Acrylic painting is the medium of choice for many artists because of the ease of cleaning up and the quick drying time. Since acrylics are water-based, brushes can be cleaned up with water in most cases. Acrylics can also be thinned with water or other substances to create different effects with the paints, such as a watercolor appearance on your canvas.

You can also paint a layer upon layer with acrylic painting, which allows an artist to add finer points to pictures or correct mistakes easily. Because acrylic painting is rather easy to do, they are a popular option for many beginning artists as well as more seasoned painters.

Acrylic Painting Technique A Step by Step Guide

Before beginning your adventure into acrylic painting, you definitely need to put on proper clothing. Acrylic paint is water-soluble only until it dries, making it nearly impossible to wash out of fabric. For this reason, you will definitely need to wear old clothes and a paint smock before beginning any work with acrylic painting.

You can use these paints on nearly any surface, but they work particularly well on textured surfaces like canvas or textured paper. However, with a proper base coat or primer applied, you can use acrylic painting to accent wood, terracotta, and even glass. These paints are a very popular choice for decorative painting projects.

Since acrylics dry quickly, this can pose a challenge for mixing colors. There are special palettes that you can purchase for acrylic painting that will enable the paints to stay wet longer. This can be a prudent investment if you are planning to do a lot of painting. Bristle brushes generally work best with this type of paint, and synthetic bristles tend to be preferred over natural materials.

Remember to invest in high quality brushes if you can, since these will last longer and normally give you better results. Look for a stiffer bristle since the paint is thicker, unless you are planning to water it down to the density of watercolors.

While you are doing acrylic painting, keep your brushes washed out as soon as you are finished with them. Once the acrylic painting dries, it will be very difficult to make your brushes clean. If you don't want to continue to interrupt your painting session to wash  brushes, keep a cup of water at your easel to leave your brushes in until you can clean them. If the paint is a bit stubborn, a little soap added to your water should wash your brushes out quite nicely.

Acrylic painting is a fun and versatile medium that even a budding artist can learn to master. Invest in a few basic paint colors, brushes and canvas, and see what your creative spirit can create. You just might surprise yourself with your results!