Planning on starting with a new medium of painting like acrylics and feeling overwhelmed? It's natural. Everybody needs a little help in the beginning.

What's the deal with acrylic paint? Acrylics produce some of the most colorful and varied finishes, in addition to being quite easy to apply. It is the ideal medium for generating graphic color blocking, ombré gradients, rich texture, and delicate line-work in modern paintings.

The answers to the most common queries regarding learning to paint with acrylics are provided in this article. Get along reading!

TABLE OF CONTENT

>  Which Acrylic Paints Should I Purchase

>  What Colors of Acrylic Paint Do I Need

>  What Brushes Do I Need for Acrylic Painting?

>  What is the Best Surface to Paint On?

>  What's the Best Place to Mix Colors?

>  Using Water with Acrylic Paint

>  FAQs

>  Summing Up

Which Acrylic Paints Should I Purchase?

Acrylics are available in a variety of container sizes, thicknesses, and, of course, brands.

The good news is that they can all be mixed. You may choose between student and artist quality. What’s the difference you ask?

Artist Quality Paint

>  Highest pigment concentrations
>  Price ranges vary
>  Colors are available in a wide range of shades with minimal color change

Student Quality Paint

>  Paint coverage is reduced
>  More inexpensive price range
>  The color change is more intense
>  It's great for underpainting and large-scale painting

Remember as a beginner it is best to purchase the finest paint you can afford.

Purchase acrylic paint from well-known manufacturers. Artist quality, not student quality, is what you should be looking for eventually.

You'll receive more pigment for your money if you use professional-grade acrylics. You'll be able to change the qualities of your paint more easily with gels and mediums.

What Colors of Acrylic Paint Do I Need?

You don't need a lot of colors to get started. You can combine whatever hue you need from a few picked colors with a little effort.

So, we all know that 3 main colors (blue, red, and yellow) can be mixed to create a rainbow of colors. Most of us prefer the convenience of being able to squeeze a specific desired color directly from a tube.

Some colors from the tube are simply brighter or darker than anything you can mix yourself.

However, because you can't buy or carry every hue and tube of paint available, learning how to limit your color pallet while still being able to blend the colors you desire is crucial.

You may save money by buying an acrylic paint kit of the basic colors. This often includes cadmium yellow, naphthol red, phthalo green, ultramarine blue, and titanium white.

You can learn to blend all the colors you need from such a little palette with some experimentation.

What Brushes Do I Need for Acrylic Painting?

There are hundreds of manufacturers to choose from, each with a varied variety of products and pricing. As a result, there are practically many options available to you. But which is the best pick for you?

To give you a better understanding of the brushes' shapes, these are the ones selected for a good output:

The Round Brushes

Round brushes are generally popular and may be used to create a wide range of markings.

The Filbert Brushes

Filbert brushes are essentially flat brushes with a tapered, rounded end, as shown below. They can make a variety of markings and are very good at blending.

The sizes of round and filbert brushes vary a lot across manufacturers, so don't get too worked up over the numbers.

The Flat Brushes

Flat brushes are easy to size since the flattened section of the ferrule (the metal fastening). This is from which the hairs that emerge are simply measured across the end of the flattened part of the ferrule (the metal fixing).

The Rigger Brushes

The rigger brush is an extremely thin, spherical, long-haired brush that is suitable for sketching similarly fine lines. These include the rigging on a ship, from where it gets its name.

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>  Everything You Need to Know About Acrylic Paint

>  How To Paint on Canvas

>  How To Use Acrylic Paint?

The Assorted Set

>  1.5-inch DIY brush. Choose a higher-quality one from the DIY shop, as the lower-cost ones shed a lot of hair.
>  Number 4 and number 8 Filbert brush.
>  Number 8 Round brush.
>  Number 1 Rigger brush 1 inch.
>  0.5-inch Flat brush.

What is the Best Surface to Paint On?

Acrylic paint may be applied to almost any surface. For convenience, lifespan, and beauty, choose from the various options in this section.

Canvas

Canvas is a popular choice for painting surfaces because it is absorbent, has a lovely fabric feel, and is lightweight and portable. Unstretched, stretched, and commercially constructed canvas boards are the three forms of canvas supports.

The canvas paper is also available in pads. However, it has a highly smooth feel to it, unlike actual canvas cloth. It takes practice to stretch it yourself. Wood stretcher bars, a staple gun, and stretcher pliers are required.

Wrap the canvas around the bars and tack it down at the rear, tightening it each time. Begin in the middle and work your way outward.

Stretched canvases are available in a variety of sizes or can be custom-made by your local art store or framer.

Cardboard and Paper

If you're a newbie or just want to try something new, paper and cardboard are excellent support options.

Both are inexpensive and simple to get by. Both have absorbent surfaces that allow for washes and acrylic methods that have been over-watered.

Choose acid-free papers or cardboard, which are more archival and do not contain contaminants that might damage your artwork.

Fabric

You can enjoy perusing fabric stores for color, pattern, and texture inspiration. Occasionally purchase tiny pieces of cloth to keep in my workshop as inspiration.

Taking your favorite fabric and using it as the starting point for a painting is a fun method. There's no reason to be afraid of that white canvas. Get a head start on your painting by starting with colors and patterns that are already there.

Silk

Fluid acrylics are a more durable option than fabric dyes for painting on silk and keeping the cloth soft and free flowing for usage as a banner, fabric installation, or wearable art.

On silk, dye works well, although it is not as lightfast or durable as acrylic.

This technique shows how to use acrylic on silk to provide long-lasting, lightfast, washable color while keeping the fabric's suppleness. Other textiles beyond silk can be utilized with this method.

Glass

One of the advantages of painting on glass is its clarity. The most important consideration when painting on glass is adherence.

The surface can be etched or sandblasted to add teeth. Because both procedures will cause the glass to become slightly foggy, etch just where the paint will be applied.

Glass may be purchased at any glass supply store and trimmed to size. Float glass and window glass are both smooth, transparent, and cost-effective options. Colored and textured glass are also available.

If you're sandblasting, make sure the glass is at least 14 inches (6 millimeters) thick. Cover the jagged glass edges with a frame if your glass sculpture will be freestanding.

What's the Best Place to Mix Colors?

It’s not just about color theory here now, we're talking about color practice and palette. This is about how to blend pigments to get the desired colors, or tints/shades of a certain hue.

Even so, a basic awareness of the color wheel, as well as the distinctions between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. This as well as complementary, warm, and cool colors can make color mixing much easier.

You will need a palette to mix your paint on. Wood, plastic, or paper can all be used for this. Surfaces that are not permeable are preferred.

For quick cleanup, disposable paper palettes are a wonderful option. Color mixing is easier with a grey or neutral color pallet, although white can suffice. A disposable palette can be made from a smooth paper plate.

Only squeeze out little amounts of acrylic paint at a point since it dries fast. Using a spray bottle, mist the paint to keep it damp.

Types of palettes you need:

The Safe Glass Palette

These painter palettes are silky smooth, gentle on brushes, and incredibly simple to clean. It also has a white vinyl backing. Somewhere under the safety glass palette, place a simple white piece of paper or mat board. It works perfectly.

The best part about this artist palette is that it is made of glass, which means that if it breaks, it will not shatter all over the place, causing harm.

The Artist Palette (Stay-Wet)

One of the drawbacks of acrylics, as previously discussed, is that they can dry very rapidly.

This implies that if you mixed the right mixture of colors to create a great new hue, but then had to leave for a few hours or cease painting for the night. Your paints would be dry on the palette when you returned.

With Stay-Wet palettes, this is no longer a concern. There are a few different brands of palettes on the market that are meant to keep your paints from drying out by retaining moisture.

These acrylic palettes have a cover and rectangular sponge wedges that keep the palette wet for several hours.

The Plain Plastic Palette

Plastic palettes are also available in a variety of forms and sizes.

Aside from being inexpensive, their greatest advantage is that they are extremely light and comfortable to carry for extended periods.

The rectangular plastic palette, for example, has a thumbhole for convenient grip and several little convex mixing wells.

This palette can work well for you if you typically combine little amounts of color each time and wish to keep them distinct from one another.

The Wood Palette

The classic wooden artist palette, as used by painters in the olden days. Most people assume that after the acrylic dries on the wood, however, it'll remain there indefinitely.

These palettes are seen as simple to clean, so it would be worth a shot. You can watch videos on how the Old Masters worked.

Using Water with Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is a water-based medium, so always have a supply of water on hand.

Rinse the brushes with water and then paint with them. A modest amount of water might also help prevent paint from drying too quickly.

Replace the water frequently or have two containers on hand: one for diluting paint and another for washing brushes.

FAQs

When working with acrylic paints, what sort of paper should you use?

Acrylic paints may be used on any type of paper. Thicker, less absorbent paper, on the other hand, appears to work better. Acrylic paint, for example, looks great on multimedia paper. The canvas paper is also great.

Is something used after painting with acrylics for glow and smoothness?

Most individuals prefer to apply varnish once the paint has dried fully. Varnish unifies the surface and gives it a consistent appearance, which can be shiny depending on the kind.

Glossy varnish provides the painting with a lustrous sheen and smoothness.

What is the best way to get starch out of an acrylic paint bottle?

If there is starch on the outside of the paint container, simply wash it with soap and water. If the starch gets blended with the paint, it may be impossible to remove.

Summing Up

The biggest issue as a novice with acrylic painting is attempting to save money by purchasing low-cost items. What you do not realize is that using low-quality paints makes the painting process considerably more difficult.

Now that you're informed of the math of acrylic painting, start with a topic that interests you! It's fine to have some fun, try new things, and fool about.

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