9 Fun Acrylic Painting Techniques to Try Your Hand At

Ready for some fun techniques that can be used to make abstract, modern and textured acrylic painting? Let’s get right into it!

1. Use more water!

Acrylic is a versatile medium that can give all kinds of textures, including that of watercolors. To achieve a watery effect with your acrylic paint, all you have to do is dilute it with water. This technique allows you to give your paintings a wash similar to that in watercolors. It can also be used in your underpainting or to just give a hue of color on your canvas or paper to make you less overwhelmed to begin. 

The watery effect is easy to achieve and also thins your paint to a similar consistency to that of water, depending on how much you add. The only drawback of this is that the more water you add, the less vibrant the color gets, so if you want the color to remain it's usual vibrance but also be a thinner consistency, you can use a medium instead. But water is a more accessible and common alterative beginners use.

2. Use a Painting Knife

Painting knives should not be confused with Palette knives as they serve different purposes as their names suggest. A painting knife can be used in painting while a palette knife is used to simply mix colors in your palette, of course there's no hard and fast rules. You can use them however you wish. 

Painting knives come in different shapes and sizes and can be used to achieve different effects. They can be used in the place of brushes to give certain lines or swatches of color on the painting, that gives it a texture a brush simply can't. 

Painting with a painting knife is a proper art style used by many painters and it would be a great idea to have a little fun with it yourself! Try it out, challenge yourself to make a whole painting with just a painting knife and no brushes!

3. Use Masking Tape 

Masking tape or an artists tape, is quite an essential item for an artist in my opinion. It's simply a great tool to achieve smooth edges and crisp lines. It's a great supply for using with almost every paint medium. Masking tape or Masking fluid can be a great way to create boundaries for your paint to ensure it remains in your control. 

It works well to create geometric designs and a proper frame for your painting if you're doing it on paper. It's a useful supply I would recommend for every artist out there! 

4. Acrylic Pouring

Acrylic pouring is a branch of Acrylic painting, in which a pouring medium is added to the paint to make it's consistency more thin. The consistency is thinned till the paint is in a flowing state. You then use your preferred colors and prepare them for pouring. After that you simply do what the name suggests, you pour the paint over your canvas in different areas or continuously at the center. There are many different techniques to achieve different styles in acrylic pouring. You can check some out online before trying it out. After pouring the paint you can let the paint flow on its own or tilt and move the canvas yourself to create patterns.

The diverse patterns that exist in pouring art are uncountable as they are unique due to their abstract nature. If you're interested in abstract art, trying it out may be a great idea!

5. Impasto

Impasto is a painting style that focuses on making the painting look more three-dimensional. It consists of using heavy paint strokes to give thick layer or blobs of paint in certain areas. It makes the painting feel as if the image is emerging from the painting. It adds a realistic touch to the painting, and makes the viewer able to even touch the brush strokes because of their thickness. It adds a unique texture to the painting that can be seen and felt. Many artists, famous ones, have used this technique in their artworks and it is quite an old technique liked and widely used by painters.

You can give it a try if you're looking for some texture in your paintings! 

6. Dripping

As we previously mentioned Acrylic's versatility and ability to gain a watery effect, this technique requires that effect. By thinning down the consistency of acrylics and then applying them at the top of the painting, you will see the paint drip down due to gravity and create a dripping pattern. This dripping pattern can be used in abstract art or even fine art, but requires the right consistency. It's a great technique to give fun patterns to your painting.  

7. Mediums

Mediums come in various sizes and for different purposes and paint mediums. Mediums are used to alter the properties of a paint. They can change the consistency, texture, drying time, transparency or sheen of the paint. The consistency can be from thick to thin for oil and acrylics. There can be various textures given to paint including an impasto effect. The drying time of paints like acrylic can be extended whereas for paint mediums like oil there are mediums to shorten the drying time.

In terms of a paints finished look, there are mediums that can give them a matte finish and a glossy finish. There are also mediums that help in making the paint more transparent and thin for creating transparent glazes and layers of color. There are gel mediums used to thicken a paints consistency as well. And of course mediums meant for pouring paints, which make them retain their vibrance while thinning their consistency.

There are also various other mediums that serve different purposes in painting, you can explore the world of paint mediums and see which ones you want to try your hand at. They help enhance artworks and give them certain effects that can't be achieves otherwise.

8. Underpainting

Underpainting is most commonly used in oil painting, but many acrylic painters also use it. Underpainting in simple words is the first layer of paint you add to your canvas or paper, prior to the actual painting. It is to cover the white of your canvas and give you an idea of where all your actual colors will go. It is done using neutral tones like burnt umber or even lighter shades of any color you prefer. An underpainting is easy to do, some people sketch before underpainting, some use their underpainting as their sketch. 

For underpainting it would be best to have a flowy consistency, because your main purpose is to cover the white of the canvas or paper, not to add color, you can use just a transparent hue, give a wash to your painting. You can later go back with a darker or lighter shade to that of your color for underpainting and add the highlights and shadows. You basically help yourself by defining your painting more. And then you get onto the painting part where you add the actual colors. 

Underpainting is helpful to plan out your painting thoroughly. I would say it's a great way for beginners to practice improving their painting.

9. Finger Painting

Similar to Painting with Painting knives, I suggest using your fingers as well! Finger painting is a great way to really feel the consistency of your paints, to blend them and really understand how your paint works. Finger painting also gives a unique texture to your painting depending on how you move your fingers. 

Since everyone has a unique finger print, finger painting also leaves finger prints on the painting making it all the more meaningful for the artist. Sometimes people make painting to add their finger prints or hand prints to it, which makes quite a memorable painting. It's a great way to practice with your paints and understand them. I would really recommend giving it a try! It can get messy but acrylic is easy to get off of hands with just soap and water! So there's nothing to fear!

Conclusion

Acrylic painting is often seen as the most easiest medium to paint with, and I would say it is a lot more convenient compared to the challenging nature of watercolors and the hassle of oil paints. But Acrylic is also a medium with it's own struggles and techniques and I believe a beginner should explore the techniques associated with Acrylics just as much as they would with watercolors and oils!

I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Thank you for Reading and I hope you check out my other blogs!