Should you find that the layers may be a bit too thick – then a simple fine grit sandpaper can thin down the surface to your desire.
How To Remove Acrylic Paint From Canvas With Ease
This post may contain affiliate links. We may receive a commission on products purchased through these links. To read how this site makes money click here.
Acrylic paint is considered to be one of the easiest paints for beginners.
However, one of acrylic paints main characteristics is how quick drying it can be. While this is great for artists who like to layer up quickly, especially when adopting the lean-over-fat principle, the fast drying time makes things difficult if you made a mistake (or two)…
…which happens to everyone!
Removing acrylic paint that has already dried from the canvas is not impossible, but it does require specific tools and knowing how to use them.
Below we explore not only a few proven ways to remove acrylic paint from a canvas surface, we will also go over a few safety tips, DIY solutions that you likely have in your house right now, along with a few other tips we think you will love!
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need
To get started with the process of removing acrylic paint from a canvas surface, you need to have the necessary products on hand:
- The right solvent, to act as the cleaning solution;
- A soft cloth, to remove paint in smaller areas;
- A putty or palette knife, to scrape off any remaining paint;
- A container of varying size, to soak the canvas in;
- Dish soap, to complete the cleaning process;
- A soft brush, to rub any solution over the canvas;
- Acrylic gesso, to prime the canvas before applying any paint
Before You Clean, You Need To Understand What Acrylic Paint Actually Is & Isn’t
First, acrylic paint isn’t like watercolors, oils, craft paint, or even your standard latex paint (often confused with artist acrylic paint as it contains a similar chemical compound called acrylic resin).
Instead, acrylic paint is pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion.
This completely unique mixture gives it properties that you just simply don’t see in many other mediums.
Why is this important?
As you likely already know, when working with wet acrylics, it can easily dissolve in water (like when you go to rinse out your paint brush between color selection).
But as soon as you let the acrylic paint dry, small acrylic polymer spheres get tightly close to one another. Those few spaces left between them create capillary forces, with the water being pulled from the paint film.
What does this all mean?
Well the acrylic paint tightens and creates a cohesive film in a process called ‘coalescence‘ where the acrylic paint literally pulls itself together.
Due to how cohesive this film is, water is not enough to remove any undesired paint. As such, you need something much stronger to make any changes to the painted area.
10 Ways to Make Your Acrylic Paint Opaque
The mediums are effective because they economically extend the opacity of the acrylic paint without interfering with the color or the acrylic painting’s stability. You can also apply them when you are running out of the original paint, and they will still give you the desired outcome.
The mediums also slow down the drying process of acrylic paint, resulting in a more nuanced color blend that is both adherent and long-lasting. You should first read and understand the following instructions before using the product:
- Using acrylic paint with Liquitex products will get you best results. You can thin the opacity by adding a little water if the outcome is too opaque.
- You should only use a small amount of it because too much will make the acrylic paint transparent.
- To avoid bubbles, swirl it constantly and wait until all of the bubbles have dissipated before using it. Use When wet.
5. Using layers to increase opacity
Another method is by using layers to increase opacity. You need to make sure that each layer builds on the previous one and creates a varied degree of opaqueness to make this strategy work.
Ensure the layers blend perfectly and complement each other without creating any visible disparity.
Example:
You can try out layering phthalo green, lemon yellow, and Quinacridone magenta to see the outcome. This combination will help you make yellow more opaque.
TIP: This method is perfect for beginners; however, you must consider the range of colors you intend to use. Certain combinations will end up destroying the desired painting.
You should also focus on using gessos such as gesso white or black, which are considered opaque. Adding the different gesso layers before the final color creates an opaque layer enabling you to achieve the opaque painting.
This method is time-consuming but very effective. It requires patience since you have to wait for the layers to dry before adding another on top. You must also select the paints carefully before deciding on the best pick.
6. Use Schmincke Aero opaque medium
This medium is designed for use with only Schmincke Aero colors. The medium is effective for use on heavy fluids and inks but works best on inks. The Schmincke Aero inks are more sensitive; adding the medium makes them opaque, producing the desired outcomes.
Use medium in small quantities. It works perfectly without interfering with the final color. Add about 5% of it to the fluid to get the most desirable outcome since excess will cause too much lightness.
TIP: Shake it well before combining it with other fluids since it is a water-based dispersion of the particles, and the particles tend to settle at the bottom of the bottle.
It works with a perfect range of Aero colors enabling you to make any paint opaque without worrying about the outcomes.
7. Swapping the paint color brand
Distinct brands have different versions of the same hue with varying degrees of opacity. You can replace one color with a similar color from a different brand that is more opaque. This method is considered a risk or a trial and error method, but it is a viable option for individuals who have a strong grasp of color.
TIP: You can visit different manufacturers and check on the containers to understand the opacity levels of different colors. Some manufactures make more opaque paints, as indicated by the letters and symbols in the bottles.
8. Paint dilution
Most paint manufactures advise painters to dilute with water before usage. The dilution helps create a usable viscosity and makes the outcome less thick and attractive. Even though paints have a given scale of transparency, translucency and opacity, adding water makes them more transparent or translucent.
Water may not create much difference, but it lowers the opacity levels as it lowers the thickness. Using the paint before dilution can make the painting opaque that it could be when diluted with water.
TIP: To make it stronger, you can combine it with a touch of semi-opaque or opaque white, and the final paint will be more opaque. This method works and eliminates the need for layering.
9. Use artist paints or high pigment paints
There are paints with high pigment levels suitable for achieving high-level opacity called Artist paints.
Different companies use different methodologies to manufacture the colors.
- Most colors are manufactured from carbon-based pigments manufactured in laboratories or factories. These colors are more transparent but chromatically powerful.
- Some Colors can also be manufactured from mineral pigments derived from rocks and metals. Such colors are opaque and have little tinting strength and capabilities.
You can obtain a perfect opaqueness by mixing the two different type of acrylic artist colors together. The mineral will opacify the carbon-based colors, and the carbon-based color will make the paint appear more powerful.
10. Use heavy body paints
Heavy body paints are viscous and opaque due to their pigmentation. They will help you obtain opaque paint; however, they do not resolve the problem completely. They help a lot by minimizing the excess transparency.
The challenge with heavy body paints is that they do not easily mix nor blend with other colors. You should use them as under paints or carefully select a range of colors that can blend with them.
NOTE: Heavy Body paints do not easily blend with mediums; instead, they become more transparent when exposed to them.
Key Takeaways:
- Mixing colors is a bit challenging, and you can easily make a mistake. The perfect and simplest solution to your worries is to have a base color before you begin painting. A base color creates the opaqueness before you begin painting. Adding more layers to it will improve the opaqueness.
- A few companies manufacture high quality mediums. The market is currently flooded with different brands, but most do not perform as promised. One of my favorites is Liquitex.
- There are no defined ratios to mix the colors to get the perfect opaqueness. It is more of a trial method. As you mix, start with smaller quantities and try on a painting until you achieve the desired results.
Conslusion
Acrylic paint pigments come in a variety of transparency levels. This explains why certain paints are opaque while others are not. If you are unable to obtain the desired opaque acrylic paint, you can use these techniques to improve the final result to acceptable levels.
How can I make acrylic paint more opaque?
To make acrylic paint more opaque, try mixing in an opaque white like titanium or zinc white. Start with a little white and add slowly until you achieve the opacity you want. You can also layer opaque colors like cadmiums over more transparent paints. Using acrylic mediums designed to increase opacity, like those from Liquitex, is another option for making colors more opaque.
How do you make paint thicker opaque?
Thicker paint tends to be more opaque. To thicken paint for more opacity, try mixing in a heavy body acrylic paint, soft gel medium or acrylic retarder. These will increase the body and opacity. You can also apply paint in thicker layers and avoid over-thinning with water, allowing natural thickness to boost opacity.
You can also check this helpful vide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqduhZ7Xuqw&t=35s
Why is my paint not opaque?
Some common reasons acrylic paint may not be opaque enough include using colors with transparent pigments, paint that is too thinly applied, over-diluting with water, or insufficient layering. Ensure you are using opaque colors like cadmium or titanium white. Build up paint in thicker layers and avoid thinning too much with water.
What is opaque acrylic paint?
Opaque acrylic paint contains pigments that block light from shining through the paint layer. This creates vivid colors with strong covering power. Opaque acrylics will completely hide what is underneath them. Examples of opaque acrylic pigments include titanium white, cadmium red and yellow, and Mars black
Mistake #9: Holding the Brush Improperly
Holding your paintbrush incorrectly is often a result of it being the wrong size. Your holding technique is important for applying an even paint job.
Choose the right size paintbrush by making sure the brush fits your hand. Your local Benjamin Moore® retailer will help you select the best paintbrush for you.
Mistake #10: Not Waiting for the First Coat to Dry Before Applying the Second Coat
After applying the first coat of paint, you didn’t wait long enough (the designated dry-to-the-touch or recoat time) before applying the second coat, resulting in streaks, peeling paint or uneven color or finish.
Look for the recoat time on the back of the can, which is typically one to two hours for most waterborne interior paint products. Remember, if part of a room is dry to the touch, that doesn’t mean the whole room is, so be sure to follow the can instructions on recoat time.
Mistake #11: Not Cleaning Up or Storing Paint Properly
Not cleaning painting tools, like paintbrushes or roller covers, can make them unusable for future projects. The extra money spent on premium applicators is a wise investment, but only if you can get several uses out of them.
Make sure you store your paint in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Keep in mind that opened paint typically has a shelf life of two years, and possibly longer, when stored correctly. If you’re in the middle of a project or just haven’t cleaned your tools, wrap them in clear plastic wrap to not expose the paint to air.
Visit your local Benjamin Moore® retailer for help with all your painting needs. Find more tips in our How-To section.
Helpful Tip
If you plan to reuse paint, you can make touch-ups much easier and more accurate by labeling the can and the back of a light switch in a room you’ve painted.
Label the light switch with:
– Brand of Paint
– Color
– Type or Product Name
– Sheen/Finish
Label the paint can with:
– Where/What You’ve Painted (room, wall, piece of furniture, etc.)
