Painting with Acrylics - For Beginners

Landscapes

Articles by Julie Shoemaker

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 How to Know if Acrylic Paints are Right for you - Learning to paint

Every artist has their own likes and dislikes. Most artist have a chosen medium that
they prefer to use. You should experiment and try a variety so you know which ones
suit your likes and dislikes. I have listed pros and cons for acrylic paint.

. Acrylics are easily diluted with water. Unlike oil paints, which need thinners
and sometimes solvents. This makes clean up easier because you can use simply
soap and water.

. Acrylics dry fast. Acrylic paint dries within minutes. If you don't want that fast
of drying time, simple add a paint retarder to slow the dry time. Oil paint
actually goes through a chemical reaction which in effect takes weeki or months
to "dry".

. Blending with acrylics can be done through layering due to the fast dry time.
Painting lighter colors upon darker creates highlights.

. There is almost nothing that you can't paint on with acrylic paint. You can paint
on canvases, paper, wood, metal, walls, cloth, or plastic.

. When acrylic paint dries, it is easy to add layers on top of layers. This is nice if
you are trying to cover something that you are not huppy with or just trying to
create a darker, deeper effect.

. There are no odor or harmful fumes with acrylic paint. Acrylics are totally safe
to use without ventilation, unlike oil paint.

Like all good things, acrylics do have their cons.

. Acrylic do dry quickly. For some artist they find that blending is difficult. If
you are an oil painter, you would have to learn new blending techniques if you
were to use acrylic paint.

. Since acrylic paint is water soluble and has a fast dry time, it's very important to
constantly keep your paint palette and brushes wet. Dry paint on brushes can
ruin them.

. There are several other disadvarfiage to the fast dry time with acrylics. I have
had to put several tubes of paint in ziplock bags because the paint on the end of
the tube dried up. Do not forget to replace the tops!

. One of the fasted way to ruin clothes is to get acrylic paint on them. When you
paint make sure to use an apron or other old clothes. Unless you notice and
remove the stain immediately, you will ruin clothes that come in contact with
auylic paint.
Go ahead and experiment with acrylic paint. In my opinion, the advantages outweigh
the disadvantages. Which every medium you choose, have fun and enjoy learning to
paint.

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please visit Http://www.IamPainting.org
Acrylic Painting Techniques - Most Used

Just as there are thousands of artists, so are there acrylic painting techniques. No one
can tell you exactly how you are supposed to paint. You can however learn a lot of
painting techniques that will help you as you learn. Some of these techniques you will
find useful and others you may chose not to use. I've listed a few of the most general
acrylic painting techniques

Study your subject. When you are painting a landscape for example you really want to
look at the variety of subjects. Look at the clouds, are they soft and fluffy, do they
overlap and run into each other or are they several individual clouds. Look at the trees
and foliage. Notice the overall shape. Notice the spaces where you can see through the
trees, branches and leaves. Look at the hills and mountains. Notice the variety of
colors and highlights. Notice how the objects in the distance appear duller in color. Do
this with all the subjects in the landscape.

Under paint your canvas. Under painting is done so that you don't have to worry about
white specs showing up in your work. You will use a wafin color like burnt sienna.
Cover the entire canvas with easy free strokes, even the sky area. Under painting the
beginning canvas is one of the basic techniques that you may feel helps you a lot.
Others may not use this technique. I use the technique occasionally but not every time I
paint.

Start with the furthest objects. Starting at the top of the canvas and working downward
helps you to apply the furthest objects first. The sky is obviously the fuithest object.
Paint in the sky and then work on the most distant land, hills, trees etc. These objects
will be painting in while continually working downward on the canvas. The closest
objects will be lowest on the canvas and will be largest. Remember closest objects can
and should overlap distant ones. For example trees in the foreground will be painting
over and in front of other things like hills and trees.

Work in layers. Working in layers is how I achieve my under painting. The first layer
in the under painting is usually dark. You add a lighter color to the paint and add the
next layer but don't cover up the entire first layer. Continue to do this until you have
several shades, shadows and highlights in your work. This method works well when
painting seas, land, or even snow.

These are just a few acrylic painting techniques that may help you along as you paint.
There are hundreds of methods of painting so you shouldn't get frustrated if something
does not seem to be working for you. Just keep it simple and have fun learning to paint.

To read more articles and learn free painting techniques to create your own paintings
pleasevisit Http://www.IamPainting.org
How to Mix Colors for Beautiful Paintings - Learning to paint

Understanding colors and how to mix them will help you to create beautiful vibrant
paintings. All artists have painting techniques, and they all involve color mixing and
color theory.

The primary colors are red, yellow and blue. It may seem hard to believe, but all other
colors can be created from just these three. This is why these three are called the
primary colors.

Secondary colors are orange, green and purple or violet. These colors are created when
the primary colors are mixed together. In addition, if secondary colors are mixed with
primary, you create tertiary colors. In all, that's 12 colors!

Fortunately as artists, we do not need to mix every color we want to use in our
paintings' It is important however to understand color theory and these basic mixing
principles. The color wheel is a tool artists use to understand and visualize color
principles. I suggest having a color wheel in your work area that you use for reference
as you paint. It would be easy to make your own color wheel using the first part of this
article as a tutorial.

In addition to the 3 primary colors, I suggest purchasing white, black and burnt umber
(brown). So to have virtually every single shade and variation you really only need to
begin with these 6 original colors.

To lighten any color, either dilute it with water or add white or another color that is
lighter. Depending on just how much lighter color you add, you end up with dozens of
shades. To darken a color, add black or a darker color.
There are many other aspects of correct color mixing, but like anything you need to
understand the bare basics first. Color theory is definitely a good place to start. Have
fun and enjoy learning to paint.

To read more articles and leam free painting techniques to create your own paintings
pleasevisit Http://www.IamPainting.org
 How to Paint a Beautiful Landscape - Learning to paint

Painting landscapes with acrylics is both relaxing and rewarding. Let your personal
style come through and you should find this a greathobby.

Acrylic paint is a medium that can look like an oil painting or a watercolor painting
when finished. It depends on the artists' style and how thick they apply the color.
Either way, starting out by painting landscapes helps to get your feJwet in the world of
painting.

You can learn to paint a landscape on canvas paper, canvas board or stretched canvas. I
always suggest practicing your techniques first on an inexpensive canvas or acrylic
paper. I am a sort of perfectionist with my art, and tend to become frustrated easily. By
practicing first, then applying it to the finished piece I feel more comfortable. you may
be satisfied without practicing. Painting is about what makes you feel good!

Keep your supplies handy. Have your spay or mister bottle handy to keep the acrylics
moist, keep a water supply handy for the brushes, and always have paperlowels lrandy.

Let's create a simple landscape painting. Lightly sketch in a horizon line with pencil
about 3/q of the way down the canvas. In this case out emphasis will be the skyiecause
only % of the painting is land.

Wet the sky with white gesso. Add some color to the same brush and starting at the
top, use criss-cross strokes and blend down to the horizon line. Use any color. Daytime
skies can be blues & purple. Nighttime skies can be these colors just darkened with
reds and oranges near the horizon. Blend the colors as little or much as you like. Now
your sky is done.

Now it's time to create your land or hills. Chose a medium to light green and with
horizontal strokes lay in the distant field or hill. Keep things interesting by sloping it.
Change the green slightly by darkening it and add a couple of more layers of nilas as
you work your way forward. The darkestlayer should be in the front of the painting.

That's it! Anything else you add to your painting is a plus. One or two distant trees
would be neat or maybe just a single bird in the sky, low to the horizon.

I hope this little lesson helps inspire you to have fun painting landscapes with acrylics.

To read more articles and learn free painting techniques to create your own paintings
please visit Http://www.IamPainting.org
How to Paint a Simple Landscape - Learning to Paint

The best part about painting landscapes is that exactness doesn't really matter. Some
artist are drawn to paint old rustic barns, while others choose water and beach scenes. It
really doesn't matter what your focus is as long as you have a plan and practice a few
creative artistic techniques.

Start by having everything ready at your work area. You will need paints, paint
brushes, water or thinner, paper towels, a mister or spray bottle if you are working with
acrylics and canvas or canvas paper to paint on. A palette keeper is a plastic naffow
box where you keep the paint you ilre using. You simply put plastic lid on and save the
paint for your next session. If you have an easel you may find painting more enjoyable.
You should also work when and where the lighting is good.

I personally have never been a fan of painting outdoors, due to the inconvenience of
hauling my supplies to the location. I have found that a dedicated art room or other
location in my home works well. I like to work from photographs or tutorial books.

It sounds simple but you need to study your subject, or photograph. Look at where the
horizon is, the colors in the picture and distant items compared to middle and forward
items. Use a soft pencil lightly sketch where all the relevant items will go.

Starting in the background of your picture first paint the sky. If the horizon line is two-
thirds of the way down the canvas, I paint the entire two-thirds with my sky even if
most of it is covered with trees and shrub. This way when you paint in the trees you can
leave negative space and the sky will show through. You can add clouds if you prefer
now. One mistake beginners usually make if that they use pure white and they make
the clouds small like little cotton balls in the sky. Mix white or white gesso with some
color like blue, purple or brown. This makes a nice gray cloud. Be careful though, a
little of these colors added to white goes a long way. You can always add a second
layer of clouds using pure white now.

Now you can lay in the land. You can do the next few steps in layers by sloping the
land one way and then the other a few times until you reach bottom of the canvas. First
use a burnt or raw sienna to create an under-painting. Next if you want a grass look, dry
brush in a dull green. The reason you are dry-brushing the green is because you don't
want to completely cover up the sienna. Allow some of the dark to show through. It
should appear to be shadows. When you are done you can add some brighter green in
the same manner to create highlights.

Now add some trees. Use a liner brush with some of the sienna color. Add a little blue
to it and gray it down. Trees in nature are rarely brown. The most distant trees will be
much smaller and have less detail. If it's summer, then dab in some green for foliage.
If you want to get real creative, use the same colors and dry-brush in some shadows.

Have fun and don't forget to sign your painting.

To read more articles and learn free painting techniques to create your own paintings
please visit Http://www.IamPainting.org
How to Paint a Realistic Landscape by Layering - Learning to Paint

Understanding background, middleground and foreground in a painting is key to

realism in landscapes. Using the three correctly creates depth which is one of the most
important parts of creating a successful landscape painting. Paintings without depth are
flat and boring.
Another term used to represent back, middle and foreground is layering. The artist
should plan what subjects will be in the painting. By subjects I mean anything, sky,
trees, hills, mountains, etc. When you layer you simply put one item in front of another.

Lets start in the background. If your painting has a sky, this will be the first thing
painted. I usually start by wetting the sky with white gesso. Add whatever color you
are using to the top and blend downward. This will create a lighter color near the
horizon giving the illusion of depth. The next layer in the background should not be of
much detail either. Mountains, for example should be a color just a little darker than the
sky. The further away you want them to appear will determine how much detail you
give them. You could add more layers of mountains with peaks overlapping for more
depth. Each mountain or layer that you add will be slightly darker that the previous.

A good example of middle ground layering using the same example could be by adding
a middle ground row of bushes and trees. Again, use a color slightly darker that the
closest mountain. Paint in the trees, bushes or fields. Paint in a few tall trees that
extend up in front of some of the mountains. This will make the mountains or
background really look like they are in the distance.

The foreground layer of the painting will contain the most detail and should be the
darkest or most vivid in color. I usually add an eye stopper on both sides in the
foreground of my paintings. An eye stopper is simply a bush or tree or something that
keeps the eye from wanting to go off the painting. It keeps the viewers attention in the
painting. Items in the foreground will contain the most detail. For example, if you have
some leaves on trees that are to appear very close, you might add a few simple lines in
the leaves to appear like veins or a tiny rain drop ready to drip.

Remembering and using these layering techniques will make your paintings appear
more realistic and appear to have depth. It is a simple concept that should add life to
your landscape painting.

To read more articles and learn free painting techniques to create your own paintings
please visit Http://www.IamPainting.org
How to Paint a Realistic Landscape by Using Texture - Learning to paint

Have you every wanted to just touch a work of art in a museum or at someone's home?
Texture in a painting makes it most appealing emotionally and visually. Texture can be
added to an acrylic painting in a couple of different ways.

One of the easiest ways to add texture is to add sand to the acrylic paint as you work.
Objects in the background probably will not have much detail, and you should be
careful to not add to much texture to background items. But as you work forward, you
could start adding thicker paint and even add some sand to it to create realism.

If you are painting in a tall foregroundtree for example, apply very thick paint with a
palette knife in strokes leaving roughness to indicate bark. Paint in land with thick paint
that you have added some sand to. You can create a dramatic effect and make a specific
subject pop out by only adding texture to it.

Another way to add texture to your work is by using an acrylic heavy gel and acrylic
modeling paste. To use this method, you would sketch out the painting first. After the
sketch is done, decide which objects you want to stand out. Mix equal amounts of the
acrylic heavy gel and modeling paste. Now apply the mixture with a small palette knife
to your painting based on your sketch. Following principles for depth, keep the back
ground, and middle ground with less texture than the foreground. Let the texture dry
completely and you are ready to paint.

Remember, no matter what subject or landscape you are painting it is easy to add
texture and drama by adding thick paint, sand or modeling paste to your work. Maybe
the next inesistible touchable works of art will be the ones that you created.

To read more articles and leam free painting techniques to create your own paintings
please visit Http://www.IamPainting.org
How to Paint a Realistic Landscape Using Color Saturation - Learning to Paint

You should consider color saturation when creating depth in an acrylic landscape
painting. In general, the closer the object is to the foreground, the more colors or
saturated it should be. Items farther away should be duller in color.
The term saturation is a measure of the amount of color being reflected from or not
absorbed by an object. For example, ifan object absorbs every color except blue, then
that blue is considered highly saturated. The object will appear a darker or more vivid
blue. When an object absorbs all of the colors including some of the blue it is
considered to be partly or low saturation and will appear a dull blue.

Saturation is a natural phenomenon that can be observed by looking real landscapes.

Trees along a distant horizon will appear dull compared to those that are closer. This is
because light is being absorbed by particles in the air between you and the distant trees.

Just to explain this a little further and to give you a quick science lesson consider the
white light beam. A beam of white light contains every color. Therefore, in terms of
light, every color combined equals white. When an object appears to be white, it is
because the object is reflecting every single color towards us. When an object appears
to be the color blue is actually absorbing every color except for the blue, which it
reflects. At the other extreme is an object that is black. This is absorbing all of the
colors in the white light and reflecting none.

When we view a daytime sky as blue it is because blues are being saturated or reflected
back towards us. The length of the light wave also is important but getting a little
technical for the purpose of this article.
Saturation is concerned with the intensity, or the brightness and dullness of color. A
saturated color is bright. An unsaturated color is dull or low in intensity. To apply the
concept of saturation to a landscape painting the artist should make sure that the items
in the foreground of a painting are the brightest. Because light is being absorbed into
particles in the air between the viewer and the background items the background items
appear duller.

Understanding and applying the color saturation principals to your landscape paintings
will add realism and depth to them.

To read more articles and learn free painting techniques to create your own paintings
pleasevisit Http:i/www.IamPainting.org