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Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019 Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019
Created by potrace 1.16, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2019

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Understanding acrylic paint

Acrylic paint is an extremely versatile medium, leading to its success within the art world. Renowned for its fast drying time, vibrant colours and flexibility, acrylic paint has become popular with professional and amateur artists alike. This blog will explore the history of acrylics, its unique characteristics and the techniques that you can use to apply them to your artwork!

The history of acrylic paint

Developed in the 1930s, acrylic paint was originally made as a fast-drying alternative to oil paint. But it wasn’t until the 60s that acrylic paint saw an increase in popularity and commercial availability. Unique properties helped acrylics achieve its success such as the quick drying time, more vibrant colours and the fact it could be used on most surfaces. The rise in popularity was aided by famous artists such as Andy Warhol, known for his iconic pop art, and Mark Rothko, a leading figure in the Abstract Expressionist movement.

Characteristics of acrylic paint

Fast drying– One of the main features of acrylic paint is that it dries extremely fast. If it hasn’t been watered down, it can dry in minutes and allow artists to work quickly with multiple layers in a short period of time.

Versatile– Unlike watercolour and oil paints, acrylic can be used at various thicknesses– either pure to create a thick texture or thinned to create watercolour effects. It can also be used on all sorts of surfaces, from canvas to wood and even fabric.

Durable– Once acrylic paint dries, it becomes water-resistant and even flexible. This helps to reduce the risk of any fading or cracking over time

Types of acrylic paint

Heady body acrylic– These have a thick, butter like consistency that is quite similar to oil paints. Heavy body acrylics hold brush strokes and palette knife marks well, making them suitable for creating textures and impasto techniques.

Soft body acrylic– These are smoother with a more fluid like consistency, but still have a strong pigment load to keep the colours bright. Soft bodied acrylics are great for finer details and watercolour-like washes. You can see the difference between heavy and soft body acrylics here.

Fluid acrylic– These are the most fluid acrylic yet are still highly pigmented. Acrylic inks are easy to apply with a nozzle of the lid and can create some watercolour-like effects on your artwork.

Acrylic gouache– These give the combination of gouache properties, such as opacity and a matte finish, with the flexibility and durability of acrylic paint. When drying, acrylic gouache leaves a velvet like and non-reflective finish.

Essential tools and materials

Brushes

As acrylic paints can be used in a range of ways, lots of different brushes can be used. For thicker acrylics, a stiff synthetic brush can move around the heavier pigments. You can also use bristle hair brushes, although most people find these too stiff for working with acrylic paint. For waterered down acrylics, softer synthetics or even natural hair brushes like sable and squirrel can be used. For more information, see our paintbrush hair guide.

Read our blog on how to properly clean your brushes after painting with acrylics

Palette knives

Palette knives are used for thicker acrylic paints and applying them in textured layers. They’re also great for mixing colours and their different shapes and sizes allow them to create different and unique effects.

Surfaces

With acrylic paint characteristics being very versatile, they are suitable for a wide range of different surfaces and pads. The most popular surfaces are traditional canvases, whether these are stretched or as a canvas board. Acrylic paper is also great as it withstands the moisture of the paint and is much more portable.

An added benefit of acrylic paint is that is can be applied to non-traditional surfaces that are great for arts and crafts. For example, it works well on fabrics, glass and metal- creating unique effects and textures.

Basic techniques for acrylic painting

Layering

As acrylic paint has such a fast drying time, it makes the medium perfect for layering colours on top of one another. Start with thin base layers and build the colours and textures as you go. By doing this, you can add depth and dimension to your paintings.

Blending

Although acrylics do dry quickly, you are still able to achieve smooth blends by working fast. Once you’ve applied colours side by side, use a damp brush to blend them together. You can also use other mediums such as a blending gel to help merge colours.

Glazing

This involves laying down thin, transparent layers of paint on top of a dry base layer. Glazing helps to create a luminous effect to enhance colour depth, and by using glazing mediums you can increase the transparency and workability

Dry brushing

Dry brushing can help add textures and highlights to your artwork. Dip your dry brush into a small amount of thick acrylic paint and lightly drag it across your surface. This technique works really well for creating rougher textures such as foliage or fruit skins

Our tip: your dry brush wants to have firmer bristles that are more suited to creating textures such as natural hog hair brushes or a stiff synthetics!

Advanced techniques for acrylics

Impasto

This technique involves applying thick textures of paint to help it stand out on the surface– heavy-body acrylics work best for this. Palette knives or stiff brushes are more suitable for their application as they can move the heavier pigments and should give a greater effect of dimension.

Pouring

This is more suited towards abstract paintings or marble effects. Pouring involves using fluid acrylics, often mixed with a pouring medium, to pour on the surface of your artwork. As the acrylics are more fluid, they will take longer to dry and should be applied on an even surface to reduce spillage.

Mixed media

Acrylic paint can be combined with other mediums such as pastels, ink and collage. Because acrylics can be applied on lots of different surfaces, it makes them great for layering and experimentation.

Tips for beginners

Start simple– Begin with more basic techniques and get used to working with acrylic paint. From there you can start to explore more advanced techniques and complex effects

Invest in quality– Although student-grade acrylics are more affordable for artists starting out with the medium, higher-grade paints offer better pigmentation and consistency

Experiment– Don’t be afraid to explore new techniques and work with different materials. Acrylics are very forgiving, and you can paint over them if you make a mistake!

Clean your brushes– Brushes can be expensive and acrylics dry quickly! Clean your brushes as soon as you’ve finished using them to stop any damage.

Acrylic paint is a great option for artists due to its versatility, durability and vibrant colours. Its properties make them popular for beginner artists as they’re very easy to work with, and professional artists due to their capabilities. By understanding how acrylic paints work, their unique properties and techniques, you’ll be able to explore some basic and advanced methods for applying them to your next piece of art. And remember, play around and find what works best for you!

Johnny Thompson

Johnny Thompson

As marketing lead, Johnny oversees blog editing, social media content and artist collaborations. His background includes paintbrush manufacturing and a degree in Business Management Practice from Leeds Beckett University

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