Acrylic paint is made on the basis of a matte plastic emulsion in which the pigment dissolves. Acrylic paints are a versatile art material. Almost any surface is suitable for painting with them. There are acrylic paints for canvas and paper, wood and porcelain, fabric, clay, stone and other surfaces.
It is necessary
a set of acrylic paints of the main spectrum (6-8 colors), water, thinner for acrylic, art brushes (synthetics, columns, sable, bristles), moistened palette, palette knife, surface for painting (canvas, thick watercolor paper, cardboard, wood, etc.) etc.), easel or tablet, masking tape, canvas stretcher
Instructions
Step 1
If you are familiar with watercolor or oil, then you can easily master acrylic paints. Just keep in mind that acrylic paints dry extremely quickly. If they are completely dry, then they form a film that does not wash off with water. This means that you can make changes to the picture only until the acrylic paints are completely dry. This also makes it difficult to mix them on a regular palette, and also creates the need to keep the brushes only in water. For acrylic paints, special palettes are sold, on the bottom of which moistened foam rubber is laid. Waxed paper laid on top of damp foam serves as a mixing surface. In addition, such palettes have a tight-fitting lid, which allows you to keep the colors mixed on it for a long time. It is very easy to make your own moisturizing palette by taking a flat container with a lid, on the bottom of which you need to put a layer of wet wipes or toilet paper. The main thing is not to overdo it with water, so that the napkins do not become sour. After leveling the surface of the napkins, cover them with a sheet of smooth, dense tracing paper, which will be an excellent palette for acrylic paints.
Step 2
Whichever surface you choose for your acrylic painting (other than white watercolor paper) must be primed first. There are special primers for acrylic paints. Most often, an acrylic emulsion is used, which contains titanium dioxide. This gives the surface the whiteness required by clear acrylic paint. Also, dark acrylic paint is used as a primer, which gives the work the necessary contrast. If you decide to work with thinned acrylic paint that you will be applying to white watercolor paper, then you will not need a primer. Acrylic in this case will be very similar to watercolor, but without losing color saturation.
Step 3
Remember that acrylic dries faster the more water is added to it. It is easiest to paint with diluted acrylic paints using the “wet” method, when a sheet of watercolor paper is pre-moistened in warm water and stretched on a tablet. The edges of the damp paper are firmly attached to the tablet with masking tape. If you decide to write on dry paper with diluted acrylic paints, then moisten it all the time. It will be convenient to write with two brushes: one to apply paint directly, and the other (wet and clean) to smooth out contours, remove paint leaks, soften color transitions and correct mistakes. There is an acrylic painting technique called layered glazing. First, thick paints are applied to the work surface as an underpainting. Then the diluted liquid paint is applied in layers, waiting for each layer to dry completely. This allows you to correct color dissonance or change the shades of the overall color scheme of the picture. The painting, made by the glazing method, has amazing depth, expressiveness and brilliance.
Step 4
The excellent opacity and density of undiluted acrylic paints allow you to paint using the impasto technique, as when working with oil. It is best to use a drying retardant made specifically for acrylic paints. This will allow you to work out the texture of the strokes without fuss and correct possible mistakes, which, meanwhile, need to be corrected immediately. When working on canvas, it is imperative to prime it, and also, given the transparency of acrylic, it is better to spread the primary colors over it as an underpainting.
Step 5
The brushes you will be working with should be selected depending on how diluted the acrylic paints are. If you want to paint with diluted acrylic paints, then sable, columnar, bovine or synthetic brushes are suitable. For the impasto technique (i.e. thick acrylic paint), tougher brushes made of bristle, sable or combined with synthetic fiber are suitable. In addition, in this case, you can use a palette knife, as in painting with oil.
Step 6
To simplify the work with acrylic, a lot of auxiliary products are produced: thinners, drying retardants, glossy, matte and textured gels. By practicing acrylic painting, you will be able to practice their properties and evaluate their usefulness.
