Introduction ............................................................................1
About This Book................................................................................................................1
Conventions Used in This Book ......................................................................................1
What You’re Not to Read..................................................................................................2
Foolish Assumptions ........................................................................................................2
How This Book Is Organized............................................................................................2
Part I: Getting Acquainted with Acrylics ..............................................................3
Part II: Exploring Tricks and Techniques .............................................................3
Part III: Finding the Fun in Fundamentals.............................................................3
Part IV: Acrylic’s Versatile Styles...........................................................................3
Part V: Projects for Different Surfaces ..................................................................3
Part VI: The Part of Tens ........................................................................................4
Icons Used in This Book...................................................................................................4
Where to Go from Here.....................................................................................................4
Part I: Getting Acquainted with Acrylics ...................................5
Chapter 1: Acrylics Are Awesome!.............................................................................7
What’s So Awesome About Acrylic Paint? .....................................................................7
Versatility..................................................................................................................8
Fast drying time.......................................................................................................8
Durable finish...........................................................................................................9
Resistance to cracking............................................................................................9
Nurturing and Growing the Acrylic Artist in You..........................................................9
Developing your own talents .................................................................................9
Finding and capturing inspiration.......................................................................10
Getting in the zone ................................................................................................11
Finding your style while expanding your horizons...........................................11
Project: Painting Your Sketchbook ...............................................................................14
Chapter 2: Setting Up Supplies: Brushes, Surfaces, and Palettes ......................17
Brushing Up on Brushes ................................................................................................17
Get a handle on it ..................................................................................................18
Hair today, gone tomorrow ..................................................................................18
Get in shape (shaped brushes, that is) ..............................................................19
Size matters............................................................................................................19
Brush substitutes ..................................................................................................21
Beginning your brush collection with the bare essentials...............................22
Maintaining Your Brushes..............................................................................................23
Prepping a new brush...........................................................................................23
Avoiding damage ...................................................................................................23
Washing...................................................................................................................24
Storing.....................................................................................................................24
Repairing a worn brush ........................................................................................25
Knowing when it’s time for a new brush ............................................................26
Picking and Prepping Common Paint Surfaces ...........................................................27
Canvas paper .........................................................................................................27
Canvas.....................................................................................................................27
Boards.....................................................................................................................28
Preparing boards and canvases ..........................................................................30
Thinking Outside the Canvas: Alternate Acrylic Painting Surfaces..........................31
Painting on fabrics ................................................................................................31
Working with wood surfaces................................................................................31
Taking a shine to metal.........................................................................................32
Scratching the surface of glass............................................................................32
Plastic......................................................................................................................32
Terra cotta..............................................................................................................33
Walls ........................................................................................................................33
Purchasing Palettes and Other Handy Stuff ................................................................33
Palettes ...................................................................................................................33
Other useful supplies............................................................................................34
Chapter 3: All About Paints and Mediums...............................................................35
Getting to Know the Different Properties of Acrylic Paints.......................................35
Pigments and binders ...........................................................................................36
Viscosity .................................................................................................................37
Finish.......................................................................................................................37
Drying time.............................................................................................................38
Lightfastness or fading .........................................................................................38
Compatibility .........................................................................................................39
Hues ........................................................................................................................39
Different Types of Acrylic Paint ....................................................................................39
Specialty acrylic paints ........................................................................................40
Additives, Mediums, Gels, and Pastes..........................................................................42
Acrylic medium .....................................................................................................42
Water .......................................................................................................................43
Flow enhancers......................................................................................................44
Retarders ................................................................................................................44
Glaze........................................................................................................................44
Gel mediums and paste ........................................................................................45
Specialty mediums and finishes ..........................................................................46
Part II: Exploring Tricks and Techniques ..................................47
Chapter 4: Basic Painting and Finishing Techniques............................................49
Setting Up Your Palette and Supplies ...........................................................................49
Getting a Grip on Your Brushes: Practicing Various Brush Strokes .........................51
Crisscrossing..........................................................................................................52
Scumbling...............................................................................................................53
Stippling..................................................................................................................54
Dry brushing ..........................................................................................................54
Making fine lines with liners ................................................................................55
Scratching with scraffito ......................................................................................55
Painting with a palette knife.................................................................................56
The Best Basic Painting Techniques.............................................................................57
Under painting .......................................................................................................57
Base coating ...........................................................................................................58
Wet-into-wet and blending....................................................................................59
Layering ..................................................................................................................59
Glazing ....................................................................................................................60
Finishing with Finesse ....................................................................................................61
To varnish or not to varnish ................................................................................61
Presenting your paintings: Mats and frames .....................................................63
Project: 30-Minute Artist Trading Card ........................................................................66
Chapter 5: Building Your Repertoire with Quick Tricks and Techniques ..........71
Ready, Set, Experiment...................................................................................................71
Adding Stuff to Your Paint..............................................................................................72
Salt...........................................................................................................................72
Alcohol or water ....................................................................................................73
Sand, sawdust, and beyond .................................................................................74
Thinking Outside the Brush...........................................................................................75
Sponges and rollers...............................................................................................75
Plastic wrap............................................................................................................76
Cobwebs and cheesecloth ...................................................................................78
Dripping, Spraying, and Spattering...............................................................................79
Jack the dripper.....................................................................................................79
Spray it again, Sam ................................................................................................80
Spray stenciling .....................................................................................................81
Project: Combination Technique Abstract ..................................................................82
Chapter 6: Drawn to Paint — Even if Your Drawing Skills Need Work.............85
Making Thumbnail Sketches..........................................................................................86
Enlarging Sketches ..........................................................................................................86
Eyeballing it............................................................................................................89
Gridding it...............................................................................................................89
Copying it ...............................................................................................................89
Projecting it ............................................................................................................90
Tracing Your Way to a Great Painting Sketch ..............................................................90
Finalizing your sketches with tracing paper......................................................91
Copying a photograph by using tracing paper..................................................91
Getting Your Drawing onto the Painting Surface ........................................................92
Blending with Paint.........................................................................................................93
Making a smooth transition .................................................................................93
Blending to create depth ......................................................................................94
Project: Create a Still Life ...............................................................................................96
Part III: Finding the Fun in Fundamentals .............................101
Chapter 7: Taking a Quick Color Tour .....................................................................103
Looking at Popular Colors ...........................................................................................103
Red ........................................................................................................................103
Orange...................................................................................................................104
Brown....................................................................................................................104
Yellow....................................................................................................................105
Green.....................................................................................................................106
Blue .......................................................................................................................106
Violet .....................................................................................................................107
White.....................................................................................................................107
Black......................................................................................................................108
Deciphering Paint Descriptions ..................................................................................109
Common chemicals.............................................................................................109
Common descriptors ..........................................................................................110
Hues ......................................................................................................................110
Working the Color Wheel .............................................................................................110
Primary, secondary, and tertiary colors ..........................................................111
Clear as mud: Using color bias to mix colors (or mud) .................................111
Three Color Exercises ..................................................................................................113
Exploring value with monochrome: The one-color exercise .........................113
Taking your painting’s temperature: The two-color exercise........................115
Harmonizing with primaries: The three-color exercise..................................117
A Few More Color Plans ...............................................................................................118
Complementary ...................................................................................................119
Split complementary...........................................................................................120
Analogous.............................................................................................................121
Full wheel..............................................................................................................122
Chapter 8: Design of the Times: Design Elements and Principles ....................123
Elements of Design........................................................................................................123
The Principle of Balance ..............................................................................................125
Balancing color ....................................................................................................125
Balancing value....................................................................................................126
Balancing dots .....................................................................................................126
Balancing texture.................................................................................................126
Balancing line.......................................................................................................127
Balancing shape...................................................................................................128
Balancing size ......................................................................................................128
Balancing volume ................................................................................................129
The Principle of Contrast.............................................................................................129
Contrasting color.................................................................................................129
Contrasting value ................................................................................................130
Contrasting shape ...............................................................................................131
Contrasting texture .............................................................................................131
Contrasting lines..................................................................................................131
Contrasting size ...................................................................................................132
Contrasting volume.............................................................................................132
The Principles of Repetition, Alternation, and Variation .........................................133
The Principle of Direction............................................................................................134
Direction of texture .............................................................................................136
Direction using lines ...........................................................................................136
Direction using shapes .......................................................................................137
The Principles of Emphasis and Subordination........................................................137
Dominance of color temperature ......................................................................138
Dominance of value.............................................................................................138
Dominance of dots ..............................................................................................138
Dominance of texture..........................................................................................139
Dominance of line................................................................................................139
Dominance of shape............................................................................................140
Dominance using size .........................................................................................140
Dominance using volume ...................................................................................141
Chapter 9: Putting the Pieces Together: Composition .........................................143
First Things First: Intention and Placement ..............................................................143
Determining and placing the focal point ..........................................................144
Give ’em room......................................................................................................146
Off-setting the horizon........................................................................................146
Setting the mood .................................................................................................146
Less is more .........................................................................................................148
More Composition Guidelines .....................................................................................148
Going with odd numbers....................................................................................149
Avoiding tangents................................................................................................149
Varying your edges to create depth and
to help the focal point stand out ...................................................................150
Keeping light and shadows consistent.............................................................151
Check Yourself: Analyzing and Revamping Your Composition ...............................151
Keying the painting .............................................................................................151
Thinking in threes ...............................................................................................152
Cropping ...............................................................................................................154
Implosion and other shapes ..............................................................................154
Unity: A final checklist ........................................................................................154
Part IV: Acrylic’s Versatile Styles .........................................157
Chapter 10: Letting It Flow: Creating a Watercolor-like Landscape.................159
Born to Run: Thinning Acrylic to be Like Watercolor ..............................................160
The Sky’s the Limit: Painting Translucent Skies .......................................................161
Riding off into the sunset ...................................................................................162
Raindrops keep falling on my head...................................................................163
Clouding the picture ...........................................................................................164
Getting Edgy: Defining the Edges of Landscape Objects .........................................165
Hard edges............................................................................................................166
Soft and lost edges ..............................................................................................166
Seeing the Forest for the Trees....................................................................................169
Defining tree edges by painting and spattering...............................................169
Making a tree brush out of rubber bands ........................................................171
Layering Paint for Endless Possibilities .....................................................................172
Getting a little perspective.................................................................................172
Backgrounds, middle grounds, and foregrounds ............................................172
Project: Putting Together a Watercolor-like Landscape...........................................174
Chapter 11: Laying It On Thick: Painting Like the Oil Masters ..........................179
Getting Ready to Create an “Oil” Masterpiece ..........................................................179
Extending your acrylic’s drying time to mimic oil..........................................179
Choosing and prepping a surface......................................................................180
Trying Oil-Inspired Techniques...................................................................................181
Painting backgrounds with aerial perspective ................................................181
Overlapping..........................................................................................................183
Creating texture ...................................................................................................184
Simulating depth with shadows ........................................................................188
Project: Irresistible Husky Dog....................................................................................191
Project: Fall Corn Still Life............................................................................................195
Project: Son of Corn Painting (A Sequel) ...................................................................198
Chapter 12: Thinking and Painting Abstractly ......................................................205
Cruising through Abstract Art Movements: An Overview.......................................205
Finding Abstract Ideas in the Real World...................................................................207
Creating a cropping viewfinder .........................................................................207
Pushing a shape out of shape ............................................................................209
Abstract Ways to Send a Message in Your Art ..........................................................211
Putting words in a painting ................................................................................211
Looking at what various symbols and elements can communicate .............211
Handy Products and Techniques for Abstract Art ...................................................223
Under it all: Starting with grounds and pastes ................................................223
Over the top: Using products that go on top of grounds and substrates....226
Planning Your Own Abstract Painting: A Few Questions to Consider....................229
Project: Abstract Extravaganza...................................................................................230
Part V: Projects for Different Surfaces...................................235
Chapter 13: Creating Collages and Transfers........................................................237
What You Can Use in a Collage....................................................................................237
Deciding What You Want Your Collage to Say ...........................................................238
Preparing Your Background Surface...........................................................................240
Layering Your Collage...................................................................................................241
Layering with paper ............................................................................................241
Layering in paint..................................................................................................244
Working with Images and Direct Transfers................................................................245
Making a direct transfer .....................................................................................246
Transferring drawings ........................................................................................249
Making sure your collage doesn’t infringe on copyrights..............................250
Project: Southwestern Cliffs Collage...........................................................................251
Chapter 14: Cool Projects for All Types of Surfaces ............................................255
Wild About Wildcats: Painting on Wood and Clayboard..........................................255
Wooden wildcat box............................................................................................256
Coasters................................................................................................................261
Grape Art: Painting Grapes on a Violin (Yes, Really)................................................266
Wall Art: Painting a Mural ............................................................................................269
Art to Wear and Carry: Painting Fabric and Other Materials ..................................270
Rock On: Painting on Rocks and Stone ......................................................................275
Heavy Metal: Painting on Steel ....................................................................................275
Odds and Ends: Faux Stained Glass, Bricks, and Candles .......................................277
Faux stained glass ...............................................................................................277
Painted brick........................................................................................................279
Painted candles ...................................................................................................279
Part VI: The Part of Tens ......................................................281
Chapter 15: Ten (Plus One) Genres: Figuring Out What You Want to Paint......283
Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Get the Creative Juices Flowing.................................291
Index ..................................................................................295
