Acrylic Painting Technique

Polymer based acrylic paints are in many important ways different than oil paints. They dry much faster and are soluble in water. Those are the two main characteristics that make them special in a way. They are also durable, inexpensive, and easy-to-use.

Acrylics are very versatile and appealing to both beginners and experienced artists. They can be applied thickly or in watercolor like styles.

While the basic painting techniques are very similar to those of oil painting, there are some techniques that are specific to acrylic painting.

Pouring Paint

Why use brushes or knives when you can pour paint directly onto the canvas and use gravity to move it around. This is an innovative technique that can give you really unique results. It's also a lot of fun.

Watercolor Effects

Acrylics can produce effects similar to watercolors. They work wonderfully as a transparent medium. You can add a number of layers on top of one another. You must, of course, wait for one layer to dry before applying another one.

Sgraffito

Sgraffito or a scratching technique got its name from the Italian word "graffiare" which literally means – to scratch. In this technique you scratch through a layer of wet paint to reveal the paint that is underneath. You can use the wrong end of a brush, a painting knife, spoon, fork, screwdriver, or even fingernails. Anything that can scratch a line into paint can be effective. The main thing to remember when using this technique is that the underlying color must be completely dry before you apply the layer of paint you're going to scratch away. You don't want to scratch off both layers, do you?

There are, of course, many other painting techniques that can be very effective with acrylics. If you're not familiar with glazing, scumbling, alla prima, chiaroscuro, impasto, and wet into wet technique, just to name a few, see Learn & Master Painting for more info.