Welcome to Acrylic Classes, the essential website for all Acrylic artists. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an expert, our goal is to make you a better Acrylic Painter. How? Simply by giving you all the essential information regarding this beautiful art.
Below, we have highlighted the best acrylic painting techniques as well as what supplies you will need and some easy acrylic paint projects. We also explain the difference between acrylic and oil paint as well as the difference between acrylic and latex paint.
Awesome Acrylic Painting Techniques
We’ve taken the liberty to make up a list of the best acrylic painting techniques for beginners so you can learn more about and practice your craft. Here they are:
Drybrush
This is the act of brushing paint onto dry paper straight out of the tube with a dry brush. It will give out strong edges and deep colors because there is no water to absolve it.
Washing
Similar to watercolor, you can use water with acrylic to get lighter, more transparent tones. However, the main difference is that water does not activate paint meaning once it sets, it can’t be changed. Try combining washing with dry brushing to get a mixture of textures.
Layering
This technique is as simplified as it sounds. Adding layers to layers to create more depth. Often, you’ll want to start with light layers and get darker as you move up.
Glazing
Adding a matte medium will make your painting shine like never before. This is called glazing. Many people do this at the end to give the painting a new effect.
Underpainting
Choose a color that contrasts your entire palette to ‘sketch’ your design lightly to begin. After that, use your main palette of colors to paint over the sketch. Your underpainting, though not entirely visible, should add a contrasting touch to your work.
Detailing
Detailing is done with small, fine-bristle brushes to add artistic flair and a realistic look to your work. It’s exactly the technique you would assume.
Palette Knife
Using a palette knife to apply your acrylic paint is a classic technique to get fine lines and a traditional ‘paint’ look.
Dabbing
With some sort of object like a sponge or paper towel, simply grab some paint from your palette and add it to your canvas by dabbing it to the sheet.
Splattering
You’ll see a similar technique to this in watercolor. Simply wet your brush, add paint to the tip, and flick or splatter it onto your canvas. This is an abstract technique and is highly unpredictable.
Stippling
This is also known as dotting — you see it in sketching a lot — simply add a patch of dots to a piece for added texture or unique shapes.
Acrylic Pouring Technique
Pouring is just another of the many acrylic painting techniques. We’ve detailed an entire guide with step-by-step photos for your convenience here:
Acrylic Painting Supplies
Here’s what you need for starters:
Acrylic Paint
We’ll answer what is acrylic paint, how to use acrylic paint, and various ways of how to clean acrylic paint. In addition, we’ll compare the various types of acrylic paint like acrylic tubes, metallic acrylic paint, and more!
Best Acrylic Paint Set
Here we’ve reviewed a number of the top brands such as Liquitex Acrylic Paint, Golden, Michaels, Arteza, and Apple Barrel.
Best Acrylic Paint Pens
Acrylic pens are an important supply for the craft. We’ll go over all you need to know here.
Best Acrylic Paint Markers
Montana acrylic markers are widely known as the top acrylic paint marker in the industry. Here’s a review of a popular Montana acrylic marker set.
Acrylic Ink
Here’s everything you need to know about acrylic ink and how to use it.
Easy Acrylic Painting Tutorials
On our blog, you will find a variety of step by step acrylic painting tutorials. To get you started, check out some of the tutorials below:
Acrylic landscape paintings
Here is our collection of easy acrylic landscapes to do if you’re just starting out.
Acrylic vs Oil Paint
Many people don’t know the difference between oil paint vs acrylic. We’ve put together something that will answer many questions you may have such as ‘is acrylic paint oil based?’ and ‘can you paint acrylic over oil?’
You can learn all the differences and similarities here. Make sure acrylic is the right medium for you before you get started!
Acrylic Painting for Beginners Guide
Want more acrylic painting tips? Our blog is full of them — that’s a good place to start. If you have time to experiment, you can check out one of our many tutorials or just sign up for our newsletter where we will continue to share tutorials all the time!
We hope this has been helpful on your artistic journey.
Happy painting! 🙂
Feel free to reach us by email contact@acrlyic-techniques.com if you have any additional questions. Otherwise, signup for our newsletter for new watercolor tips straight to your inbox!