Colorful Painting in Acrylic. Tips and Techniques!

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!!!

I decided to do a ridiculously colorful painting to kick off the start of 2024! In this video I will cover some of the techniques that I use when painting with acrylics. As you probably know all too well, acrylics dry quickly. This can either be a blessing or a curse depending on the effect you are trying to achieve. For instance, if you want a smooth blend and soft transitions, acrylics can be challenging.

However, I have found a technique that works best for me when working with acrylics and that is... abstract brushstrokes. These brushstrokes that look messy and kind of haphazard close up, seem to give a more painterly effect from a distance. I think it's pretty cool.

Also, I'm working with vibrant color on a black canvas. So, I'll be showing you how I create a grayscale underpainting first. This is an important step because it not only establishes the structure of the painting itself, but it also allows vibrant color to show up.

I used a lot of different colors for this painting and because of this, I used a wet palette so my paints wouldn't dry out. All of the paints used were heavy body paints by Liquitex or Golden.

To get a more neutral grayscale I combined Mars Black with Burnt Umber to neutralize some of the bluish tones of the black paint before adding Titanium White.

Links:

Masterson Sta-Wet Pallete 12x16 inch
https://amzn.to/47k7sLV

Liquitex Black Gesso
https://amzn.to/48B0FhX

Princeton Snap Flat Brush No.6
https://amzn.to/41KDVd9

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