Personally I have been using natural brushes since I have started painting and I have started using Bob Ross natural brushes shortly after. The most annoying issue I had was how extremely the bristles spread out already after the first wash. For an hour or so I was devastated until I stumbled upon one very helpful video from “Painting with Yovette”. Unfortunately she set that video to private due to reasons unknown to me so I can not share it with you. But based on her video, here is what I have done ever since:
Painting wet on wet with acrylics – an extensive Guide
If you have watched a lot of Bob Ross’ “The Joy of Painting” you might have stumbled upon some of the times he answered the question “Can this technique be done in acrylics?”. Quite disappointingly, his answer would always be the same: Unfortunately not. Acrylics dry very fast and we rely on our paint staying wet for a long time.
But that was more than 30 years ago and here is what I am gonna tell you: A lot has changed and improved in the world of painting materials and there are wonderful mediums and special paints now that allow us to paint wet on wet using solely acrylics and acrylic mediums. In this article I want to share with you my method of acrylic wet on wet painting. With the preparation done right and the right materials at your disposal you should be able to follow almost any of Bob’s lessons with the same brush strokes and techniques using acrylics instead of oils!
Now before I take you down the path of acrylic wet on wet painting, here’s a bit of honest information about me, so you can decide for yourself if you want to regard me as a reliable source: I am not a painter with professional training. I started my painting journey, taught by myself and Bob’s videos, in autumn of 2021 and have always been painting wet on wet. And I have always used acrylics to do so. After some disappointing setbacks in the beginning, I have made a lot of experience through internet research and testing and by now have frequently been asked how I manage to do what I do using acrylics as a medium. If you want to know what results I produce with my method feel free and have a look at my paintings I post here on twoinchbrush or my Instagram (@hammipaints).
Note that throughout this article I might mention several brands of paints and materials I use. I am not affiliated with any of those brands in any other way than that I use them to paint my paintings. I am not trying to advertise but rather share my personal painting experiences with you.
Materials
In this section I will list all materials I use. Entries spelled in bold are essential to my technique. Entries underlined are recommended. Recommended entries with an asterisk (*) are highly recommended. An explanation for each product line is given below the respective entry. I also will list recommended uses for each kind of paint.
2.1. Paints
Golden Open Acrylics – Titanium White
Golden Open Acrylics – Phthalo Blue, Alizarin Crimson, Sap Green, Hansa Yellow medium (stand in for the expensive cadmium yellow, any yellow with similar hue and opacity should do)
Golden Open Acrylics – Burnt Umber, Bone Black, Prussian Blue, Yellow Ochre, Indian Yellow, Burnt Sienna, basically any color you want, I usually use Bob’s palette
Recommended uses: Liquid Base Color (See 3.2), Sky, Water, Northern Lights
“Open” is a product line of the “Golden” brand. They are special in the fact that they stay wet way longer than normal acrylics paints. In my method I use those paints to mix liquid white equivalents and other liquid base colors. I also use them in my backgrounds and water, basically anything I want to blend easily and soft.
Liquitex Heavy Body – Titanium white(*)
Liquitex Heavy Body – Brown, Red, Blue, Yellow, Black (Any color you want to use heavily in mountains or clouds)
The “Heavy Body” paints from “Liquitex” are very thick acrylic paints which make them excellent for mountain highlights and clouds. Also, contrary to most acrylic paints, they keep their texture and structure and hold brush strokes even after drying. So for example: If you want to have “touchable” bark on a foreground tree you can do that using this paint. They are harder to clean off the palette and the brushes though.
Recommended uses: Clouds, Mountains, Elements that are supposed to keep texture
Amsterdam Standard Acrylics – Any color you want, I usually use Bob’s palette
You can use any other ordinary acrylic paint instead. I simply prefer this product line.
The “Standard” acrylic paints form Talens Amsterdam are my favourite paints since they are reasonably priced and of good quality. I use those for practically everything else except blending areas, clouds and mountains.
Recommended uses: Anything not stated before.
Amsterdam Expert – Any color you want, I usually use Bob’s palette
The “Expert” product line is of higher quality than the standard line. They are thicker and contain more pigment. Though they are not as thick as liquitex’ heavy body acrylics, they may be a less expensive substitute. The mountain highlights do not come off as easy as with the heavy body paints though and you’d need to be even more careful if you want the paint to break. By now I only use these paints for foreground elements where I want a bit more structure.
Recommended uses: Foreground elements which are supposed to keep more structure/texture
2.2. Mediums
Golden Retarder
Golden Open Thinner
2.3 Brushes
- Brushes with a lot of hair as Bob recommends it for his technique. If you don’t feel comfortable using BRI products due to the whole documentary controversy use whatever similar brushes you want.
- Some very soft brushes. I use soft goat hair brushes
- Some acrylic brushes come in handy sometimes
- Soft liner brushes. I for once have trouble using the BR
2.4 Canvases
- Double Primed (No Gesso! Explanation in chapter 3) White Canvas
- I liked to use “Gerstaecker Basic” until I started building and priming my own canvases. Those canvases state to be primed with a “universal primer” (Universalgrundierung).
3 Preparation
3.1 About Gesso
(More about this and a summary of Information see Chapter 8)
So this is the first and, in my opinion, most important lesson: Do not use canvases primed with gesso.
A lot of artists might tell you that it’s best to use canvases primed with gesso or, even better, to apply additional layers of gesso yourself. And while that may be true in a lot of cases, gesso is an absolute death sentence for my acrylic wet on wet method to work.
Now I am not familiar with the technicalities and physical or chemical background of why this is the case, but what happens when you apply the liquid white equivalent I use (see 3.2) to a gesso’d canvas is that the gesso will just suck the liquid white right up. It will get tacky and all around uncomfortable to use right away.
Now you might ask: “But what should I use then? Aren’t all pre stretched and primed canvases primed with gesso?”
Well, since I am insecure about what materials you guys have available where you live, I think the best approach is to simply tell you what I use:
The canvases I use state to be primed with a “universal primer” (Universalgrundierung). Unfortunately I have yet to understand what excactly that means. But if a Canvas you own or are about to buy says it’s primed with gesso better do not use it for this technique. For my own canvases I use the Gerstaecker White Acrylic Primer (Name as stated on their UK Website).
In my general experience cheap canvases tend not to be primed with gesso but some other cheap primer. If you are uncertain what canvases are primed with gesso or not it might be best to ask someone from the art store.
“But what about Black canvases? Bob says to coat them in Black Gesso!” I hear you ask. For an answer to that see chapter 5: Black Canvas paintings
3.2 Liquid White
The very base of my method lies in having an acrylic liquid white equivalent. When I started out painting and naively realized, that acrylics seemed not to be suited to paint wet on wet, I went on a little internet research trip were I stumbled upon a video on the “WildCreates” Youtube channel were the artist running the channel shares his recipe for acrylic liquid white which I have been using ever since. So credit were credit is due: Thank you very much Ryan, without you I would not paint what I do today!
You can check out the Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOZACe0v_Do. He also goes into a bit more depth than I do here.
I use the Formula of 50% Golden Open Titanium White, 40% Golden Retarder and 10% Golden Open Thinner.
You can use any Golden Open Color to mix any liquid base you like! We also will need those for black canvas paintings (see chapter 5.)
Project Description:
BEGINNER HOW TO PAINT art lesson ” Kawaii cutie CatBat ” in acrylic art tutorial. Great twist on the coffee cat for kids and the young at heart. Cutie cute cute cute art. Perfect for Halloween Acrylic painting. Spooky fun art 🙂
Great for a private at HOME PAINTING PARTY with friends , kids and family. This fully guided step by step ACRYLIC PAINTING LESSON will have you drawing and painting this adorable catbat in a cup . Love those sweet coffee cats. Want to draw and paint. This is a totally child friendly art lesson . This is a lot of fun and all you have to do is just believe you have art in your heart! Love ” Kawaii art “. Love ” CatBat “. 100% FREE all this will cost you is a touch of elbow grease. This is a really fun ART LESSON. We talk about art and other fun subjects. How does art help your brain. Tips and tricks to make painting a party at home. With help and guidance anyone can paint. You can paint. Just open your heart and we can access your art together. Acrylics are a fun and enjoyable painting medium. What brushes do I like . Creative Mark. What paint’s am I using . liquitex heavy body acrylic, Matisse Derivan, and golden colors. We have lots of support tools for new artists. Want to see something just comment. It is YOUR art journey. Acrylics are a fun and enjoyable painting medium.
“Acrylic Painting Techniques for beginners”
Materials:
Below is a list of recommended materials. This includes the ‘Amazon Affiliate’ program, and you support The Art Sherpa when using it. It is linked here to make things convienient and easy for you.
The Art Sherpa® AS-4102 6 Piece “The Beginner” Brush Set
The Art Sherpa® AS-4103—6 Piece “The Explorer” Brush Set
The Art Sherpa® AS-4104 4 Piece “Portrait” Brush Set
The Art Sherpa® AS-4105 6 Piece “Detail” Brush Set
Art Sherpa® Open Stock Brushes
4002 Series Bright Long Handle Size 10 – Goldilocks™ Brush
Other Materials
Have fun Live with The Art Sherpa during this BEGINNER HOW TO PAINT art lesson in acrylic art tutorial. This is an easy, fun, social art lesson for canvas. We talk about art and other fun subjects. With help and guidance, anyone can paint. You can paint!
Want to see something? Just comment! Tell me what you’d like to paint, or what you want to know about art. This is YOUR art journey. Open your heart and access your art.
HEART MAIL:
Art Sherpa 204
9490 fm 1960 RD W
suite 200
Humble tx 77338
Artwork is the property of Cinnamon Cooney and The Art Sherpa LLC. and is intended for the personal enjoyment of the student. Did you sell a painting of my original design via private sale? Congratulations and big art high fives!
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This artwork is under copyright and is intended for the viewer’s personal enjoyment.
If your paintings of my original design are offered for sale in a retail setting of any kind, please attribute ‘Original design by Cinnamon Cooney, The Art Sherpa. www.theartsherpa.com’
Please, create no prints or mechanical reproductions of your paintings of my original design.
Tracable and Coloring page https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456552480954027756/ Full painting : https://www.pinterest.com/pin/456552480954031846/ BEGINNER HOW TO PAINT art lesson ” Kawaii cutie CatBat ” in acrylic art tutorial. Great twist on the coffee cat for kids and the young at heart. Cutie cute cute cute art. Perfect for Halloween Acrylic painting. Spooky fun art 🙂 Acrylic Paint colors- Phthalocyanine Blue (green shade) Dioxazine Purple Cadmium Yellow (hue is ok) Cadmium Red (hue is ok) Mars Black Titanium White 8×10 Canvas board Paper towels water cup chalk a few colors ruler Sharpie Table easel Assorted Brushes for acrylic painting medium flick resistance ( synthetic or natural fiber is ok) I generally paint with creative mark ebony splendor and pro stroke Bright 1” ½” ¼” filbert 1” ½” Detail round medium and fine ½ shader Delicious snack or beverage smile Great for a private at HOME PAINTING PARTY with friends , kids and family. This fully guided step by step ACRYLIC PAINTING LESSON will have you drawing and painting this adorable catbat in a cup . Love those sweet coffee cats. Want to draw and paint. This is a totally child friendly art lesson . This is a lot of fun and all you have to do is just believe you have art in your heart! Love ” Kawaii art “. Love ” CatBat “. 100% FREE all this will cost you is a touch of elbow grease. This is a really fun ART LESSON. We talk about art and other fun subjects. How does art help your brain. Tips and tricks to make painting a party at home. With help and guidance anyone can paint. You can paint. Just open your heart and we can access your art together. Acrylics are a fun and enjoyable painting medium. What brushes do I like . Creative Mark. What paint’s am I using . liquitex heavy body acrylic, Matisse Derivan, and golden colors. We have lots of support tools for new artists. Want to see something just comment. It is YOUR art journey. Acrylics are a fun and enjoyable painting medium.
“Acrylic Painting Techniques for beginners”
Delicious snack or beverage smile
Want to own some of my original artwork.
I love teaching people to paint in a real supportive environment. I think everyone deserves to have art in their lives and feel the joy that art can bring! Follow a long share your art journey with me I look forward to hearing from you. Tell me what you want to paint. Tell me what you want to know about art. Acrylic Painting for Beginners that understands your needs. Real Acrylic Painting Lessons I fill them with actual art techniques but in a way you will smile about . Fun Acrylic Tips with silly noises. Pretty Painting’s you would hang on your wall. How to paint for you and the kids. Home painting party that will not break the bank .These are Easy art lessons . Tons of Free online painting lessons and more added every week. Many Acrylic tips and tricks. Online video art lessons so you can paint from your phone or home computer “Acrylic Painting Techniques for beginners”
How to Paint Fur with Acrylics & Glaze
Whether you’re a fan of the cute and cuddly or the wild and woolly, animals make fabulous subjects for painting. And if you’re wanting to learn how to paint fur to create your favorite fluffy, four-legged creature, this fox acrylic painting tutorial is a great place to start. Since a fox has a mix of long silky fur on its body and shorter hair on its nose and around the eyes, this project is a good way to practice techniques for painting different types of fur textures. The process described in the video tutorial below also works for creating other animal portraits including painting dogs, cats, bunnies, red pandas and, well, any other animal you can think of that has fur.
To learn how to paint a bunny, watch this acrylic painting tutorial. And to see how to paint a bird on canvas, try this tutorial.
Scroll to watch the complete video tutorial along with helpful tips for learning how to paint animal fur using acrylic paint.
gather these supplies for your painting
- acrylic paint (Liquitex, Golden or other quality brand) I used Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic in these shades: Titanium White, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Payne’s Gray, Naples Yellow, and Burnt Umber for the fox
- Golden Glazing Liquid (either Satin Glazing Liquid or Gloss Glazing Liquid)
- brushes suitable for acrylic paint in different sizes (flat shaders, small liner brushes, a filbert brush, flat wash, round, etc.)
- pre-primed canvas or primed wood panel
- canvas paper pad or old canvas for practicing fur painting techniques (optional, but helpful)
- water container and old towel/rags
choose a great reference photo
Choose a good quality, high resolution image as your main reference photo. Look for a photo with good lighting and sharp detail. The better the photo and detail, the easier it will be to create your animal painting.
I’m using this fox photo by Krasula from Shutterstock as a reference for painting the eyes in my fox painting.
And for the head, nose and ears, I’m using this second reference photo from Shutterstock taken by Canadian wildlife photographer, Jim Cumming.
And finally, I found a third fox photo by Volodymyr Burdiak on Shutterstock, that I’ll be using as a color reference.
It’s helpful to have a variety of images to study as you paint fur and other details.
It is also helpful to have your main reference photo printed so that it is the same size & scale as the animal you will be painting. So, for instance, if you are working on a 9×12 size canvas, it’s nice to have your reference photo printed out at the same 9×12 size so that what you are seeing in the photo matches the scale of what you are trying to reproduce and paint on the canvas. It’s easier to get proportions accurate this way and makes less mental work for you to do as you are painting.
choose a smooth canvas for painting fur
A smooth surface is better for painting fur. It’s easier for a brush to glide over a smooth canvas and make fluid strokes. Trying to move a brush tip over a surface with a pronounced texture and unevenly woven fibers often gives you choppy broken lines instead of flowing strands of hair.
select a few good brushes
You can create a great painting without spending a fortune on brushes. If you don’t already have brushes that work well with acrylic, then buy a few mid-level quality ones to use for this project–halfway between student grade and the pricier brands. A wash brush, a filbert, a few flat shaders and a small detail brush will work well.
You can also create your own “specialty” brush by using scissors to trim sections out of an old brush–like giving it a “bad haircut”. This can create some interesting fur texture.
try glazing liquid for silky fur
The good thing about acrylic paint is also the bad thing: it dries fast. Sometimes too fast. Mixing glazing liquid into your acrylic paint slows the drying process so that you have plenty of time to blend brush strokes and create silky fur.
step 2: video tutorial–how to paint fur
Watch the video to see the start-to-finish process of how to paint a furry fox. In the last 8 minutes of the video, you’ll find a demo for how to paint animal eyes.
take a break
Periodically, step away from the canvas and look at your work in progress from several feet away.
if something looks a little off—
If you feel as though something is not quite right about your painting, but you are not sure what it is—try looking at it from a different perspective. To check accuracy, turn the painting as well as your reference photo upside down. Just viewing it flipped will often reveal exactly what is off. You can also view your painting in reverse by standing with your back to the canvas and viewing it with a handheld mirror. Or take a photo of your work with your phone.
give your brushes a spa treatment
After you finish your painting, treat your brushes to a good cleaning so they’ll be in top form the next time you use them. One great option is da Vinci Brush Cleaning Soap –this is an all natural, hand-made, chemical free bar. It’s gentle and vegetable based, so it cleans brushes without leaving them stripped. It can even be used to clean make-up brushes!
This Artist Soap is another great choice, and it works amazingly well for acrylic paint as well as oil paint. In addition to paint, it can be used to remove ink, dye, grime, and even grass stains.
It comes in a bar with a refreshing peppermint scent.
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