Acrylic Art Supplies
There are so many fun things you can do with acrylic paints as well as what kinds of acrylic to use and with what mediums!
Transparent acrylic paint can be watered down to create a beautiful, almost water color like layer! You can mix colors and make drips and use a spray bottle of water to create an even more watered-down effect! You can also use alcohol in a spray bottle to make a “splatter effect” through your paint!
The opaques are great for details and you can mix opaque with transparent! I don’t use a lot of water with opaques, but the choice is in the hand of the artist using it!
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Mediums
I highly recommend grabbing a medium for your acrylic masterpieces!
The matte medium will extend color. The retarder will slow down the dry time of your acrylics and I find mixing the retarder will create a more painterly look with your acrylics- kind of like painting with oils! (but still dries much quicker!)
I love giving a nice varnish over the acrylics as well! I also recommend varnishing watercolor paper or any porous paper before using acrylics! The paper is very thirsty and will quickly suck up all your acrylic paint and it’s very hard to paint like this. You can however use watercolor (unvarnished) with acrylic inks, since they are so much more fluid! It’s almost like using watercolors!
Liquitex BASICS Gesso Surface Prep Medium, 473ml (16-oz) Bottle, White
Liquitex Professional Matte Medium, 237ml (8-oz)
Retarder by GOLDEN, 8 fl oz. / 237 ml bottle, Professional Acrylic Fluid Mediums and Additives
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Acrylic Painting Brushes
This list could go on for some time! But I will share the basics of what I use!
A chip brush is great for larger spaces, I also tend to use it to “scrub”.
A filbert is my favorite and I like to use this to blend, for broad strokes and also good for larger spaces!
The floater brush- I use this one for scumbling!
A bright brush is versatile and easy to control, similar to the filbert but with a more defined blunt haircut. (Rather than the round-ish shaper of the filbert)
Round Brushes are great for details and more control with lines!
Liner Brush- perfect for details!
A really fun way to create a soft background with acrylic is using a make-up brush! Here is the one I use!
EcoTools Start The Day Beautifully 6 Piece Makeup Brush Set
The brushes I always use are by the Milans- they have a great kit on their website!
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Acrylic Surfaces
You can paint on paper, wood, canvas, etc! However, to make sure your acrylic has a a layer it can be painted over so it won’t peel or crack, I recommend varnish for watercolor paper and gesso for wood or canvas! Though a lot of canvases are pre-prepped! (It should say on the label!)
Strathmore 500 Series Heavyweight Mixed Media Pad -12 Sheets
The Artist’s Loft Canvases - love these and Michael’s has lots of sales on these babies!