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Beginners Guide to Acrylic Painting

rserpe — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:35:26 +0000

The acrylic painting medium is fairly new and has only been around since the 1950’s. Since then, it has continually been under development and refinement. Acrylic paint is highly favored amongst artists because of its versatility. It can be applied in a thick fashion as an impasto having rich texture or in washes mimicking the characteristics of watercolor. Another likable characteristic of acrylic paint is its permanence. Unlike oil paints, acrylic paint is not susceptible to yellowing or hardening with age. With acrylic paint, the artist does not need to be concerned with the order the paint is applied or other special techniques that ensure the paint film remains free from cracking.

So now that you know a bit more about the acrylic painting medium, I am sure you want to get started. This beginners guide to acrylic painting will provide you with all of the information and resources that you need to get started and improve your painting skills.

Acrylic Painting Supplies

The first thing you are going to need to get started is your painting supplies of course. With acrylics, there is no need to go overboard on supplies. All that is really needed is a good quality paint set, a few brushes and a canvas or other support. Since acrylic paint is a water based painting medium, there is no need for any special mediums. All you need to change the consistency of acrylic paints is plain old water. Clean up is a cinch as well. Your brushes can be cleaned with plain old soap and water.

Paints

I recommend the following paint set for beginners. The paints included in this set are of good quality and contain more than enough colors for beginners:

Brushes

When choosing your paint brushes, do not buy cheap brushes! It is not worth it just to save a few bucks. Nothing compares to the control and feel of a good brush. I like to work with Robert Simmons brushes. I have been using them for several years now and they never let me down. If you take care of them, they will last for a long time. Below is a link to where you can buy them. These brushes are called ROBERT SIMMONS Simply Simmons Value Brush Sets and just like the name implies, these brushes are a great value. There are a variety of different sets below that cater to different needs and painting styles. Choose one or a few and enjoy!

Robert Simmons Simply Simmons Value Brush Sets In Set

A versatile range of short handled brushes. Artist quality dark tipped synthetic filament with excellent spring, fine point, and sharp chisel edge. The Robert Simmons brush delivers the performance required for the most demanding projects. Individually hand-crafted from start to finish by brush-makers with generations of experience. The seamless brass and aluminum ferrules are permanently bonded to lacquer dipped hardwood handles for dependability.

Special Effects Set–flat wash size 3/4, big foot stippler size 5/8, and filbert comb size 10.
Bold and Beautiful Set–bristle bright size 3/4, 1/2, 1.
Wash and Dry Set–scumbler size 8, filbert wash size 3/4, round wash size 26.
Devilish Detail Set–liner size 10/0, flat shader size 4, filbert size 4, spotter size 5/0, script size 1.
Work Horse Set–round size 5, flat shader size 12, filbert size 8, angle shader size 1/2.
Comb Combo Set–flat comb size 3/4, filbert comb size 6, angle comb size 3/8.Mop-Up Set–oval mop size 1/2 and 3/4, flat wash size 1/2.
Everything Set–flat shader size 2, round size 1, filbert size 6, liner size 1, flat shader size 10.
Go-To set–liner 10/0, angle shader 1/4, round size 3, filbert size 4, flat shader size 8.
Rake-It set–filbert comb size 8, round size 3, flat shader size 6, flat comb size 12.
Different Strokes Set–big foot stippler size 1/2, angle shader size 3/8, round size 5, scumbler size 4.
Creative Instinct Set–round size 0, big foot stippler size 3/8, angle comb size 1/4, flat shader size 8 and 4.

Caring For Brushes

Learning how to properly care for your brushes is one of the most important aspects of painting. You should clean your brushes thoroughly after each painting session and here is how.

Step 1 – Using a soft cloth, wipe off the excess paint. This is done by gently squeezing the brush from the top of the ferrule toward the end of the brush with your soft cloth. Do not pull too hard as you can remove hairs and damage your brush.

Step 2 – Once you have all of the excess paint removed, wash the brushes in a mild soap and water. You want to wash the brush until you remove as much paint as humanly possible. I recommend using MASTERS Brush Cleaner and Preserver. This is a wonderful product and is very popular amongst the art community. Not only does it thoroughly clean acrylic brushes, but it also helps preserve your brushes making them last longer. Below is a link to where you can purchase this cleaner online:

Step 3 – Once you are sure that you have removed as much paint as possible and any excess water, dip the brush into a tiny bit of the preserver and shape it back to its original form.

Step 4 – Let your brushes dry at room temperature and do not let them dry resting on the head of the brush. This will cause the brush to dry out of shape. I leave my brushes standing up with the heads facing the ceiling in a large empty coffee can.

Supports

A support is the surface that you paint on. Stretched canvas, canvas board, canvas paper and even wood can be used as supports. Whatever surface you decide to use, make certain that the surface is prepared to accept the acrylic paint. This preparation process is known as “sizing”. Sizing is when you apply a product like gesso or primer (otherwise known as a “ground”) which seals the surface making it less absorbent. Most supports that you will purchase will already be prepared for painting, so chances are you won’t have to do any preparation on your own. In the beginning when you are just experimenting, it is best to use a less expensive support until you become more experienced. Below are some excellent choices:

Other Tools & Supplies

Palette

A Palette is a surface that you use to lay out your colors for mixing and application. There are a wide variety of palettes for acrylic paints. Everything from glass to plastic can be used. My favorite palette to use by far is the Masterson Sta-Wet Painters Pal Palette. This palette solves a major problem with acrylic paints and that is their very fast drying time. On a normal palette your paints can begin to dry within minutes and whatever extra paint you have on your palette at the end of a painting session is wasted. With the Masterson Sta-Wet Palette, your paints will stay moist on the open palette for hours. Once you cover the palette with the included lid, your paints will stay moist and workable for days , possibly weeks. I have included a link below to where you can learn more about and purchase the Masterson Sta-Wet Palette:

Masterson Sta-Wet Painters Pal Palette no. 912 Sta-Wet Painters Pal

No more wasted paint… Masterson’s patented process keeps acrylics and other waterbased paints moist on the open palette for hours. Once the lid is closed, the paints will stay in workable condition for days, even weeks. A wet sponge and special permeable palette paper provide the paint with a constant source of moisture. Paints will not dry out. Simply soak the palette in water until it is fully saturated. Saturate the sponge and place it in the tray. Lay the palette paper on top of the sponge, wipe off excess water from the paper, and put your paints on the wet paper. The paints will slowly absorb moisture as needed without changing the consistency or color value. You can mix paints on the wet paper without tearing it. Sta-Wet Painters Pal contains five sheets of Sta-Wet acrylic palette paper, cellulose sponge, palette tray and lid, five paint cups and detachable lids, one solvent cup with attached lid, storage area beneath removable cup holder tray, complete instructions for preparation and use. Overall container size is 13 in. x 12 in. x 1 1/2 in. Palette size is 9 in. x 12 in. Storage cups fits inside Sta-Wet Painter’s Pal for temporary paint storage or use separately for holding various craft items. 1 3/4 in. diameter x 1 in. depth; 3/4 oz. capacity. Solvent cups fits inside Sta-Wet Painter’s or use separately as dripless storage containers for turpentine, brush cleaner, extensors, and other liquid media. 1 1/2 in. diameter x 3/4 in. depth; 1/2 oz. capacity.

Painting & Palette Knives

You may also wish to purchase other supplies to experiment with as you become more experienced with acrylic paint. Brushes are not the only tool that you can use to manipulate the paint around your support. Painting knives, while traditionally used with oil paints, can also be used with acrylics. Palette knives are made specifically for mixing paint on the palette where painting knives are used for moving paint around on your support. You may run into a problem using a painting knife with acrylic paint. Not all acrylic paints are ideal for working with a knife. Some have a thick, stiff and buttery consistency, while others are more runny. If you are using a runnier acrylic paint, and you are interested in working with painting knives, then you will need to use a special medium that will give your paint more body.

Atomizer

An atomizer is basically a spray bottle that you fill with water. You can use an atomizer to spray a very fine mist of water over your palette or canvas to keep your paints moist and workable.

Sponges

Sponges are handy little tools to have available during your painting sessions. You can use sponges to spread out your paint over a large area or to create interesting effects with paint.

Acrylic Painting Lessons & Techniques

So you now have a better understanding of the supplies you are going to need to get started. Let’s put those supplies to good use by learning how to paint with acrylics! As stated in the beginning of this guide, acrylic paints are quite versatile opening the door to many exciting and interesting techniques.

Instead of trying to recreate the wheel so to speak, and discuss acrylic painting lessons and techniques in this post, I thought it would be much easier to just direct you to the many great lessons that are posted here on this blog and my other website Creativespotlite.com:

Acrylic Painting Techniques

A Direct Approach to Acrylic Painting by Greg Biolchini

After Monet – Acrylic Painting Demonstration By Brian Rice

Painting a Mural For a Church By Julie Lamons

Acrylic Painting Demonstration & Tips By Lesly Finn

At The Dock – An Acrylic Painting Demonstration by Brian Rice

Learn Acrylic Painting – Painting Demo by Lorraine Vatcher

Acrylic painting tutorial By Harmony Steel

7-STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL PAINTING

Acrylic Painting Tips & Techniques

Jim Pescott’s Dottalism Process

Acrylic Painting Demonstration – Mystic Past

Animal Portrait Demonstration – Stanley

Follow this link for free acrylic painting video lessons

Learn and Master Painting – An Artists Review

rserpe — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 02:15:10 +0000

Learn & Master Painting is quite easily the best home instruction course available in teaching you how to paint with oils.

Unlike most of the people reviewing this course online, I am an artist and actually own this course, so rest assured you are getting an honest review..

I like to refer to Learn and Master Painting as an “Art School in a Box”, because it is quite literally like attending a professional Art School within the comfort of your own home,without the huge price tag associated with professional instruction.

Not only is the course professional and affordable, but unlike attending an art school, you have the ability to watch these lessons over and over again. So if something does not sink in right away, you can play the DVD’s again and practice something until it does.

The Learn and Master Painting home study course was designed by Master Artist, Gayle Levee. It can be quite difficult to find a teacher that is not only talented, but one that is also a good teacher and communicator. Gaylee Levee is all three. You can learn more about Gayle by visiting her website.

I know how unbelievably frustrating it is when you are just starting out. You have an enormous amount of creativity within you that is just screaming to be poured out onto the canvas, but you just can’t seem to get over those beginner hurdles. The Learn & Master Painting course is your solution.

The Learn and Master Painting course comes jam packed with 20 professionally produced DVD’s, 3 Music CD’s (you can listen to these while you are painting), a detailed lesson book with extra information, and a free support website that will provide you with access to an entire community of artists who have also purchased the Learn and Master Painting Course. There you will find support and encouragement from instructor Gaylee Levee as well as from other students from all over the world.

So, if you have the desire and the patience that is necessary to become an accomplished artist and to start producing your own masterpieces, then I highly recommend you take the next step and invest in the Learn and Master Painting Course.

Gaylee Levee will take you step by step through the process of becoming an accomplished painter. You will learn about perspective, how to organize your studio, how to care for your art materials, how to develop compositions….all of the foundational skills needed to become the artist you have always aspired to be.

My favorite part of this course is that you will be able to complete several paintings along with Gayle from start to finish! It doesn’t get much better than this.

Feel like you may be too experienced for this course? Think again—I bet this course has something to teach you as well. This course has advanced training like perspective and color theory that aren’t available in most training courses.

Whatever difficulties and problems you are experiencing right now, Learn & Master Painting is the solution. This course is surprisingly affordable for what it contains and there are flexible payment options to fit most budgets.

I recommend this course wholeheartedly to anyone wishing to learn how to become an accomplished artist. There is no other home study course in existence today of this caliber.

So are you ready to become a master painter? Head on over and order the world’s most complete video instruction course for painting now! I know you are going to enjoy this course.

Acrylic Painting Tips & Techniques For Beginners

rserpe — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:41:01 +0000

Acrylic paint, when compared with other mediums like oil paint, is a fairly new addition to the world of painting. It has only been around since the 1950’s . It has been continually under development and refinement since that time. Just because acrylic paint has not been around as long as oils, does not make these paints less important or enjoyable.

Some of the wonderful benefits of using acrylic paints are their versatility, permanence and ease of use. These paints can be applied thickly as an impasto or in thin washes similar to watercolor. Acrylic paint does not yellow or harden with age like oils.

Another reason artists love to work with acrylics is their fast drying time. Since acrylic paint dries so quickly, colors can be applied and layered quicker than oil paints. But with this fast drying time comes a few disadvantages:

1) The paint will not remain workable for very long, so you have to work fast.

2) Brushes can be ruined if you do not clean them right away.

3) If you plan to paint outdoors, then acrylic paint is probably not the best medium to use, especially on a hot sunny day. When you lay out your colors on a palette or other surface, they will begin to dry quickly forming skins on the surface, making them quite difficult to work with.

Acrylic Painting Techniques

Watercolor Effects

Many artists like to use acrylics in a fluid state, similar to watercolor. There is a notable difference though. With acrylics, washes can be layered on top of one another without fear of disturbing the colors underneath. You must wait for one layer to dry completely before applying another of course. Once each layer dries it becomes insoluble in water. One disadvantage to using acrylics as a watercolor medium is the difficulty in modifying the color. Once acrylic paint begins to dry it becomes very difficult to modify and washes can sometime dry with unwanted hard edges. You can avoid this problem in one of two ways. You can either dampen the paper before the paint is applied or you can use an additional brush dampened with water. Use one brush to apply the paint and immediately soften the edge with the other brush that has been dampened with the water.

Pouring & Dripping Technique

This technique was made popular by the master painter Jackson Pollock in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. You use a very fluid acrylic paint for this technique. You can pour it directly on the canvas or dip a brush into the paint and let it drip down onto the canvas. You can create some very interesting effects with this technique. Check out Jackson Pollocks work to see this technique in action.

Sgraffito Technique

Sgraffito is a scratching technique. It got its name from the Italian word graffiare which literally means to scratch. Just as the name implies it involves scratching into the surface of the wet paint which reveals either the ground or layer of dry color underneath. There are a number of different tools that can be used for this technique. Tools like screwdrivers or the sharpened end of an old paintbrush handle can work.

Using a Squeegee

A regular squeegee that you can buy at any hardware or auto store has the ability to create some interesting effects. First squeeze out some paint blobs directly along one edge of your support. You can layout whatever colors you wish. Then with one fluid motion drag the paint across the surface with your squeegee smearing and mixing the paint as you go.

Acrylic Painting Tips

Variety

One of the things that makes a painting interesting is variety. Use a variety of different brushstrokes, techniques and values in your paintings. Change the direction of your brushstrokes or mix different techniques in the same painting.

Don’t Copy

Don’t copy other artists. Allow other artists to influence you and paint your own impression of what you see from your heart and soul. This is how your inner creativity shines on the canvas. It is what set painters like Vincent van Gogh and Salvador Dali apart from the rest. They each injected their own style and heart into their work.

Observe Your Surroundings

Spend time observing and studying your subjects and surroundings. Landscape artists spend a great deal of time outdoors studying nature. Figure and portrait artists spend a great deal of time studying the human anatomy. If you aren’t spending enough time observing the subjects that you wish to paint, then you won’t have the necessary knowledge to paint them.

Art Supplies

Are you using quality acrylic painting supplies? In the beginning when you are experimenting, it is ok to use cheaper supplies, but as you become more experienced, you may want to consider investing in better quality. When it comes to fine art supplies, you usually get what you pay for. If you buy cheap brushes, they will more than likely begin to fall apart. The ferrule of the brush can loosen and the hairs can fall out. If you use cheap paint, you will get cheap looking results. The colors will not have the same brilliance or the right consistency.

Don’t Be Afraid To Use Your Paint

Lets face it, good paint does not come cheap, so in an effort to conserve our paint, some artists will use as little paint as possible. This is a reasonable concern, but the truth however, is that your paintings will be more interesting if you lay down the brush stroke, leave it alone, and then reload your brush. Don’t try and scrub the paint into the canvas, otherwise you are just staining, and not painting.

Don’t Over Think

Don’t overly criticize or judge your own work while you are painting. This will discourage and frustrate you. Just relax and let go. Trust yourself and your abilities.

Acrylic Painting Technique – Large Painting Knives & Acrylic Gels

rserpe — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:46:43 +0000

Peter Andrew educates artists on using Liquitex palette and painting knives to create textures with acrylic gels. Enjoy this acrylic painting video.

For more information, visit www.liquitex.com

At The Dock – An Acrylic Painting Demonstration by Brian Rice

rserpe — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 17:10:03 +0000

About Brian Rice:

Brian was born on May 25,1958 and his roots are in the small outport of Pilleys Island, Newfoundland, Canada. At the age of nineteen he moved to central Canada in the Sarnia, Ontario area, where he now works in the Petrochemical industry.

His interest in art began in high school, when an art teacher encouraged him. In 1979 he began to paint realistic images of Newfoundland and northern wildlife, using an acrylic medium. He has many admirers of his work and most of the paintings have been sold; many were commissions. In 1998 he did a painting of an old united church (circa 1945) for his hometown heritage society. Prints were made and sold as a fund raiser.

In 1997 he entered an art contest in Sarnia. This contest was held to select a winner to commemorate the new blue water bridge. The painting got an honourable mention and it was reproduced as a limited edition print.

Brian has no formal training in art. He is self taught and learns most from a careful observation of the order and design of the natural world . He believes that “nature is the artwork of a creator/master artist who displays a wisdom and a genius that we have only begun to understand”. His focus is to create art that will cause the soul to search for a deeper meaning in an increasingly chaotic world.

He started striving for a photo realism style in the 1990’s and achieved it to some degree, but, he found the style did not evoke much emotion and set out on a journey to find a style that was realistic but, with a much looser impressionistic approach.

Eighteen of his paintings were on display at his hometown Petrolia Library during the Summer of 2004.

The Painting “The Newfoundland Cabin” appeared in “Guest Gallery “which is a page in the downhomer magazine; www.Downhome.com is the biggest magazine on the Canadian eastcoast with 26,000 subscribers. This magazine also has a gallery and gift shop in St. John’s, Newfoundland which now carries prints of the painting “seasons of life”

Acrylic Painting Demonstration: “At The Dock”

I got the idea for this painting while on vacation in Newfoundland. The quiet and serenity of this area was what I wanted to capture in the painting. I liked this reference image below as a photo. But, I wanted to do something else in a painting . I thought I would push the islands apart so that the boat would point out the bay towards the opening in the distance. It just seemed right for a better composition.

On my 24″ x 36″ panel I drew out the plan:

I lined the head of the boat up so that it would point directly at that dot in the background. I guessed that this would become the secondary focus in the painting, after the boat, if I had enough elements pushing the eye outward towards to that area.

The hint of the dock would provide a link from the boat to land and serve as a directional line toward the boat.

I blocked in the main colors:

I wanted to keep the overcast sky. It seemed to suit the painting.

I wanted to show the ocean bottom near the dock . Calm, shallow water would serve as a great enterance to the painting and add to the over all appeal of the view . I had never attempted this transparent water look before. I started by putting in the main colors of the bottom .Then I painted rough forms that looked like rocks .

I used Thalo blue , Ultramarine blue, Paynes grey, a tad of Napthol red, and White mostly in the water and sky in the distance. I have a glaze or two of burnt sienna and yellow ochre in there too. In the foreground there are those colors plus burnt sienna, raw sienna, yellow ochre . There may be a little burnt umber in the mix too.

My next move was to paint in the distant hills and island. . It took a lot of glazes and a few attempts to get the water and sky the way I wanted it. I wanted that opening in the distance to be in the direction that the head of the boat would be pointing towards. The pushing apart of the islands and moving the distant opening to line up with the boat seemed to also open up the view for the eye to go out the bay to the farthest inlet. This helped give the painting a feeling of space. The feel of wide open space is a wonderful sense you get in Newfoundland. It is a land that is 98 % unpopulated.

I worked on the glazing some more and defined the rocks better. I used glazes of thalo blue , then glazes of burnt sienna, then a glaze of yellow ochre. I repeated this several times with very little paint pigment in the glazes. I kept the area where the boat would be, open, mostly to keep in mind its placement area.

Excuse the blurred photo but the next photo just shows where I sketched a fairly accurate outline of the boat. You have to be very careful at this point. If the drawing is not right on, you could ruin many hours of work . If a line is off by an eighth of an inch it will be noticeable .

When I was sure the outline was right I blocked in the boat base colors. I wasn’t overly concerned where the green and red was inside the outline as long as I didn’t mess up the outer lines. The green is a mixture of Chromium oxide green and thalo blue. The red is Cad med toned down a bit with thalo blue.

I now worked on the rocks at the bottom more . I added a lot more little rocks and added a few more glazes over that.

At this point I knew the boat didn’t look like it was sitting right in the water . It could have been an optical illusion because the red and green inside the boat were not where they should be yet. I re-measured my outline and realized it was the bottom line at the back of the boat that was throwing it off. It may sound like I was being too particular. But, to someone who is accustomed to boats and how they sit in the water these things are very noticeable. It was something that was fixable . I also did some more redefining of the rocks at the bottom.

I worked on that boat again. The colors look a little raw at this stage and the boat interior needed more work. I re-worked that shadow; its more of a shadow then a reflection .The sky is overcast so I have to get that fine balance in the details , definition without strong shadows. Easier said then done . Most of the time its easier to have strong light and shadows. I thought I was finished with the water under the boat. The only areas that needed work outside the boat was the island on the left and the indication of a dock on the right side.

Next, I put a little more detail into the boat. I changed the rear look of the boat three times . I decided in the end that I was going to make this a simple row boat and not include that 4.5 hp gasoline driven outboard motor. The painting would appeal to me more without that noise making machine. It just don’t fit into my ideal world. The other advantage in not including a gas engine was the fact that one could think of its time period as being anywhere from 1940’s to today. If I didn’t use the bright red and green it could have been dated from 1900 – today. These little wooden boats had the same basic style for a century.

These photos aren’t the best quality because they were taken with just the light in the room without a flash. When the painting was done I got a better photo using daylight.

I then worked on the island on the left. Its showing low tide and the kelp is visible at the low water level. This kelp in Newfoundland is a distinct orange /ochre/ greenish color depending on the lighting of the day.

There as been a shift in my painting technique over the past year or so. I discovered the power of glazing and the excellent properties of Goldens acrylic glazing liquid.

I do paint the odd painting with the more opaque method.

But,this one will have been done with more layers of glaze then I have ever used before. I have about 20-25 layers in the water. At first I use to try and put glazes on with just glazing liquid and had some difficulty with application . But now I dip my brush in water more and dilute the glaze liquid . This seems to work much better and I don’t get a thick sticky layer that is hard to apply.

The secret to successful glazing seems to be in the application of very thin coats,with very little paint pigment in it , and then letting each coat dry before applying another. It is amazing how layer after layer of thin color can produce what opaque paint could never do.

I am starting to use glazes more and more as I continue learning about painting.

The finished painting

Detail of finished painting.

I hope you enjoyed the demo. You can contact me at brrice2003@yahoo.ca . Your comments would be greatly appreciated because feedback lets me know if these demos actually help others in their painting.