- Advertisement
- Cheap Replacement Ink At Thrifty Ink
- All The Gurus Say They Are Your Friends In The Beginning
- Scenario of Article Marketing
- Advice
- Use These 5 Honest Steps To Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back
- Students Have the Wrong Mental Approach to learning Irregular Verbs
- Things not to do while starting a new business
- Arts
- The Top Ten Things You Should Know About Acrylic Painting - Learning to Paint
- Organizing craft supplies
- One Mistake
- Autos
- Memorable Limousine Ride
- Drive Using Water and Laugh At Soaring Gas Prices
- Starting A Small Time Limousine Rental Business
- Business
- Why SEO is Important for Online Business
- Choosing Appropriate Custom Logo Design For You Business
- What to Consider When Using Article Directories
- Community
- Check Cashing Scam (Nigerian or otherwise) Beware
- Tips
- The Creation of a New Major Political Party
- Entertainment
- NBC Ready To Make 'Heroes' Of Web Programming
- Mashed Buddha's Zen Conspiracy Merges Electronica & Jazz Improv
- Memorable Limousine Ride
- Environment
- Recycle Old Mobiles and prevent environmental pollution
- Going Green-How To Save Money With Homemade Energy
- Family
- Essential Guide to Free Printable Baby Shower Invitations
- Simple Gifts Give the Greatest Joy
- When both parents work, do children suffer?
- Food
- Increase Your Energy Level Naturally
- The Biggest Secret in Sausages
- Wine Food Pairing .... Sturm, Austria's tasty "juice"
- Health & Fitness
- Pyramids can rule over our stress
- Natural Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss
- 10 Tips for Relaxation. Some ideas for relieving stress
- History
- Origins of Christmas
- Early History Of The Marine Diesel Engine And Application
- How Newton's Telescope Changed the World
- Hobbies
- MY MANIA WITH FASHION BRACELETS
- Selling Handmade Candles? Get the Word Out With a Yard Sale!
- Wine Food Pairing .... Sturm, Austria's tasty "juice"
- Home & Garden
- Home Organization Tools - The Basics
- Acid Free Archival Photo Supplies
- Varieties of Wheel Chair Ramps
- Internet
- SEO Basic Principles
- Why Your Business Technology System is Critical to Your Success in your Real Estate Business
- MLM Article Marketing: Choosing your Target Audience
- Miscellaneous
- Origins of Christmas
- Check Cashing Scam (Nigerian or otherwise) Beware
- How to Easily Start a Motivational Speaking Career
- News
- SEOMoz Dishes On 'Give It Up' Secrets
- The Creation of a New Major Political Party
- Check Cashing Scam (Nigerian or otherwise) Beware
- Pets
- Godfather Style Dog Training - How To Make Your Dog An Offer They Can't Refuse
- What is Excessive Licking? Read More of the Dog
- Male and Female Dog Names
- Reference
- Pew: Newspapers Circling The Wagons
- The Master Key to Attract Men
- Pyramids can rule over our stress
- Relationships
- Valentine's Day Care
- Use These 5 Honest Steps To Get Your Ex Girlfriend Back
- An Effective Way to Cope with Being Dumped
- Sales
- Where To Buy Quality Swiss Watches
- Easy Steps to Reduce Gasoline Costs and Save a Ton of Money
- Starting a DVD Collection
- Self Improvement
- Roger Revaks Book, Internal Vision: A Ten-Day Journey to True Happiness
- How to Stop Anxiety Attacks
- Age New Spirituality - The Open Secret ( Read It At Your Own Risk )
- Spiritual
- Come dream of peace
- Roger Revaks Book, Internal Vision: A Ten-Day Journey to True Happiness
- The Power of Your Thoughts and Attitude
- Sports
- Serious Sports Fans Spend More Time Online
- NFL To Stream Sunday Night Games Live
- Another Kind of Horse Brand: Business Branding in Equine Marketing
![]()
The Top Ten Things You Should Know About Acrylic Painting - Learning to Paint
02/12/2009 - By Julie Shoemaker
You should know these top ten things about painting with acrylic paints. Knowing them will save you time, money and even your sanity.
1. Buy good quality brushes. You may find yourself struggling with cheap brushes. Quality brushes also hold up better when stored for periods of time in water.
2. Remember that acrylic paints dry very quickly. In my opinion this is an advantage to the art making process but a disadvantage if your tubes of paint start to dry out. Always replace the tops on the tubes of paint. You should also keep a mister handy to keep your paint in the palette moist.
3. Acrylic paint is water based, which means that the brushes can be cleaned using water and soap. Regular soap can be used but I recommend purchasing soap made specifically for brush cleaning. You should get into the habit of cleaning your brushes between projects. Don’t let them soak in water for days at a time.
4. Do not let the paint dry on the brush. I have rescued a brush or two after this has happened, but it was not easy. Get in the habit of rinsing brushes as you paint then store them in a shallow tray of water on the side to avoid damaging bristles.
5. Buy a plastic palette keeper. A palette keeper keeps the paints damp and stops them from drying out. It is kind of like Tupperware for your paint. When you are done painting for a session, simply mist everything and replace the top. When working on small projects I have also used paper plates for the paint, and stored them in large zip lock bags.
6. Get into the habit of placing the color in the same position on the palette every time you paint. After awhile, you will develop instinctive habits of where your colors are.
7. Do not use acrylic paints over oil paints. You have heard the term oil and water don’t mix. Well, water based acrylics don’t adhere to oil based paints. The acrylic paint will not stick to the oil based surface.
8. One of the things I love about acrylics is that they are versatile. Using thin coats of acrylic paint give a watercolor look to a painting. Simply add water to acrylic paint and you have watercolor paints.
9. Applying acrylic paints thickly will give the painting a surface texture as in an oil painting look. Applying paint thickly in the foreground of a painting for texture gives depth to the finished painting.
10. You can purchase a variety of acrylic mediums to gain different effects. A glaze medium helps to produce a watercolor effect. Gel mediums and texture. Paste mediums add extra body to the paint and make your painting come to life.
Julie Shoemaker is an avid painter and hobbyist who regularly gives paintings as gifts to family and friends. To read more articles like the one here, and to see more free art tips, tricks and techniques and free step by step lessons Learn Painting Techniques or visit http://www.IamPainting.org

