weight of glass, far harder to shatter.
david hockney pool paintings — british artist created iconic series starting 1964 depicting los angeles swimming pools
andy warhol soup cans — 1962 campbell's soup series silk-screened acrylic on canvas, 32 paintings