Acrylic Paints

[Saint Melania]

I have just begun to learn about painting with acrylics. Does anyone here have experience with these, and if so, have any good tips or techniques to do better with these?

I am used to working with watercolors and qouache. So far my main problem is getting the mixture darker than I'd like on the first try with the acrylic paints.

 

[Vividwings]

I used acrylics sometimes, and one of the things I can say about acrylics: use black in very, very small amounts. A little goes a loooong way. White can lighten something up, but it tends to make the color grayish when black is added as well. Good luck with them, they can be pretty tricky sometimes.

 

[PJMouse]

You'll learn to better judge the colors on the palette with experience so just start right in and try it. If you're used to watercolor, you're probably used to the white of the paper showing through, hence why you're starting off too dark. Don't worry too much about getting them exact though because unlike watercolors, you can just paint right over it. Unthinned acrylics are opaque so it won't show. I've heard it said that the best thing about acrylics is they dry so quickly. And the worst thing about acrylics is they dry so quickly. This is very true and something you'll have to learn to work with. If you want to blend colors, you'd better do it fast. Otherwise you can just gradate them yourself which gives you plenty of time to work on the painting. Sometimes I leave a painting for months between various stages. I don't know if you've gotten brushes made for acrylics or you're just using your watercolor brushes. You probably won't want to do the latter though as it'll just ruin them. I think synthetics are best for acrylics, but I don't have much experience with various types of brushes to say that authoritatively.

 

[Saint Melania]

I got acrylic brushes to go with the paints. I finished the first painting, and the parts that were too dark I did manage to lighten with another coat of lighter or brighter shades. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself for the first try. However, I did learn a lot, and next time should have an easier time of it.

 

[Bubbi]

HI
Acrylics is all that I use since a lot of what I do is painting things like Rocks, wood and fabric.
I started with this medium when I began to paint outdoor sculptures for the garden.

Acrylics tend to dry darker and what I find is the best is to have a dash of white and then add just a drop of color in order to get a lighter shade of which ever your wanting.

When I paint surfaces other than paper--I will give them a white base coat first depending on what I am doing.

The great thing with acrylics is the many ways you can manipulate the paint--since you like water colors--you can use your brush and dip into water and allow drops to mix in and this will give you an almost water color effect.

Would love to see your work
Bubbi