Friday, February 27, 2009

Paint with Acrylics

By Carissah M. Swiss

Among both beginner and advanced painters, acrylic painting is very popular as a medium. There are several benefits to using acrylic paint. One benefit, that is not necessarily a benefit to everyone is that it dries quickly. This allows the painter to layer more often and quickly. Some may not like it to be fast drying and would prefer to use oil paint for this reason.

If you've ever used oil paint you know that you need a special solution in order to get the oil paint out of your brush. You would also have to use it if you got paint on your clothes which could damage your clothes. Acrylic paint is great because you can just use water to get it out of your brush and add a little soap if you get it on your clothes.

If you get paint everywhere when you paint, acrylic is a better choice. Either way, you should wear old clothes or a smock and then you don't have to worry about getting any kind of paint out of your clothes.

Before you begin, you need to purchase some painting tools and supplies. First pick up some acrylic paint. If you are a beginner, you can get a set of a dozen or more colors put together. If you are more advanced and good at mixing your own colors, get a few larger tubes of the primary colors plus black and white and mix any colors you need.

Now you will also need paintbrushes and canvases. You can buy small packs of paintbrushes that will give you all the sizes you will need, or if you know what you want, buy them individually. You can buy a canvas board, a pre-stretched canvas, or stretch the canvas you want. I like to buy a canvas board or pre-stretched because it saves time and is done right.

Start with a light sketch of your drawing and then begin layering in the light colors. Cover the entire space with a light color. Once the first layer is dry, add darker layers one at a time. Experiment using different brushes with different techniques. There is no right or wrong brush to use. Just use what you get the best results from.

As you go, become more and more intricate if you are doing a detailed lifelike painting. If you want to go abstract, let your imagination and paint brush guide you. Don't worry about if you are doing it right, just let yourself go. Add color where you want it and use as much paint as you feel is necessary. The more you paint, the better you'll get at it, and the more you'll enjoy it!

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