Acrylic Painting Techniques and Tips
I often get questions about acrylic painting and thought I’d put the questions and answers in one place.
Click below to see acrylic painting questions from other visitors to this page. and read the answers!
Varnish brush for varnishing large acrylic paintings
Reader Question: Hi, I am about to varnish a 36″ x 48″ painting. Is there a larger brush size you would recommend and if so, which brand or does that …
How to cover up pencil and charcoal marks
Reader Question: I used a combination of charcoal and pencil marks on a hard canvas board that I had coated with a couple coats of gesso. I want to use …
How to prepare acrylic paint for dripping technique
Reader Question: How do I create the right consistency for dripping acrylic paint? Do I use an acrylic medium or just water? If you want to do …
Difficulties reproducing the same colour with acrylics
Reader Question: I just got started in acrylic painting. I just retired from years of work and began painting in canvas using acrylic. My problems are: …
How long to wait between applying colors on canvas
Reader Question: How long should I wait in between colors on a canvas? Should the first color completely dry before I add the second? The length …
How to prevent acrylics from lifting
Reader Question: Hi there, I’m trying to paint a realistic sky on gessoed masonite. Here’s what I do: I lightly brush on an ultra thin layer of water …
Making translucent paints more opaque
Reader Question: I see you use bright colors on most of your work and I am trying to learn through practice with your inspiration, but have run into …
How to remove acrylic stains
Reader Question: Hi there, can you tell me what liquid can remove acrylic stains? Hi Gem Lim, The key to removing acrylic stains depends on …
How to stop acrylic paint from drying too fast
Reader Question: How do I stop the acrylic paint from drying out too fast when painting outside? Hi Estelle, Great question! When you’re …
Choosing a brand of acrylic paints
Reader Question: Are Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics good for a beginner or should I go for artist quality paints of some other brands like Galeria, Golden …
Acrylic Painting Supplies for Beginners
Reader Question: This is the first time I am going to try my hands with acrylic painting. Can let me know what kind of surface that we use to paint – …
Using acrylic gesso on different supports such as linen, wood and metal
Reader Question: Can acrylic gesso be reliably used on linen as well as cotton? How about metals or boards (and which)? Hi Miles! Yes, Linen …
Reader Question: Which support or surface should I use if I want my acrylic painting to last as long as possible?
What type of varnish should I use to finish acrylic on canvas?
Reader Question: Is there a particular varnish to use for acrylic on canvas? There are several different types of varnish you can choose from …
How many layers of gesso should I apply on art board?
Reader Question: How many times do you apply the gesso and then lightly sand it? The number of times that you’ll need to apply gesso and then …
How to create aged and cracked backgrounds
Reader Question: Hi, I recently saw this amazing painting of an orchid in an art gallery at my hometown. It was done in acrylic and the background …
Painting a mural with acrylics
Reader Question: I am a student in need of some information about murals, or examples of them. I also wanted to know what type of paint to use for one. …
Spray sealant for painting?
Instead of painting on varnish with a brush, will a spray sealant work the same way? A spray varnish, such as Golden Archival Spray Varnish …
How to make things look round and real
Hi! I love looking at your photorealistic paintings and in my beginning painting class we are doing photorealistic paintings for our first project. …
How can I get my abstract acrylic paint to move more smoothly?
I am working in abstract on a 14 x 11″ canvas. In order to get my shapes and details nice and smooth I am having to work too hard on it. Lots of drag, …
How to dilute acrylic paint that is too thick or too hard
If the acrylic paint is too thick or too hard, how can it be diluted? Hello Ketoma, If you find that your acrylic paint is too thick or …
Using oils and acrylics in the same painting
Is it okay to use a mixture of acrylic and oil paints in an abstract painting? Thanks! Regards, Nisha Great question! Generally, it is not …
Using wood varnish on acrylic paintings
Can I use an ordinary varnish for my acrylic paintings – the type of varnish that is used on wood? I’m a self-taught painter and I’m doing this as a …
How to Paint Clean, Crisp Lines with Acrylics
I would love to know how to paint clean, crisp lines in acrylic. I have practiced several different mediums with art for my whole life but am fairly …
How to create a high gloss acrylic finish
How do you create an acrylic painting with a high gloss finish? Can you add a water soluble varnish to the paint as it is applied? I want to bring out …
Toxicity of Acrylic Paint?
I have wanted to study painting (as a hobby) but have stayed away from it because of the toxicity issue associated with oil paint solvents. Now I want …
How to varnish a giclee print that has been painted on with acrylics
Reader Question: Hi, I am going to have some giclee prints made of a painting, and then personalize the individual prints. I am experimenting with personalizing …
Can you reliably use the same set of brushes for watercolors and acrylics?
Reader Question: Are brushes damaged by an alternation between acrylic and watercolor usage? Should I use only one set for one and one set for the other? …
Dammar varnish on an acrylic painting?
Reader Question: After you varnish an acrylic painting, and it has dried, can you use Dammar varnish on top? Hi Rena, I wouldn’t recommend …
Protecting an acrylic painting on a guitar
Reader Question: I have painted a guitar with acrylic paints and want to protect it. I have tried using hairspray to coat it so that it wouldn’t smudge …
How long before rinsing acrylic paint off your brush?
Reader Question: Thanks Thaneeya for your help! Yours is the first website I’ve found that is so tremendously helpful to artists! You go out of your …
How long should an acrylic painting dry before varnish is applied?
Reader Question: How long should an acrylic painting dry before varnish is applied? Hi Sharon, Although acrylics dry quickly on the surface, …
Is it okay to mix different brands of acrylic paint?
Reader Question: Can you intermingle different brands of acrylic paints? I inherited some Liquitex & Duro brand acrylic paints & just bought a few Golden. …
How to Store Canvas Paper Paintings
Reader Question: I’m in the middle of a project to make a painting for every page of Frankenstein . Each painting is acrylic on canvas paper, only …
How to stop dust settling in the varnish
Reader Question: I have an acrylic painting that is mainly white and the second I start applying the varnish, I watch and it seems that any speck of …
Temperatures that damage paintings
Reader Question: I’ve found from a few sources that an acrylic painting can develop a weak paint film if applied/allowed to dry in temperatures of 40F …
Preparing wood for painting and maintaining transparency
Reader Question: Hello, I’m interested in using acrylic on wood without priming with white gesso. I would like the wood grain to be visible and …
Applying layers of acrylics
Reader Question: I’m wondering about the best way to apply acrylics for my attempt at pop art. Is it best to use one thick layer or several thin layers …
Opacity of white acrylic paint
Why do I always have to put at least 2 coats of white acrylic on my paintings? Certain acrylic colors are more opaque than others – for instance, …
Restoring a used canvas
When I am painting the background on a canvas, I sometimes mess it up, so I let it dry and then start again. Because I am painting over it again, sometimes …
Is it okay to paint over varnish?
Can you paint acrylic over a varnished acrylic painting – should you find you need to fix something in the painting that has only come to light after …
How to fix a canvas with a warped corner
I have a 48″ x 60″ gallery wrapped canvas that has one corner that is warped. It will not hang flat against the wall when I am done with the intended …
Varnish for acrylic painting on unglazed ceramic
I’m going to use acrylic paints on an unglazed ceramic plate. What varnish can I use? Hi Vimi, If you are going to paint with acrylics on …
Painting the radiance of lights at night
The subject for my acrylic painting is the Eiffel Tower at night with the sky as background. The Tower is lighted. How do I paint the “radiance” emanating …
How do I get a very smooth uniform paint surface?
How do I get a very smooth uniform paint surface? I am painting on smooth composition board. Also should I treat the composition board surface before …
5 Acrylic Paint Application Techniques
✓ Showcase your talent and win big in Artists Network prestigious art competitions! Discover competitions in a variety of media and enter for your chance to win cash prizes, publication in leading art magazines, global exposure, and rewards for your hard work. Plus, gain valuable feedback from renowned jurors. Let your passion shine through – enter an art competition today!
I’m always excited at the start of an acrylic workshop. Whenever I start a class, I ask students what their goals are. In a painting class, often many students express to me a similar goal: “I want to get past that stupid AWKWARD STAGE!” I use the term awkward stage in my acrylic painting books. The awkward stage refers to the painful point in the painting process where everything is blocked in and you feel nothing looks good. No amount of color or technique seem to blend together and the painting-in-progress looks rough and feels disconnected.
In fact, when I’m in this awkward stage, I often think the painting looks like a giant mess. This mess, that is the awkward stage, is often the point in the process where an inexperienced, beginner artist will quit. They feel as though they can’t overcome the awkwardness and know not where to go from there. Not only is this stage of painting awkward, it’s irritating too; part of you knows the awkward stage is inevitable and you must conquer and overcome. But how? Without proper guidance, the future of your painting looks bleak and the painting itself looks, well awkward. Good news, painting with acrylic is awesome because absolutely nothing is permanent. You can cover up anything in minutes.
For this reason, I call acrylic “endlessly workable.” Once the base colors of your painting are in place and you create a “color map” for your piece, you can add endless details on top of the base. To conquer the awkward, I use a variety of applications. Below are a few of my favorites:
1. Dry brushing: This is where you scrub layers of colors on using small amounts of paint. This is when it actually feels like you are drawing with paint as the stroke is similar. You use the same hand action you would when applying colored pencil.
2. Washing: This is when you apply a thin layer of diluted paint over the colors already applied. The thin veil of color allows the colors underneath to still shine through.
3. Dabbing: This stroke is used when you are adding texture. You can apply dabbing if you want to create bushes or texture seen on the ground. With a stiff bristle brush, the color, used somewhat thick without added water, is applied with a pouncing motion of the brush or with quick dabs. Dabbing can be done in multiple layers to build depth.
4. Sponging: This is similar to the dabbing technique, but rather than using a brush, you tear pieces from a kitchen cellulose sponge, and dab the paint on with a piece of sponge. The texture of the sponge gives a nice, irregular pattern that closely resembles foliage.
5. Detailing: This is when you use a smaller, pointed brush to add clean lines and details. This is where you use a lot of control to create definite shapes and precise edges. The other applications mentioned create illusions. Use detailing to create definition. The art shown here are examples of the phases of the painting. A landscape is always painted from back to front. You can see in the first example, that the canvas was divided into two parts. First, a horizon line was drawn across the canvas in pencil. The horizon line should rarely be right in the middle of the canvas. In this case, the sky was the focal point, so the horizon line was dropped below the center of the canvas. The sky was based in with the blue/violet tones in the upper area. We then added the pink tones and blended down. To prevent creating green in the sky, we stopped, and allowed this area to dry.
Next we moved down to the horizon line, started the yellow areas, and moved upward adding the orange and red tones until the two areas came together. Then we used the dry brush technique to add the illusion of wispy, multi-colored clouds throughout the backdrop. The second example shows how we based in the color of the water below the horizon line. All of the colors of the sky are reflected down into the water. It was important to make sure the white sunspot was reflected directly down, as if it were a mirror image. The water was applied with more fluid paint, to make it appear smoother than the sky. This is the awkward stage where things seem to come to a standstill. Persevere.
The third stage is when we added the tree row to the horizon line. This really helped create the illusion of distance by dividing the composition. The background and foreground are now clearly defined.
The final stage is where everything comes together. You can see how adding the trees in the foreground now divides the compositions into three distinct layers – the background, the mid-ground, and the foreground. This gives it the look of realistic depth and distance. The glow around the trees add realistic lighting and the added detail of the sailboat is the icing on the proverbial cake.
Give acrylic a try! My book and DVD about landscapes in acrylic will equip you with all the techniques you need to succeed!
Edited by Meghan Norton, eMedia Production Coordinator | F+W, A Content + eCommerce Company
Lee Hammond has been called the Queen of Drawing. That may not be fair these days, since in addition to providing the best drawing lessons, she has also created fantastic books and videos filled with the same easy to follow acrylic painting techniques, colored pencil techniques and more. Click here to see all of the instructional books and DVDs that Lee Hammond has to offer!
