Acrylic 101
What is Acrylic?
Acrylic paint is essentially plastic paint, which is
fast drying.
It may be used undiluted to appear opaque or it
may be watered down to create a glaze (wash).
David Hockney, Mr. & Mrs. Clark and Percy, 1970-1,
Acrylic on canvas
Gordon Shadrach, Crosshairs, 2019, Acrylic
on birch panel.
Characteristics of Acrylic
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It can be used on various surfaces; canvas, canvas board, thick paper, mdf board, wood, and
unusual surfaces(ie. Fabric or plastic).
Is both opaque and semi-transparent.
Air dries, but drying time can be extended using retarder or slow drying mediums.
Water soluble when wet and permanent when dry.
Can create a variety of techniques and textural effects using additives.
Helen Frankenthaler,
Canyon, Acrylic.
Alex Colville,To Prince Edward Island,
1965, Acrylic.
Painting Styles
Realism - smoothed out brushstrokes
Painterly - evident brushstrokes and texture
Impressionism - rough brushstrokes and optical blending
to depict the impact of light
Expressionism/Fauvism - not using realistic colours or
perspective. Colours are selected to fit the emotion felt by
the artist or to create emotional impact.
Abstraction - painting the essence of a subject rather than
an exact representation.
And so many more!!!
Blending Colours
Tint - a hue mixed with white
Tone - a hue mixed with gray
Shade - a hue mixed with black
Highlights - the brightest area of
your painting
Shadow - the darkest area achieved by
mixing black or the complementary
colour
Muted - to lower the intensity of
your hue, add a little bit of the
complementary colour
The Tools/Materials
Acrylic Paints
Brushes -
different types and uses on the next slide
Two water containers -
one for cleaning brushes, one for mixing paints
Mixed Media or watercolour paper
- for technique exploration
Canvas - for finished work
Paper towels
Palette-
- for cleaning brushes, dabbing and lifting
paper plate, wax paper or plastic palette.
Additional items to create effects and textures:
toothpicks,
masking tape, gel/matte medium, modeling paste, salt/sand, stencils, etc.
Types of Acrylic Brushes
Bristle: -
natural fibre brush,
stiff bristles and ideal for
thick paint application.
Synthetic: -
nylon fibre brush,
soft, yet firm bristles and most
versatile.
Flat Wash Brush
- large brush used to cover a
broad painting area and scoop a large amount
of paint- used for grounds and large
paintings.
Round Brush
- holds paint in belly and can create
strokes of varying widths with its fine tip.
Flat Brush
- creates straight thick lines, big
even washes and ideal for thick layers.
Filbert Brush
- creates straight thick lines and
big even washes. Great for blending as the
rounded wide brush creates versatility.
Angled Brush
- creates sharp edges, washes that
fade, and crafting curved lines and shapes with
varying thickness - used to create textures
like grass.
Fan Brush
- used to create varying textures of
broken strokes and for blending details like
skies or backgrounds.
Rigger/Liner
and text.
- used to create fine lines, details,
Types of brushes and their uses
My brush line-up!
What types of brushes
do you see here?
Here are a few Acrylic Techniques
Impasto-thick
application of
paint using a
palette knife or
brush. Can let
dry and continue
layering or work
textures while
wet.
Scumbling-little dab of paint
Layered-applying
paint
and blending paint
colours while wet
-used to created visible
brush strokes (ie.
Impressionistic painting
style)
on brush (remove excess), then
applied with little circular
motion (hazy skies, furs,
smoking out edges)
Dry Brush-dab
of
paint on bristle
brush (remove
excess) to apply
strokes and see
strokes/texture
Wet-on-Wet-lay
down water on
surface, tap in
watered down
acrylic paint into
it to create
watercolour effect
(bleeding colours,
pools etc.)-good
for skies, water
Glazing-start with
flat paint
application, let dry,
apply a wash (watered
down) over creating a
translucent effect or
use a gel medium
(glazing/matte
medium)
Let’s make a Basic Colour Wheel!
Draw a large circle, then another in the
centre.
Divide that circle into three bands.
Draw a triangle that meets the inside of
the circle.
Divide the triangle like the diagram and
then divide the circle like the diagram to
the right.
Starting with the primary colours, let’s
mix the colour wheel.
Beware that all primary colours actually
lean to either cool or warm depending on
which you choose to mix with, which will
affect the brightness of your mixed colour.
Steps for a Painting
1. Create a wash across your background
2. Draw your image lightly
3. Fill two water containers (one dirty, one clean), paper towels to wipe your paint
brushes
4. Mix your paints
5. Create your under-painting with a dark wash for shadows
6. Layer your paint darkest to lightest, paying attention to shapes instead of having all
colours blend into one shape.
7. Refine your painting by adding details and final highlights
If you are painting at home for long periods of time use a water spray bottle to mist your paint palette every so often.
Preparing a Coloured ground
When painting you rarely want to start with the white background. Using a coloured ground or
background colour helps to speed the painting process and adds luminosity and depth to a work.
There are two approaches to a ground.
1)Using a tone that is predominantly
visible or an undertone
2)Using a neutral colour (gray, gray-blue,
ochre-brown) or complementary colour to add
life to a painting.
Mini-Scapes
Clouds dry wash,
wet wash,
blotting
Trees Triangle,
round
forms
with
washes,
added
details
later