Painting Foundations: Acrylic

Learn to paint with acrylics. Get an introduction to the materials and techniques used in acrylic painting with three follow-along painting projects.

Introduction

• Welcome
• Using the exercise files

1. Materials and Setup

• The versatility of acrylics
• Which brush to choose?
• Palette choice
• Canvas, paper, or board?
• Preparing your support
• Using a colored ground
• Additional materials

2. Paint Properties

• Heavy body vs. fluid body
• Altering paint with water and mediums
• Opacity vs. transparency

3. Basic Painting Techniques

• Blocking in and underpainting
• Three-tone masses
• Introducing color
• Adding glazes

4. The Power of Pigments

• Earth colors vs. synthetic colors
• Color bias
• Choosing a white

5. A Simple Five-Color Palette

• Five key colors
• Color matching
• Choosing a mood for a landscape
• Mixing color strings
• Landscape techniques: Painting clouds using color strings
• Landscape techniques: Adding color to the landscape

6. Creative Mark Making and the Unique Properties of Acrylic Paints

• Creating texture
• Abstract techniques: Drips and pours

7. Final Project: Still Life

• Final project: Preparing our colors
• Final project: First stages
• Final Project: Washes and blocking in
• Final project: Impasto and thick passages of paint
• Signing and protecting your work