Photo by Petra
Acrylic painting can be used in several techniques. Acrylic paints are water soluble. Water thins the paints and any paint mess can be cleaned up with water. Acrylics are also nontoxic and dry quickly.
Watercolor Technique
Lay your canvas flat. If the canvas is upright, the paints will run together with this technique. Use a small amount of paint. Prepare your paint by taking small dabs of it to mix with water. Make a thin consistency using more water than paint. For background colors, wash large areas of canvas with clear water. Float your chosen colors in the water. Allow to dry. Use the rest of the prepared acrylic colors for your painting. Do not put wet colors next to each other or they will blend. Put the wet paint next to a dry color to create sharp edges. Once the background of the painting is finished, it is time to paint the details. Use small brushes and the acrylic paint directly from the tubes. The paint will be noticeably thicker and will stay put on the canvas.
Knife Painting
This technique uses a palette knife instead of a paintbrush. This knife looks like a putty knife but has an angled blade instead of a straight edge. The entire painting or just a part of the painting can be done with a palette knife. Keep the acrylic paint thick with this technique. Do not water it down. Pick the color up on the knife and drag the paint across the canvas. A solid area can be pushed into the canvas. Lighter textured areas are created by lightly dragging or touching the canvas with the palette knife. This is a great technique to create mountains, trees and man-made structures. To create straight lines, just use the edge of the blade to scrape the line into the paint.
Sgraffito Technique
This is an abstract modern art technique. Start by painting a base coat onto the canvas. Use one or more colors. Let this coat dry thoroughly. Next, apply a thick coat of paint over the base coat. Do not let it dry. With a blunt object, scratch patterns and lines in the wet coat so the base color shows through. Do not use a sharp object or you may cut the canvas or scratch the base coat. Objects that can be used are pencil erasers, brushes, palette knives and paintbrush handles. If the top coat starts to dry, lightly spray it with a mist of water.
