Acrylic Painting On Canvas

Choose Your Canvas

Use your imagination to make a creative painting on canvas. There are different kinds of canvas, so it will depend on which one you are more comfortable with. Cotton Duck is the most common and cheapest and it comes in different weights. Linen is stronger but harder to stretch. There are other synthetic materials too. Once you've decided on your material the options are: already stretched canvas, canvas panels, canvas pads, or canvas rolls which you make your own canvases or panels with. 

Stretched canvas is the most expensive initial investment, but the most convenient of the choices and the one I recommend for most of your acrylic painting on canvas projects. It's pre-stretched, usually completely primed and ready to paint as soon as you unwrap it. It's usually stapled and stretched and can easily be hung on the wall without a frame.

Canvas panels are a cheaper version of stretched canvas. They consist of heavy duty card or wooden press board panels, to which the canvas or linen material is glued. They require framing after painting but are generally more popular because they take up less storage space and are easy to travel with.

Canvas pads are an ideal working surface without the size and weight of stretched canvas. They come in different sizes that have sheets of canvas which are perfect for students, traveling, and practicing.

Canvas rolls are the cheapest, least convenient, and most time consuming as they require either stretching on canvas stretcher frames, or making your own panels. This is good for odd sizes or large canvases.

Brushes

There are as many brushes on the market as there are paint. Some are better than others. Do not fall under the misconception that more expensive is better. There are different types of brushes made with different materials for the bristles like soft sable brushes, stiff hog bristle brushes, squirrel brushes, and synthetic brushes, to name a few. The one that feels most comfortable in your hand is the one for you. You will get the feel of your favorite brush the more you paint. You have to practice with them.

• A round brush is for detail, outlining, sketching, and for filling in small areas.
• A flat brush is for filling in wide spaces, bold strokes, and straight edges.
• A fan brush is perfect to add leaves to distant trees.
• A filbert brush is for blending and softening edges.
• An angular brush is for lines, curves, and reaching corners.

Each brush gives a certain stroke which makes it easier to paint certain things. There are brush sets which give you a good selection and are also inexpensive.  See more about brushes here: Best Brushes For Acrylic Paint.

Painting Prep

Most canvases come already primed. Try to look for ones that say double primed. If your canvas is not already primed you'll want to first prime the canvas with Gesso Primer and let it dry. Then give it a second coat of primer and let that dry.

Acrylic Paint

When choosing acrylic paint it is best to buy opaque which reduces the possibility of your painting becoming streaky or dull. Semi-transparent is okay too, but transparent will make it too streaky. Transparent paint is used for other things like glazing. Many tubes of paint will have a small box usually on the front under the brand name. If the box is black, it's opaque, if it's white, it's transparent, and half and half is semi transparent.

Creating different colors from the 3 basic primary colors red, yellow, and blue is fun to see what colors you can create. Mixing them make the secondary colors. Blue and red make purple, blue and yellow make green, and yellow and red make orange. Purple, green, and orange are the secondary colors. It's usually good to use more yellow than you think because yellow is a really weak color.

Complimentary colors are opposite on the color wheel (see the color wheel above). To take down the intensity of a color you add the complimentary color to it. Example: Red is the most intense color. To take down the intensity of it you add green (the color opposite it on the color wheel)to it a little bit at a time until you get your desired color. If you want to lighten the color you add white to it a little at a time until you get your desired color. You can do this to all the colors on the color wheel. Mixing red, blue, and yellow will make brown.

The only colors you will absolutely need to buy to start painting if you want to make your own colors are red, blue, yellow, white and black. Otherwise you can buy your colors already mixed and there are many, many colors and shades of colors for you to choose from. See more about acrylic paint on my Best Acrylic Paint For Artists page.

Lighting And Shadows

Light usually comes from one main direction. If you are outdoors, light comes at you from the east or west. Depending on where you are during the day will determine where the shadows are. This is the same with painting. Once you have determined where your light source is coming from, keep it consistent. You can help keep the light source in the proper prospective by setting a light in your studio where your light will be coming from in your painting. This will assist you in keeping the shadows where they should be. The light source will fade as it travels across the canvas. It is very important to have a good lighting system.

Should I Seal My Acrylic Painting On Canvas?

It is not necessary to seal your finished work on canvas when using acrylics, but if you want it to look glossy or you choose to seal it to preserve and protect it, you can use a brush on varnish or a spray varnish. Once the painting is completely dry at least 72 hours you should first do an isolation coat which is a transparent layer that separates the layer if paint from the varnish to be applied. Acrylic Gloss Medium And Varnish thinned with water is suitable as an isolation coat. If your painting is smooth, use a brush on varnish. If your painting has a lot of nooks and texture, use a spray on varnish.

Supplies

There are many places to get your acrylic paint supplies like local craft stores, artist supply stores, or you can have it delivered to you  from Amazon.

There’s also a handy checklist on the Supplies page with a few links to help you find the products.

Choosing Your Subject

Painting is all about expressing yourself. Creating a picture of what's going on in your mind, and allowing others to see what you are feeling. It doesn't matter what your subject is as long as you are comfortable painting it. Some of the better subjects are those that offer color and contrast. It should be something interesting but not too much activity. By taking a picture or looking at pictures, you get ideas on what you want to paint and you will see the contrast, lighting and textures to use as your guideline.

If you need help choosing your subject or an idea on what to paint, you can go to my Painting Picture Ideas page.

Cleaning Up

The brushes are the first thing you'll want to clean. This will be easy with acrylic paint. Just soak them in water or soapy water in a coffee can or jar for a few minutes while you're cleaning up the rest of your things. Clean your palette with some soapy water in the sink then rinse it. Put all your paint away. Now clean your paint brushes 1 by 1 under running water in the sink, working the paint out with your fingers. Then dry them with a clean rag or a paper towel and either lay them flat or standing up in a container. Never store them bristles first in the container or leave them soaking overnight. This will break down the brush and it will not perform as well. Acrylic paint is easy to clean off your skin with soap and water too.

Taking Care Of Your Painting

Do not allow any rigid object to press against the front or back of the stretched canvas as this could create a permanent indentation. When storing or transporting, take care to protect the surfaces from becoming dinged or dented. If your canvas does get slightly stretched or dented, sometimes spraying water on the backside (the unpainted side) of the canvas can shrink the stretch or dent depending on how severe it is. You can always ask a professional to do it. Do not clean the surface with water, solvents, or cleaning products of any kind. Use compressed air in a can to blow away dust from the surface. You can also use a soft sable brush to lightly brush dust from the surface. It's best to seek professional services if after years of display the compressed air or the brush doesn't work.

Check back soon. I have lots of Acrylic Painting Ideas to share with you.

Please feel free to ask me any questions you have in the comments section.



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