Painting with acrylic paint, a hobby for everyone!

Why I started with Acrylics

Now you probably think, why acrylic paint. Let me give you an honest answer right away. After years of not painting, I started painting with acrylic paint again because I still had it from years earlier. No money to buy new paint, (lol), and because acrylics are cheaper to buy than oil paints, just in case I liked it again and needed to buy more paint. Acrylic paint is more accessible to me than oil paint, and I think it's easy to learn. Now, I have never worked with oil paint myself, but I have also learned to tell myself that acrylic paint is better as a novice painter because you learn the technique better by painting with acrylic paint. No idea if this is true, but oil paint would be more forgiving for mistakes made.

Anyway, I always paint with acrylic paint myself, and I find it a great advantage that acrylic paint comes in many colors (although I usually mix my colors myself from the 3 primary colors supplemented with white and black). Acrylic paint, in my humble opinion, is for artists of all skill levels. Absolute beginners like my, but also professionals who make a living with their paintings.

What is Acrylic Paint?

If you want to start with acrylic paint, it is of course nice that you know what acrylic paint consists of, right? At least I always like it when I know exactly what I'm using. Acrylic paint is paint that is an organic compound made up of polymers of ethylene and propylene with varying amounts of additives. Acrylic paint has the great advantage that it is water-based. This means that you can also dilute the paint with water, you can easily clean your brushes with soap and water and you do not have to work with toxic agents such as turpentine. The big advantage only immediately becomes a big disadvantage, because acrylic paint is made on a water basis and contains no added fats, it dries very quickly. You really can't leave your brushes for fifteen minutes because this could already mean that your paint has dried in your brush / brush. The short drying time of acrylic paint is also a disadvantage if you want to work wet on wet and want to make beautiful, smooth color gradients. To do this, there are some tricks you can use. If you can, working very fast is an option, but it is of course easier to add a Liquid medium. This ensures that your acrylic paint flows better, but also has a longer drying time. And the best thing is that you don't dilute the color anymore. You can thin your paint with water, as I mentioned earlier, but this also creates a diluted color. A liquid medium retains the color and makes your paint much more fluid.

Why should you use acrylic paint?

Acrylic paint is a non-toxic, eco-friendly and relatively inexpensive medium that allows you to use a huge range of colors as well as a variety of finishing options. Of course, oil paint also has many different finishing options, and oil paint is a natural medium where acrylic is not natural. But the downside of oil painting is that it is much more time consuming. And oil painting requires a completely different approach. If you want to paint in layers, you can do this quickly with acrylics. The bottom layer will dry quickly, allowing you to continue working much faster. Oil paint has a very long drying time. This makes a wet on wet technique much easier, but if you want to work in layers you have to think carefully that you make each new layer fatter than the previous one. You do this to ensure that your bottom layer can dry the fastest, thus preventing your top layers from cracking because your bottom layer is still shrinking while it dries. Oil paint has many advantages, but it is not ideal for those who want to create art quickly and easily. Acrylic paints are a great choice for artists who want to create a variety of images quickly and easily, but who also want to avoid the mess, time, and maintenance requirements of oil paints.

Advantages of using acrylic paint

• Fast drying times
  Acrylic paint dries quickly and can be applied to a variety of surfaces, including canvas, wood, paper, metal, glass, etc. Oil paint, on the other hand, takes a little time to dry, so good ventilation is needed, as is the use of a spray sealant to prevent they burst.

• Versatility
  Acrylic paint comes in a wide variety of colors, consistencies and finishes and can be used on a variety of surfaces. This can be useful for painters who want to create different works quickly and easily with one medium.

• Economical
  Acrylic paint is also quite cheap compared to oil paint.
  
  

How to paint with acrylics

I don't feel like I'm the right person to tell much about it because I haven't had any painting lessons myself. So I can't say much about techniques either. All I know is what I learned through youtube tutorials. I watched this a lot, and I still watch it regularly. I Then just started and paint mainly on feeling. What I do think is, there are no rules when it comes to acrylic painting, so don't feel limited by your creativity. If you find that a certain mix makes your painting look better, experiment with that mix. Keep in mind that some colors of acrylic paint are not opaque, which you will notice especially in the cheaper acrylic paints.

But otherwise, in my opinion, it is just a matter of trying a lot and following your gut …

Tips for getting started with acrylic

• Use an inexpensive acrylic paint for practice. Of course, it's fine to use expensive and premium paints for professional quality work. But as long as you are still practicing and trying out all kinds of things, an inexpensive acrylic paint for practice and everyday painting is preferable.
  
  
• Make sure you clean your brushes and mixing cups well after each painting session. It is really a crime to get dried acrylic paint out of your brushes. And you don't want to buy new brushes for every painting.
  
  
• Do not store your paints in direct sunlight to prevent them from becoming unstable.
  
  

Final words - still having problems?

If you find yourself struggling to learn the finer points of acrylic painting, or if you're just looking for new techniques or tips, don't worry! Youtube is full of tips and tricks. And if you are interested in that you can always take lessons to expand your artistic skills with a variety of techniques, including oil painting, watercolor.

For me at the moment, acrylic paint is an affordable and accessible medium that I use to express my creativity, and to give myself a distraction when I need it. It gives me peace of mind to focus on painting instead of worrying about things I can't change anyway.

All paintings are my own

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