Acrylic Painting 101: A Step-by-Step Guide

Acrylic painting can seem tricky at first. Read this article to learn about acrylics and how to paint using acrylics step by step.

Acrylic paint is one of the fastest-growing art mediums. It is versatile, easy to learn, and a lot of fun! If you are new, then painting might be a bit challenging for you. But the good news is that like every skill, it gets better with practice. So how do you start? Besides reading websites, you can always watch painting and drawing tutorials. This article is your step-by-step guide to acrylic painting. By the end of this guide, you will have a basic idea of how to use this medium.

What Is Acrylic Paint?

Before knowing how to use it, it is important that you know what exactly acrylic paint is and how it works. Acrylic paint is water-soluble paint that dries water-resistant. It is consists of pigment suspended in an emulsion of acrylic polymers and plasticizers,  defoamers, silicone oils, stabilizers, or metal soaps.

The best part about acrylic paints is that it dries fast unlike oils. So you can cover up any mistakes easily by painting over them without having to wait a whole day for the paint to dry. As a beginner, it is very convenient. Another important point to note is that acrylics dry darker than when wet.

 Acrylic paintings on canvas can add an amazing view to your rooms. From your bedroom to your kitchen and to your child’s nursery, they can decorate any place in your home.

Things You’ll Need

There are just a few essentials that you will need before you start painting. Each material is manufactured by different companies with a wide range of prices and qualities.

Acrylic Paints
You can buy acrylic paints individually or in sets. The most common sets come in 24 paint tubes. As you start painting, you will notice that some colors are used up faster than others. Consider getting a larger tube for them. For example, white is one of the most essential colors in the painting. It is needed to create more shades and is necessary for blending. As a result, you’ll run out of it in no time. Thanks to individual color tubes, you don’t have to buy another whole set for one color only.

Paint Brushes

The best choice of brushes when it comes to using acrylics is a set of nice synthetic brushes. These brushes are neither too soft nor too hard, allowing them to spread and blend acrylic paint easily. Some brushes that you will always need are:

• Flat brush: used for long strokes and filling up larger areas
• Round brush: used to fill up large spaces and to add details, also gives you the maximum control with colors
• Angled brush: used to create curves and lines
• Wash brush: it is very big and used mostly to cover the whole canvas or very large spaces
• Fan brush: used for blending and adding highlights
• Liner brush: used to add fine details

Canvas and Easel

You can either prime your canvas yourself or buy primed ones even though they are not required for acrylics. Canvases come in many different sizes. Buy whichever size suits your painting.

Easels are definitely not a must-buy item but certainly, make your experience more pleasurable. They come in different heights and are usually made of wood. A lot of them are foldable so they don’t take up a lot of space in your room.

Let’s Get Started

Now that you have got what you need, let’s begin. At any point, you are free to modify the steps below according to your preference and comfort.

Step 1: Setting Up a Painting Station

It is best to set up a place where there would be no disturbances. Keep everything that you need in front of you. Keep a pot of water to soak and clean your brushes and tissue or towel to clean up any mess. Place your paints on one side along with the brushes. Organize these according to your comfort or depending on if you are right-handed or left-handed.

Step 2: Experiment and Practice

Don’t be scared to play with your supplies. Experimenting will help you get familiar with them and how they work. Play with the colors to see how they blend and dry, how you can create mixtures of colors and their opacity levels. It is an excellent idea to create gradients from black to white, adding two or three colors in the middle to see how they all blend together.

Step 3: Create a Draft

Before you start putting it on your canvas, it is always better to make a rough sketch of your painting. If you are a beginner, this is a crucial step. By doing this, you’ll know exactly how to replicate the piece on the canvas without making repetitive mistakes.

You can also digitally draft a sketch so you can more conveniently fill it with your desired colors. This helps in creating a more accurate rough drawing for your final painting.

Step 4: Start Painting

Now that you have everything ready, start painting on your canvas, using your rough drawing as a guide. It is always better to start with lighter shades and then move to the darker ones. Add depths and highlights at the very end. Begin by drawing larger shapes. Create finer details gradually. Remember, acrylic paint dries fast so you have to work fast with them. You won’t be able to blend or spread colors once they dry. However, mistakes can be covered up so take it easy.

Step 5: Preserve

Although acrylics are water-resistant when dry and don’t usually need to be preserved, you might want to ensure the longevity of your painting. If this is the case, apply a layer of acrylic-approved varnish on top. This will preserve your painting for a long time without distorting it in any way. Your painting will appear glossy and will be scratch-proof too!

Now that you know how acrylics work, follow these steps to start your journey with acrylic paint. Believe that you can never go wrong with art and unleash your creativity.