Hello! My name is Romina. I’m a self-taught painter. I started painting with acrylic two years ago. One of my goals in 2020 was to learn to paint.
My first acrylic painting in 2020 One of my painting in 2021
I spent years wanting to learn how to paint. Time is precious, don’t waste it like me. The only way is to begin at once.
I know! Learning by yourself is hard. I spent months understanding how to use the materials. That is why I created this blog, to make the whole process easier for you.
In this post, I will show you three basic techniques to get started in acrylic painting. I will give you several useful tips as well.
Let’s get started!
Materials
What materials do you need to learn these techniques?
- A surface to paint. Thick paper or cardboard. I normally use Bristol paper 250 or 300 g/m². In this demonstration I use white cardboard.
- 2 tubes of acrylic paint (of the colors you like)
- A synthetic acrylic paint brush. Size 6 (brushes come in different shapes, choose the one you like)
- A disposable palette
- Two containers with water
- Paper towel or cotton cloth
Tip 1: In the beginning, you don’t need the best paints. The student lines are the best to start with.
If you want to know about brushes, take a look at this post.
Tip 3: You don’t need to buy a disposable palette. You can use a disposable plate, a piece of cardboard, a plastic lid, or something similar. Keep in mind that acrylic paint, once dry, is difficult to remove.
Techniques
1- Consistency ot the paint
First of all, you must know your materials. The consistency of the paint is important to learn how to handle it.
Put some paint on your palette. Try loading the brush and making a brush stroke. Surely you feel heavy and leave the mark of the brush.
Now do the same, but add a little water to the paint. This time the brushstroke will feel light and fluid. The remaining brushstroke is more defined.
Tip 4: Add more water to the acrylic paint for a watercolor effect.
2- Opacity
Acrylic paint is opaque. This means that, once dry, you can paint with another color and cover the one below.
Tip 5 Yellow pigments tend to be less opaque.
3- Blending
Acrylic dries fast. This makes blending two colors a bit tricky. And it can be a bit frustrating for beginners.
To make things easier for you I am going to explain two basic techniques of blending with acrylic paint.
To be able to practice them, draw two rectangles.
First blending technique
Paint each side of the rectangle a color.
Then mix a little bit of each color on the palette. Paint the space in the middle of the rectangle with the new color.
Keep mixing the colors to blur the lines that remain between them.
Second blending technique
Paint the entire rectangle with one of the colors.
Add enough water to the other color and paint layer after layer to achieve the blending effect.
Tip 6: Even if acrylic dries quickly, be careful with brush strokes. Make sure the layer you paint on is dry or it will be ruined. Especially when it has added water.
You can see all the techniques to paint with acrylic in this video.
Final comments
After reading this tutorial on how to paint with acrylics, you have no excuse to start with your New Year’s resolution.
This is the first of many post, so I hope to see you here again.
Comment on this post if you liked it or if you found it useful or if you had doubts or if you want me to write about a specific topic.
You can also share with me your practices on instagram with the hashtag #momilottapaint. I will be very happy to see your work.
