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Acrylic Painting Instructions » Wisconsin Union
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Acrylic Painting Instructions

This kit is for people who enjoy relaxing with friends and enjoy the experience of painting. This kit comes with thoughtful items for making a project that we hope will spark your creativity this winter!

Supplies Needed:

  1. Paper (any kind - computer paper, drawing paper, recycled mail, cut up grocery bag)
  2. Pen/Pencil
  3. A Bit of Tape
  4. 2 Cups of Water
  5. WhS Acrylic Painting Kit

 

Instructions:

  1.  Unpack your kit and open the drop cloth. We like to tape this to our surface.
  2. Unfold your easel and set your canvas up. Sometimes we tape the corners of the easel to our drop cloth.
  3. Lay out your brushes and paint and get ready to get started!

 

Tips and Tricks:

  • The internet is full of images, find a reference for something you’re really interested in!
  • Don’t skimp on the paint. It’s okay to use large amounts of it and apply it thickly.
  • Work fast-ish. Acrylic paint is known for its fast drying time, so it’s important to develop a quick painting habit. Once acrylic paint is dry, it’s impossible to reactivate.
  • Use warm colors (reds, yellows, oranges) next to cool shades (blues, purples, greens) to create interesting contrast!
  • Don’t be afraid to mix different techniques and try something new
  • If you make a mistake, no worries. Just paint over it when it’s dry.
  • Take care of your brushes.  If you want them to last, you’ll need to make sure you clean them well after each use to keep them from becoming dry, rigid, and useless.  
  • An easy way to keep your paint from drying too quickly is to mist the paint after you’ve applied it to the palette.
  • Step away now and then and you may have a different perspective when you come back!
  • Practice blending and you will definitely get the hang of it.
  • Keep 2 cups of water. One for washing your brush and the other clean for using with your paint.
  • Check out a color wheel to help with deciding which colors to mix together. Here are some color mixing tips! 

  • Add dark colors to light, it is far more difficult to lighten a dark color than darken a light one! Don’t use black to darken a color, though. Try mixing complementary colors like red and green for this instead.
  • Use neutrals to make vivid colors stand out by placing them next to each other on the canvas.
  • Want to make brown? Just mix all the primary colors!
  • Mix colors a bit lighter than you want them to be at the end, many acrylics try darker.

 

Techniques to Check-out:

Dry brush

Scoop up a heap of paint with a dry brush and apply it to the canvas.

Wet brush on dry canvas

Wet the brush and mix the paint with water on the palette until it’s free from lumps. This will make an even layer across the surface.

Color Gradients

Squeeze two colors on a palette. On canvas, I paint a line of color 1 on the top and a line of color 2 on the bottom with a dry brush. Next, wash the brush. Then, move the lighter color into the darker color, gradually mixing the colors in the process. I mix the colors quickly, as it dries fast.

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