Welcome to the world of Acrylic paint, possibly the most versatile visual arts medium. You can use acrylics in a classical manner, almost as oils, or go wild and experiment – all with easy clean-up with water. In this course, I’ll cover the basics and also present some ideas that you might like to try.
Materials information:
There is of course a vast array of materials available. In the following video, I review some suggestions for getting started with acrylic painting:
Brushes
I use mid-quality synthetic brushes. I do most of my work with mid-sized, approximately 5/8″ flat and slightly tapered (filbert) styles, plus somewhat smaller rounds. I’ve always got a couple of large-rarea brushes on hand, perhaps a 1″ and 1-1/2” in order to get lots of paint coverage and generally it’s best not to be fussy, so larger is better. I use a couple of smaller brushes for detail, again both flats and rounds. I find it’s a good idea to have a number of brushes in similar sizes on hand: it’s a chore cleaning in the middle of a passage and I keep a good few brushes in play, typically one per colour group that I’m using.
There’s nothing wrong with using other types of brushes, for example, cheap bristle brushes if you find that you like the chunky effects, however be ready to pick out wayward hairs from your canvas. Should you have a yen to use some classic (and expensive) natural sable brushes, I’d keep them for the finer passages towards the end!
For more information on brushes, this Wikipedia page provides some good information (scroll down for the section on Artist’s Brushes): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paintbrush
For cleaning and brush care, there are quite a few good reference websites such as this one: https://www.wikihow.com/Clean-Acrylic-Paint-Brushes
Mediums and Retarders
A most misunderstood, but useful product is “medium”. Think of it as clear paint. It is in effect, the “medium” that is carrying the pigment in all tubes of acrylic paint – just without the colour! There is a dizzying variety of choices designed for various applications. I’d choose a general-purpose medium in order to get started.
Medium is not to be confused with “retarder” (even more confusingly called ”medium retarder” in French). Retarder works chemically in your paint mix (with or without medium) to slow down the drying time. I’d try painting without retarder and introduce it should you have drying problems. Even with retarder, drying can be unpredictable and the real solution is to choose a slow-drying series of paints.
Paints and Colour
The most important paint characteristic, for me, is permanence – the light-fastness, or fade resistance over time. All reputable paint manufacturers will specify the permanence and I check the tubes for this: If it’s not marked on the tube, it’s not good. I use a variety of paint brands in both Artist and Student quality. In many cases, the difference between the Artist and Student variants is the ratio of pigment to medium – the goop that is carrying the granules of pigment. There are potentially other differences in tone, clarity, opacity and covering power. All of these are factors when painting, however above all else, you do not want your painting to fade over time.
I use a limited palette, favoring pigments that are close to the primaries: red, yellow and blue. Should you be off to the store to start the course, by all means follow my recommendations: cerulean blue, ultramarine blue, cadmium red, Alizarin crimson, cadmium yellow, lemon yellow, burnt Sienna, yellow ochre, raw umber, titanium white. Alternatively, you could buy a starter box of paints. In this case, choose one with a few decent-sized tubes. The boxes with small tubes of multifarious colours are definitely not as useful.
On a final note, you may see some pigments marked “hue”. This indicates a pigment that’s been formulated to mimic the true “hue” of a traditional pigment – but at lower cost. As such, it is not necessarily inferior, however it may have somewhat different characteristics, depending on application. I often use “hues” and have had no problems.
Support Surfaces
Throughout the course, you are free to use whichever painting surface you prefer: traditional non-absorbing (sealed) gessoed surfaces, either stretched canvas, canvas board or any other surface that has been gessoed: wood, card or such. Canvas paper can be used too, although this needs to be solidly mounted and the quality of the gesso sometimes causes absorbency problems. I often paint on 16″x20″ canvases and I’d recommend sizes between 12″x16″ and 18″x24″ – larger if you have a very expressive style (and lots of paint).
These days, many surfaces come prepared with Acrylic Gesso – essentially a sealer and primer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesso
I enjoy painting on non-gessoed surfaces too, such as watercolour or multimedia paper, however these are absorbent and some of the techniques for wiping and blending will not work the same way. Artist quality, acid-free surfaces are obviously preferred, however when learning, it’s best not to be too choosy. I paint studies on gessoed cardboard regularly. At the other end of the quality spectrum, some realist artists apply additional gesso to store-bought canvas, however in most instances this is far from essential.
Mixing Palettes
My main recommendation is to have a large enough surface so as not to inhibit your mixing style. I typically mix on a wood surface covered with cling film. Disposable palettes are fine and should I need to mix up a large quantity of paint, yogurt containers are of course invaluable. Rather than scraping down old paint (oil) or pealing it off (acrylic) I just dispose of the cling film and start again. I find that working over an old palette yields pesky bits of old paint into my new mix. White palettes are OK, however I prefer the more natural wood base as the colours on the palette oftentimes correspond to those already on the painting a little more naturally. Covered/stay-fresh palettes work fine, should you want to keep paint going between sessions. I prefer to use up most of the paint and get it onto the canvas if possible – any squirt of wet paint that then remains on my palette I cover with a weighted upside down yogurt container (with perhaps a damp tissue inside for acrylic).
Experimenting with the Paint Brush!
There are so many ways to use a paintbrush, you’ll probably find a new way in your journey through acrylics. Let’s get started with an exercise just to show how many ways you can use a brush. Pick a mid-sized round brush, a flat brush and if you have one a funny-shaped brush that you’re eager to try and let’s get started:
Exercise
- Have a go yourself, the objective is not to copy me but just feel out how the brush feels with little or lots of paint, holding the brush in different ways and trying different brush strokes.
Developing a single pigment layout:
1- Composition and Value Sketching
Whether you’re developing studies for use on a future painting project or a drawing for it’s own sake, composition and studies are an excellent way to frame your art endevours. In the following video I review the process:
A composition sketch serves to organize the picture space, simplify forms, look at what’s important and (more importantly) what’s not: Invariably, photos have too much detail and picking out what is important is best done before you paint. Also, things may not be where you want them, so you can easily move stuff around. You can also easily check out different scenarios – perhaps that holiday shot should be cropped!
Some artists include values (that is, lights and darks) as part of a single preliminary sketch, however it’s a good plan to do another. The trick is to force the picture space into 3 values: light, mid-tone and dark…and be rigorous, no in-between values! This promotes confidence to then block in values in your painting and adjust for detail afterwards. Any evident value problems, perhaps a light form next to a light backdrop are fixed when you go through this process. Keep it simple – it works best like this and I’m sure you’d rather be painting!
Exercise
- Sketch out a composition from the reference below or take an alternative reference from the Reference Gallery. Focus on the major forms, placement and balance.
- Now, freely interpret this as a value study. Make the primary focus the lights, mid-tones and darks (3 zones).
Painting using only one pigment (plus white) – Monochrome foundation painting
Following our sketches, I’m sure that we’re all ready to paint that image! In the following video I take the ideas from my initial sketches and develop a basic paint layout.
The initial foundation can be the most important stage of a painting. Foundation blocking can be completed in any (typically subdued) tone: blues, browns, greys and greens can all work. Each will assert a certain feel into the final work – sometimes dramatically so, where the foundation forms an integral part of the final image. A monochrome painting can be delightful in it’s own right!
Here are some ideas on getting started with Acrylics:
- Use a big brush to start…keep using it until you find you need a little more detail.
- Acrylics are quick-drying and forgiving – just paint over what you do not like – it’s often easier to correct later than at the time.
- When layering, add some titanium white, it’s very opaque – even if the result is lighter than you need, you can layer a bit more colour afterwards.
- Acrylics may be diluted with water, however when you dilute them a lot (say 50/50), add some acrylic medium to maintain the acrylic bond (perhaps 20% medium with 30% water).
- Try using some medium rather than water anyway – you might well like the feel and the effect.
- You may notice the paint dries a little darker than the wet colour, somewhat frustratingly and this is a normal “feature” of all acrylic paint.
- You can mix different brands and I’ve not had any problems. I’ve tinted house paint with my artists acrylics to good effect!
- Typically, acrylics are marked fluid or heavy body, both are of course fine, although I prefer my paint to be thick out of the tube.
- Stand back from your work from time to time – many masterpieces look quite messy close up.
Exercise
- Develop a monochrome painting along the lines described using my reference above or one from the Reference Gallery
- Start with blocking major forms and areas before developing details…you can of course add as much or a little as you like!