Acrylic paint can be rehydrated as long as there is at least a hint of moisture left in the paint. Slowly add water, a few drops at a time, and mix well to reactivate or rehydrate acrylic paint. If the acrylic paint is fully dried especially in thin layers, it cannot be reactivated.
5 Important Art Tips, Tricks and Terms for Creative Painters
During every class at our Bricktown studio, painters learn some basic tricks about painting with acrylic paints. “Hold your paintbrush like a pencil when outlining or drawing, so that you have more control over it,” or “Overlap different colored areas while the paint is still wet in order to blend soft transtions.”
These little tips are often essential to get the perfect masterpiece, but there are a lot of other tips and tricks we use in our classes without much explanation (to keep our fun classes from becoming too formal and technical.) Here are the details on just a few of those little art tricks you can keep in mind to make better, more creative artwork when you feel like changing your painting up or doing something totally original!
1.) “Atmospheric perspective” is a fancy way of saying “Things in the distance appear lighter in color than things closer to us.” This is often most noticeable in landscape paintings where distant mountains or trees might appear pale blue or green. It’s best to exaggerate atmospheric perspective in paintings with a lot of depth to them. This works much better for paintings like landscapes, than still life paintings or portraits.
2.) “Contrast” describes how elements of a painting are different from one another, and most often refers to “Value Contrast” which just means that a painting has both bright highlights, and dark shadows, though one can also have contrast between things like colors and textures. The aesthetic part our brains enjoys things with high amounts of contrast—especially because paintings are often viewed from a few feet away. If a painting lacks value contrast, the similar colors and values tend to blend together into a blur that’s hard to distinguish from a distance. Renaissance artists like Caravaggio, and Impressionists like Claude Monet are examples of famous artists known for their masterful use of contrast to make eye-catching works of art.
3.) A “Vingette” usually references a background that is light at the center, and fades to black at the edges. It’s a way of giving a painting a “border” without actually having a clear, defined line around everything. Artists use vingettes to pull a viewer’s focus to a particular subject. It’s an easy and effective way of encouraging the way that a viewer’s eye travels across the canvas, and it also helps to add that important value contrast to your painting.
4.) “Complimentary Colors” are colors that are on opposite sides of the color-wheel from one another. These pairs (red and green, purple and yellow, blue and orange) look good when used together in the same painting, but they can’t actually be blended into one another without turning into a muddy gray color. This is because each of these pairs is actually made from all three primary colors. If you’ve ever had an artist in one of our classes tell you “These colors don’t get along very well if you mix them!” they were probably referring to two complimentary colors.
5.) Last but not least “Layering” is an important part of nearly every painting. Even simple paintings typically look best if they’re built in layers. This is why some of our paintings at Pinot’s Palette, look a little odd until toward the end of class—when essential layers add detail to the image. Many paintings start off with a basic sketch of simple lines to mark out where shapes will go, and then colors are “blocked” in to create a base coat for the painting. After that, layers are added on top of one another to refine those blocked-in colors and create a more fully-rendered image. This process of layering is important for creating work that looks detailed and finished, and different results can be met depending on whether new layers are added on top of wet paint, or dry paint.
These are all tips and tricks that we use to make our paintings look great in every class. But understanding them more thoroughly makes it easier create your own successful work of art—especially if you want to get creative the next time you visit us in Bricktown.
How to identify an overworked acrylic painting
It can be difficult to know if you’ve overworked an acrylic painting, but there are a few signs to look out for:
- Muddiness: If the colors in your painting look dull and muddy, it could be a sign that you’ve overworked the paint.
- Loss of clarity: If the lines and details in your painting start to blur and become less defined, you may have overworked the paint.
- Too much-unintended texture: If there is too much-unintended texture, lumps, and dents and the surface of the painting is too uneven, it could be a sign that you’ve applied too many layers of paint.
- Difficult to make changes: If you find that it’s difficult to make any changes to the painting without starting over, it could be a sign that you’ve overworked the acrylic painting.
- Feeling frustrated: If you start to feel frustrated and stuck with the painting, for a long time it may be a sign that you’ve overworked the painting for too long and need to step back.
If you notice any of these signs, it’s best to take a break and reassess your painting. It may be helpful to get some feedback from other artists or take a photo of your painting and look at it from a different perspective. Sometimes you may have to start over in some areas of the painting.
Below is one of my paintings that I have overworked. It is one I have done to experiment with a new painting technique using cotton swabs. The technique did not work out great and I keep overworking on the painting, changing colors, and painting over the areas I used the cotton swabs.
After overworking on my heart-shaped tree I decided it is time to stop and take a break. However, I could always start over with this painting, because acrylic paint is so forgiving. Later I got to know some cool tips and tricks you could use on your overworked acrylic painting. Below I will be sharing them with you also.
How to fix an overworked acrylic painting
If you have overworked an acrylic painting, don’t worry. There are plenty of fixes. In fact, below I have laid down the exact steps you need to follow the minute you realized that you have overworked your acrylic painting.
Step 1: Assess the damage
The first step in fixing an overworked acrylic painting is to assess the damage. Look closely at the painting and identify the areas that need to be fixed. Take note of any muddiness, loss of detail, uneven surface, or other issues.
Step 2: Scrape or sand off excess paint
If there is excess paint on the canvas, use a palette knife to scrape it off, revealing the layers underneath. Then wipe it off with a piece of clean cloth to clean it. This will help create a more even surface and reduce the appearance of uneven texture. You can do this step with either wet paint or dry paint.
You can also use fine-grit sandpaper for this purpose as well. Take a piece of light grit sanding paper, and sand the overworked area gently, try not to damage the canvas. Once you’re done with sanding use a damp tissue and clean the sanded area to remove all the dust particles.
Step 3: Let the acrylic paint dry
Now, it is time to let the painting dry completely. This will help prevent any further issues and allow you to work on a clean surface that will not interfere with new paint layers to be added.
Step 4: Work on specific areas
Instead of trying to fix the entire painting at once, focus on the specific areas that need attention. This will help you avoid making the problem worse and make it easier to fix the issue.
Step 5: Add more layers
If the painting looks dull or muddy, add more layers of paint to bring back the vibrancy. Use thin transparent glazes or opaque paint layers for this purpose. Make sure to let each layer dry completely before adding another.
Using glazes
If the painting has lost its clarity, try adding thin glazes of color to restore definition and depth. This will also help create a cohesive look and feel to the painting.
Using opaque paint layers
Sometimes thin glazes of paint will not fix the overworked acrylic painting. Maybe not in all of the overworked areas. In this case, you will have to paint an opaque paint layer on top of the overworked area and start over.
When the painting is fully dried apply a light layer of artist-grade titanium white over the area. You can also use white gesso or any matching opaque shade as well. In this case, it will completely erase the overworked area.
Step 6: Take regular breaks
Throughout the process of fixing an overworked acrylic painting, it’s important to take breaks of maybe a day or two and step back to gain a fresh perspective. This will help prevent frustration and help you see the painting in a new light.
Step 7: Transform your painting completely into something new
With a new fresh perspective, you may even identify that your painting could be reworked as a mixed-media artwork or abstract art. If you decided so here is a little note on how to do it.
Reworking as a mixed media artwork
To rework an overworked acrylic painting as a mixed media painting, start by preparing the surface with light sanding and applying gesso. Choose materials that complement or contrast the existing colors and textures, such as collage papers, fabric, and found objects.
Use a combination of paint and mixed media materials to build up layers, adding texture and dimension with tools like palette knives or stencils. Experiment with different techniques like dripping or splattering paint and layering different materials.
Some materials that you will need to have for mixed-media artwork other than acrylic paint are decoupage, foam brushes, stencils, heat gun, crayons, pens, etc. You can get these materials for the best price at Blick.
Step back frequently to evaluate the progress and balance the composition. With these steps, you can transform an overworked acrylic painting into a unique and visually interesting mixed-media artwork.
Reworking as an abstract art or abstract background
To make an abstract background with an overworked acrylic painting, start by choosing a color scheme that complements or contrasts with the existing colors of the painting. Use a palette knife or brush to add layers of paint to the surface, creating texture and depth.
Experiment with techniques like dripping, splattering or scraping paint to create interesting patterns and marks. Use stencils or other tools to add shapes or designs to the background. Step back frequently to evaluate the progress and adjust the composition as needed. With these steps, you can turn an overworked acrylic painting into a dynamic and visually striking abstract background.
I have written a whole article about fixing a messed-up acrylic painting. You will learn the best ways of fixing acrylic painting mistakes in each situation as well as what works the best and what doesn’t work well there.
How to avoid overworking an acrylic painting
It is important that we know how to avoid overworking an acrylic painting. Below are a few tips you can follow.
- Plan your painting: Before you start painting, plan out the composition and color scheme to avoid making too many changes later on. After planning you can do the sketch. If drawing is too difficult for you, you can trace out the composition.
- Work quickly: Acrylic paint dries very quickly, so work efficiently and quickly to avoid overworking the paint. You can mist water on the paint to keep it wet. However, I highly recommend you use a stay-wet palette. It will keep your paint nice and wet for a long time.
- Use a limited color palette: Using too many colors can lead to overworking the painting for some artists. In this case, you can stick to a limited color palette to keep things simple. However, this is not relevant to all artists, because some artists pull out amazing artwork with a wider color palette.
- Paint in layers: Instead of trying to create the perfect painting in one go, paint in layers, allowing each layer to dry before adding more. This will help you avoid overworking the paint and keep the painting looking fresh. When painting in layers with acrylic paint there is always this ‘unappealing’ stage to the painting with just blocks of colors. That is usual with acrylic painting. You will only see the beauty of an acrylic painting at the finishing stages after adding all the details.
- Step back and take breaks: Sometimes, when you’re too close to a painting, it’s hard to see the bigger picture. Step back and take breaks to gain a fresh perspective and avoid overworking the painting.
