How to paint with acrylic paints on canvas, paper, tips. Acrylic paints for painting: tips for beginners Beautiful drawings with acrylic paints on paper

If you want to try something new in painting, pay attention to the acrylic painting technique. Canvases created with plastic-based paints have an interesting three-dimensional structure. Painting with acrylic is no more difficult than painting with watercolors. At the same time, the finished painting does not need to be treated with fixing compounds - the paints are highly durable, do not fade and are not afraid of water.

What is acrylic for painting?

Acrylic paints appeared in mass production relatively recently - only 50 years ago. Pigmented acrylic resin quickly gained universal popularity, primarily due to its versatility and durability. It is used not only by canvas painters, but also by interior artists who create paintings on walls, builders and even manicurists.

Acrylic paints come in different varieties. So, to decorate walls or ceilings, it is better to choose special acrylic paint with a dense consistency. Three-dimensional images in the interior look colorful, realistic and original. Less concentrated paints, usually sold in tubes, are suitable for creating paintings on canvas. The drawing process for beginners is fascinating; it allows you to fully reveal your artistic talent.

How to prepare the basis for a future painting

Before choosing acrylic paint, take care to prepare the base. You can draw on wooden boards or plywood. You can use a stretcher or regular canvas. The easiest way to paint with acrylic is on paper, so a beginner should first master this canvas.

Choose paper with a dense, rough surface. For you to be able to paint with acrylic properly, the base must be strong. If you choose textured paper, glue a wood backing onto it.

Remove any air bubbles that have formed using a book - the canvas is ready for painting. Canvas for painting with acrylic can be additionally sanded, since the material adheres best to a smooth surface. Beginning painters often wonder whether it is necessary to prime the canvas for acrylic?

If you are working on boards, you will need an acrylic primer, which is sold in art stores. It is a special emulsion with titanium dioxide, which gives whiteness. The primer is applied to the prepared board in several layers and dried for 24 hours.

How to learn to paint with acrylic from scratch

First of all, make sure that the paints are not dry. When applying the first strokes, be sure to moisten the acrylic paint palette with water - you will need a spray bottle for this. There is no need to pour out a lot of acrylic paint at one time. Use absorbent paper, you can put it under the palette.

Observe the transparency of the paint: the more water you add, the more transparent the strokes will be. Paint with large brushes first, starting with large areas. Then move smoothly to the main details. The technique of painting with acrylic on paper or a wooden board requires extreme care and precision. From time to time, look at the drawing in the mirror - this will help you understand whether its proportions are correct.

Many beginners find it difficult to mix acrylic paints with each other. You can use a thinner - it increases the “open” time of the paints, making them easier to compose. You only need to distribute the material with the edge of the brush, and to obtain clear contours of the sketch, you can use regular adhesive tape, which is sold at any hardware store.

Try lightening and darkening shades by adding white or black tones. To clean the palette from acrylic paints, use any product that dissolves plastic - a regular household solvent will do.

Painting with acrylic on paper or wood is a creative process that is a lot of fun. To make it even more enjoyable, follow these guidelines:

Paints darken significantly when dry. Take this into account when choosing shades for the future canvas. Choose non-toxic materials for work, even if they cost more. Wear an apron while working to avoid getting your clothes dirty.

In addition to professional brushes with long handles, paints and canvas base, stock up on decoupage glue, as well as a convenient spray bottle filled with water.

It is better to use a plastic palette - it is practical and easy to clean. Don't forget to use clean water to rinse your brushes.

Having mastered the technique of painting with acrylic, you will be able to create real masterpieces. A little patience, diligence and the right materials for the job are the key to impressive results.

As you know, evolution does not stand still, including painting! Thanks to new technologies, it was born a new type of quick-drying paint - acrylic. Acrylic painting - This is a fairly new type in contemporary art.

Thanks to their brightness, elasticity and durability, acrylic paints quickly gained popularity and began to be used in various areas of creativity. Artistic acrylic - universal paint, can be used in painting for drawing both on canvas and paper.

Acrylic painting has captured the hearts of many artists

Modern masters need acrylic paints not only to create paintings, they use them for painting fabrics, glass, ceramics and other surfaces. Recently, they have been actively used in interior design and even in the beauty industry - for painting nails.

Fans of acrylic paints also include those artists who use paints instead of brushes. It’s a paradox, but some people do it well!

What kind of material is this and why is it so good? Acrylic is a polymer emulsion, in which the coloring pigment is dissolved. The composition of acrylic paint is extremely simple - water, pigment and acrylic resin, which acts as a binding component. This paint does not require the use of special solvents. It is enough to dilute with water, it does not have a strong odor, therefore it is perfect for allergy sufferers.

Those who are passionate about watercolor can compare working in acrylic with the watercolor technique, and oil painters with oil painting. In principle, both will be right!

Acrylic paintingmay be similar to watercolor and oil. It all depends on the density of the paints used. You can appreciate the beauty and versatility of acrylic painting in the magnificent works of Neil Hamelin, William Henrits, S. S. McNeil and Justin Geoffrey.

By the way, Justin Gaffrey, who, influenced by the work of Van Gogh, paints interesting paintings with acrylic paints, very impastoly applying paints to each other.

Acrylic painting by artists Justin Geoffrey, Neil Hamelin, S. S. McNeil

How did acrylic paints come about?

Unlike oil paints, which artists have been using for more than 6 centuries, acrylic is quite young, it appeared about 70 years ago. By the way, do you know who popularized oil paints in Europe in the 14th century? After all, before this, paintings were painted with tamper! And one day, painters began to switch en masse to oil paints. What and how

A little history of the emergence of acrylic in fine arts.In the 20s of the last century, the style of so-called “muralism” became popular in Mexico - public buildings were decorated with frescoes with scenes from the history of the country. The word muralism comes from the Spanish word el muro, meaning “the wall.”

The artists were given the task of inventing durable and quick-drying paints, which could be used indoors and on building facades. Experiments with resins began. Among the muralists of that time was the famous artist Diego Rivera, the husband of a notorious artist in the first half of the last century in Mexico.

Diego Rivera in the studio and on the left his fresco with acrylic paints

You will say that frescoes have decorated the walls since the time of Leonardo Da Vinci and, and you will be right. In those days, tampera was used to paint walls; by the way, it was also used for canvases until the 15th century. In those distant centuries, walls were painted indoors and rarely outside.

Here's one interesting oneMexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros was the first to use pyroxylin-based acrylic paints on canvas. Surely, the name of the resin doesn’t tell you anything, this is not surprising, since it was used in paints for painting cars.

Later, specialized paints for painting were released in 1947 by the American company Bocour Artists Color. They were alcoholic, but over time alcohol was replaced with water, and paints have found wide application among artists. I know a lot of creative personalities who “migrated” from oil painting to acrylic painting.

Bocour Artists Colors released the first acrylic paints for artists in 1947 in America

What is the difference between acrylic paints

Each technique in fine art has its admirers. Some people strictly adhere to oil painting without changing their habits, some prefer acrylic painting, others love . Of course, the artist has the right to choose!

In the end, what is important is not the technique itself, but how comfortable the creator feels with this material and, as a result, how ARTistically he can transfer onto canvas or paper what is intended!

Acrylic paints are different from oil based ones, first of all, by their ability to dissolve in water. And this is their big advantage. Because you don't have to deal with the pungent odors of solvents, to which many are allergic.

Acrylic has other strengths:

• the paints fit well on any surface, not just canvas;
• can be used for decorative and design work;
• easy to use, and unlike oil, suitable for beginners;
• give bright saturated colors;
• do not fade in the sun, do not turn yellow or crack;
• They are environmentally friendly material and do not cause allergies;
• does not ignite;
• dissolve in ordinary water, and after drying - absolutely stable and durable;
• dry very quickly;
• resistant to any physical and chemical influences;
• They can be applied with a brush, spatula, or, after diluting, with an airbrush. The latest fashion is graffiti on walls using an acrylic paint sprayer.

Acrylic paintingSuitable for beginners and experienced artists. You may have heard about the popular hobby of many - drawing by numbers. So they paint with acrylic there. Something like decorating is a pleasant way to relax and immerse yourself in another world.

So to speak, as , which helps many people balance their inner world. Many beginning artists begin their acquaintance with acrylic paints by drawing by numbers.

Acrylic painting by numbers for beginners

Whatever technique the artist prefers to work in, Acrylic is definitely worth a try. You know that everything is learned by comparison. To understand whether acrylic paints are good or not, you need to try and compare, for example, with oil.

Since the paint is based on plastic synthetic resin, it is possible to achieve both exquisite glazes and dense texture. Besides, background and underpainting with acrylic paints It can be used in oil painting. This is what many contemporary artists do, practicing mixed media. True, few artists admit this, leaning towards oil painting only. And mixed media has been around for quite a long time.

But you need to remember that acrylic dries almost instantly! You should work quickly so that the paints on the palette do not dry out. And they dry quickly on canvas... For some this will seem like an advantage, but for others it will be a complete inconvenience!

Fast drying paints are the main advantage in acrylic painting

So, We got to the shortcomings:

• quick drying requires nimble work;
• many artists consider acrylic a “dead” chemical paint, so they prefer oil paint;
• acrylic hardens in hot water, which must be taken into account when washing brushes.

Acrylic paints They differ from each other primarily in consistency. They can be quite liquid, as well as thick, pasty, and of normal consistency too. The former are similar to gouache or watercolor, the latter are suitable for writing in impasto technique, where special attention is paid to texture. Paints are available in jars and tubes.

It is undoubtedly proven that p painting develops a sense of style teaches a person to perceive the versatility of color and convey it correctly. For those new to painting, it is better to start working using the wet-on-wet technique on special acrylic paper. You can buy a small canvas and paint something simple, although “raw technique” will not work here, since everything will flow down from the canvas. The watercolor version is especially good when the plot is executed in a horizontal position.

Additionally, read the article about . For starters, you canuse two flat soft synthetic brushes: apply paint with one, remove excess paint with the other, soften color transitions, smooth out contours.

Acrylic paints dry quickly, so it is convenient to use a homemade palette from a sheet of plastic and a file placed on it, which is easy to replace. You can spray the palette with water from a spray bottle from time to time so that the paint remains at the desired consistency.

In principle, to understand how acrylic paint works, it is best to try it in action... What if these are the paints that you were looking for? In my creative work I use both oil and acrylic. These are two excellent artistic materials for realizing your plans.

Painting with acrylic paints video example

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Ask your questions below in the comments, I usually answer all questions quickly

Instructions

Acrylic paint, diluted with water, acquires the characteristic features of watercolor - transparency and delicate shades. To achieve this effect in your drawing, prepare two containers for water - in one you will wash the brush, the other should remain clean.

To work with diluted acrylic, use soft brushes suitable for watercolors: for filling large surfaces, suitable for working out details in writing on a dry sheet - columns.

To get a smooth transition from one color to another, use the “wet” technique. Wet the sheet with clean water and immediately apply layers of different shades. At the point of their contact, the colors will mix and form picturesque flows.

The peculiarity of acrylic is its rapid drying. Correct the drawing and blur its boundaries immediately after applying the paint; after a few seconds it will harden, and all the edges of the stroke will become clear and noticeable.

After waiting for the first layer of paint to dry, apply the next one of a different shade. Unlike watercolors, acrylic paints will not mix into a “dirty” color, but will shine through all subsequent thin layers. This allows you to create deep, complex tones through layering.

Acrylic stains of different colors can be “united” with a final layer of a neutral shade. It will set one tone to all areas of the picture, but will not mix with the color of any of them.

If acrylic is not diluted with water, it can be used to paint like oil. Both paper and primed canvas are suitable as a base. In this case, it is better to take hard brushes - bristles and synthetics.

Acrylic paints have good hiding power, so they can be used to paint over a failed fragment and apply a new layer of paint over this base. This is convenient when creating a drawing “in layers”: you can paint over the entire background with color, then fill the object on it with a white base and paint it with any color - the shade will be bright and clean.

Acrylic can be used not only as the main material, but also as an auxiliary one. Often he creates the so-called underpainting, which will be completed with oil.

Video on the topic

Acrylic paint is an emulsion that is obtained by adding pigments to water, as well as a binder based on polymers in the form of polyacrylates or their copolymers. This combination can practically be called acrylic latex, because the paints are amazingly stable and “unpretentious.”

Polymer particles and acrylic paint pigments are not able to dissolve in an aqueous environment, which ensures a stable and durable color coating when the composition is applied to the surface after the water has evaporated from it.

Application

Acrylic paint can be used to paint various surfaces. It is used to decorate walls and ceilings made of brick, apply it on top of plaster, wallpaper, drywall, and also paint structural elements made of fiberboard and chipboard.

Such widespread use of acrylic paints can be explained by their good quality indicators and advantages over other types of paints. First of all, they are not affected by temperature changes, and the compositions are distinguished by their color fastness - their shades and texture do not change over time. In addition, some acrylic paints are moisture resistant. Also, no cracks form on the surface of the dry mixture, which ensures its integrity - the coating has an elastic base that is resistant to mechanical influences of various kinds.

Another advantage of acrylic paint is its high covering effect and reliable painting of lower layers or other errors. Acrylic-based paints are non-toxic, have no pungent odor and dry quickly after application.

Working with acrylic

Acrylic paint can be applied to any surface using a brush, roller or specially designed devices in the form of sprayers, which allows you to paint ceilings and walls yourself. With the help of such paints it is possible to create unique interior solutions filled with a wide color palette. As for the shade, you can buy white acrylic paint and any color for it - adding small portions of the selected color, you can achieve the desired shade. It should be noted that in most cases matte paint is offered, but there is a mixture with a pleasant silk sheen.

Selection of coloring composition

The modern construction market offers consumer demand a wide range of acrylic paints - for use in exterior and interior decoration, for cladding facades, covering walls and ceilings, as well as combined types of mixtures intended for both exterior and interior work, and for finishing ceilings and walls.

It is impossible to say that this or that brand is the best on the market today, however, there are a number of parameters that dominate among manufacturers of quality materials. So, for interior finishing work, choose paints that are labeled “for interior use”; such paints have virtually no odor. Paints marked “for ceilings and walls” are also suitable. Universal ones are a compromise option; they should not be used for decoration; builders usually purchase them for finishing work in new premises.

In terms of color rendering and aesthetics, glossy acrylic paints are considered the best, but for painting or pre-arts and crafts you still need to use semi-gloss ones. Matte paints are the best option for those who are fond of tanks.

If desired, the consumer can choose impact-resistant, washable, and abrasion-resistant acrylic paint. High-quality acrylic paint can serve its intended purpose for up to 10 years.

Watercolors, pencils, felt-tip pens - all this is familiar to us since childhood. But acrylic paints for painting appeared on sale relatively recently, and not everyone knows how to paint with them correctly. This article will help you understand this issue.

A little about acrylic paints

Acrylic paints for painting are a universal option: they can be used to paint on a wide variety of surfaces. Paper, cardboard, glass, wood, plastic, canvas and even metal - all these materials are excellent for painting and decorative works with acrylic paints. Great creative scope, the opportunity to realize your ideas and imagination - that’s why many people love this type of paint.

For painting with them, both natural and synthetic brushes are suitable, as well as a palette knife and, if the paint is properly diluted with water, an airbrush. For those who have painted with gouache or watercolor before, painting with acrylic paints will be easier than ever. If you purchase a set of acrylic paints for painting, you will receive a number of advantages over other types of paints: they do not spread, do not fade, do not crack, and dry quickly.

Painting with acrylic paints for beginners: instructions

If you learn to paint with acrylic paints, you can achieve excellent results. For example, if you mix paint with water, you can achieve a watercolor effect. If you use a palette knife or a rough bristle brush for painting, you will get the effect of a painting painted with oil paint. So, let's talk about the process itself in more detail.

Working condition of paint

Due to the fact that acrylic paints dry incredibly quickly, you should squeeze them out of the tube very little at a time. And you should definitely purchase a sprayer to moisten the paint if you are using a regular, non-wet palette.

Wipe your brush

Every time you wash your brushes, you need to dry them with a cloth or paper towel. In this case, drops flowing from the brush will not fall on the drawing and leave unsightly marks on it.

Color transparency

If you paint with acrylic paints in a thick layer straight from the tube or just dilute them slightly with water on the palette, the color will be rich and opaque. And if diluted with water, the color transparency will be the same as that of watercolor paints.

The difference between acrylic washes and watercolor washes

Unlike watercolor, acrylic wash dries quickly, is fixed on the surface and becomes insoluble. And this allows you to apply new layers to the dried ones without fear of damaging the previous ones.

Glaze

If you need glaze in several translucent layers, then the layers must be applied very thinly so that the bottom layer is visible. That is, acrylic paint must be applied to the surface very carefully, evenly, thinly.

Fluidity

You can improve the fluidity so that the color intensity does not change with a special thinner, but not with water.

Mixing colors

Since acrylic paints dry very quickly, the colors need to be mixed quickly. If mixing occurs not on the palette, but on paper, it is worth moistening it first - this will increase the speed.

Edge Sharpness

To make the corners sharp and sharply defined, you can stick masking masking tape onto the dried paint without harming the design. But you need to make sure that the edges fit tightly. Also, don't draw too quickly along the edges of the tape.

Painting with acrylic paints on canvas: features

In order to give the canvas whiteness, it should be coated with an acrylic primer. But if you want to add contrast to your work, you can also use dark acrylic emulsion. You can apply the primer using a brush in one or two layers. But if the surface is large, then this is not very convenient. In this case, the canvas should be placed horizontally and primer should be poured onto it, while using a scraper to distribute it in a thin layer over the entire area of ​​the canvas.

Proper lighting for working with acrylic paints

Skillful organization of the workplace has a positive effect on the creative process. It is worth following some rules to make your work more comfortable and faster. Lighting should be even and diffused, the same throughout the entire work process. The light should be to the left of the canvas and in no case should blind the creator.

Alexey Vyacheslavov shares his experience of working with acrylic paints. The master works systematically, not a single detail escapes his inquisitive gaze. The work that the author records on paper can be an invaluable treasure for other aspiring artists.

Palette and Palette knife.

Acrylic dries very quickly. This is its disadvantage while it is on the palette. And this same property is its advantage when acrylic is on canvas. You need to somehow combat rapid drying on the palette. For myself, I chose the following path - I use a wet palette which he himself made. It is arranged as follows

I had a box in stock. The size of the box is approximately 12x9 cm and the height is about 1 cm. The box opens on a hinge into 2 equal halves. My box is black. And the palette should be white. Therefore, in order to level out (hide) the black color, I place clean white paper cut to fit the bottom on the bottom of one of the halves of the box. I make several layers of paper. Before laying it on the bottom, the paper must be well moistened so that it is saturated with water, but not so wet that it forms a puddle at the bottom of the box. I place a regular white napkin on top of several layers of wet paper. The napkin should also be damp and cut to fit the bottom of the box. Place wet tracing paper on top of the napkin. I tried different types of tracing paper. I didn't like the tracing paper that is sold in office supply stores as tracing paper. Over time, it swells greatly, lint forms on the surface and this lint then, together with the paint, ends up on the brush, and therefore on the canvas. This creates inconvenience. Of all the types of tracing paper that I have tried, it does not have this drawback. tracing paper from a box of Samara Confectioner chocolates. I feel like it has some kind of impregnation that prevents the formation of lint. Of course, lint also forms over time, but for six months or a year you can forget about this problem. Thus, It is necessary to use good tracing paper that does not form lint on the surface when exposed to water. In general, the palette is ready. I spread the paint from a tube or jar directly onto tracing paper using a small palette knife.

The same palette knife, if necessary, I create a batch of paint of the desired color. During the drawing process, when the palette is open, water evaporates from the surface of the palette. Tracing paper, napkin and the lower layers of paper dry out over time. To moisten it, it is enough for me to add a small amount of water, which I add to the edge of the box. By tilting the palette, the water is distributed to all edges. If during work the tracing paper becomes too dirty, which interferes with obtaining pure shades of colors, it can be carefully lifted by the edge with a palette knife and removed from the palette, rinsed under running warm water and put back.

If there is paint left on the palette...

I have never finished a painting in one day (evening). Therefore, I have situations when some paint remains on the palette. To save it for future use, I do the following. If the palette is sufficiently moistened, then I simply close the palette. If the palette is not wet enough, then I add a few drops of water to it. Then I put the box in a plastic bag, as if wrapping it in a bag. And then I put the wrapped box in the refrigerator on the top shelf. There it can be stored until next use for at least a week.. Typically, I take the palette out of the refrigerator the next day. I open the box and see that the paint has not dried, but on the contrary, it has absorbed a certain amount of water and has become diluted, just right for use, imitating watercolor effects. I conclude that the palette was too wet before storage. However, you can paint with such wet paint right away or wait until some of the water evaporates. I usually use this paint to create underpainting.

Acrylic

The acrylic paints I use are: Ladoga and French Pebeo Deco.

Pebeo Deco

The first tests of acrylic showed that it lays well and has good covering properties.

Acrylic Pebeo Deco - This is acrylic for decorative works. This is what explains such exotic names for color shades. Then it seemed to me that the color palette lacked white and black to start painting. It was not possible to purchase these colors of Pebeo Deco acrylic. Then, to complement the color palette, the following acrylic colors were purchased Ladoga

Color palette used Ladoga

Acrylic Ladoga was also tested. Tests have shown that its covering ability is inferior to Pebeo Deco acrylic. Otherwise they turned out to be similar and can be mixed.

Speaking about acrylic, I would still like to mention one more property of acrylic, which is its disadvantage - it darkens after drying. Some call it tarnishing. But essentially it's the same thing. Darkening occurs by approximately 2 tones, and this property is felt most noticeably when working slowly with acrylic, when the next layer is applied to an already dry one, and is especially noticeable when making smooth color transitions over large areas of the canvas.

Brushes

When working with acrylic I use only synthetic brushes. I have at my disposal oval brushes from No. 4 to No. 14

These brushes have soft synthetic hair that does not leave marks on the canvas. The largest brushes from No.8 to No.14 I use for underpainting or final painting on fairly large areas of the canvas surface, such as the sky. Smaller brushes I use No. 4 and No. 6 for smaller work.

I also have in my arsenal round and flat brushes. From flat brushes are No. 4 and No. 2. From round brushes - these are No. 2, No. 1, No. 0. Very rarely I use brush no. 00. Its tip quickly wears out, fluffs up and it becomes almost like No. 0. Therefore, we can say that brushes No. 0 and No. 00 are almost the same size.

Drawing technique

Currently I I draw only from photographs. These photos are stored on the computer. But I don’t like sitting in front of the monitor all the time and drawing from the monitor. So I go to the photo salon and I print out the photo I like on A4 matte photo paper, sometimes A3.

Once the sketch is transferred to the canvas, I start painting. First of all, I think about the work plan, determine the sequence in which objects appear on the canvas. It’s more convenient for me to start drawing from the background, then move to the middle, and finish with the foreground. I usually outline an approximate amount of work that I can complete in one evening. Based on this, looking at the photo, I determine what paints I will need. As I wrote above, I spread the paints onto the palette with a palette knife. I wipe the palette knife on the palette. When finishing, I wipe the palette knife with a napkin, which usually lies on the second half of my open palette. In the process of painting, I have to wash my brushes often, and in order to remove excess water from the brush, I touch this very napkin with my brush, thereby drying the brush. This way, the necessary paints are on the palette, the palette knife is wiped and nothing dries on it. Next, there are two ways to mix paints.

First way— mixing paints directly on canvas.

I use this method for underpainting and drawing some large objects. This method allows you to draw objects in one pass, bypassing the underpainting stage. In this way I draw, for example, large leaves. Using a flat brush No. 2, I first take one paint, then another, and transfer it to the canvas. It turns out that I seem to be applying paint to a section of the canvas, at the same time mixing and distributing it, making movements with the brush that resemble poking towards the canvas. If I see that somewhere the wrong color is obtained, then another shade can be applied on top of the paint that has not yet dried, mixing with the bottom layer. In this case, no brush strokes remain on the canvas.

The second method is mixing paints on a palette. I use this method for further development of an area of ​​the painting when there is already underpainting or in areas without underpainting when making smooth transitions from one color to another, for example in areas such as the sky. In this case, I proceed as follows. I put a fairly large amount of white paint on the palette, enough to paint the entire sky. Then I add a small amount of blue paint to the white one. Along with blue, I sometimes add crimson or dark blue, depending on the condition of the sky. I mix all this and get a certain blue tint. If the resulting shade suits me, then I take a brush and begin to apply it to the canvas next to the horizon. If the resulting shade does not suit me, then I add a small amount of blue to this mixture. I do this until I get the desired shade of the sky near the horizon. I apply the paint using an oval brush No. 14, 10 or 8, depending on the area occupied by the sky on the canvas. The smaller the area of ​​the sky, the smaller the brush I use. With this blue mixture I paint a section of the sky of a certain width, moving from the horizon upward.

Usually, to prevent the white canvas from bleeding through the paint, you have to apply two layers of paint with drying between layers. After this, a fairly large amount of the blue mixture remains on the palette. Next, I again add blue paint to this mixture, thereby obtaining a new, darker shade of blue. With this new mixture I paint over the canvas above the already applied stripe. The difference in shades of stripes should not be significant. They should differ by about 2 tones. Earlier I wrote about how acrylic darkens when it dries. This feature can be noticed just when drawing the sky. And so let’s imagine that we have already painted a blue stripe near the horizon on the canvas and the paint has dried. We didn’t notice that it darkened on the canvas. But if you compare the color on the canvas and on the palette, they will be different. The color on the palette is lighter. Now we need to make sure that these two colors are identical. To do this, you need to add such an amount of blue paint to the mixture on the palette so that the mixture on the palette is the same shade (or approximately the same) as the dried strip on the canvas. Then you need to apply a new shade of the mixture next to the dried strip. At the moment of applying a new shade of the mixture, it is clear that its color is identical to the already dried, previously applied one. And literally in a matter of seconds, right before your eyes, the new mixture becomes darker. To smooth out the transition between shades of the sky, I make small brush strokes on the first stripe of the sky. I use the same brush, but almost dry, almost without paint.

I make movements with the brush in a cross shape.

With this new mixture I do exactly the same as with the previous ones. I end up getting the sky. But the work on the sky does not end there. We can say that this is an underpainting of the sky, although it is already quite drawn. Usually the sky is not so perfect, so then I write down various nuances on it in the form of barely noticeable cloud scatterings or more noticeable clouds. I also do all this with blue paint with variations in shades into a whiter area, or a darker blue, or a more crimson one (see Figure 8). In this case, I use the smallest oval brushes, No. 4 or No. 6, with a very small amount of paint, so as not to overdo it.

I would like to pay special attention to the techniques of drawing animal fur, in particular cat fur. These same techniques can be used to draw the fur of other similar animals and even to draw the plumage of birds.

The coat should look fluffy, voluminous and light. Therefore, when drawing fur, I use several layers on top of each other. I start drawing fur with an underpainting using a No. 2 flat brush. At the same time, I try to get a color darker than the final coat color.

Underpainting of a cat's head

To draw the fur I use a brush number 0. I make the first layer over the underpainting with the lightest color of the coat. This color can be white (as in my case), beige, cream, light gray or some other light shade. I cover the entire area of ​​fur to be drawn with this color. I make movements with the brush in the direction of hair growth. One brush stroke corresponds to one hair of fur. Taking into account the translucency of acrylic, you can see how the color of the underpainting appears through the thin strokes. At the same time, the color spots of the underpainting do not lose their outlines

First layer of wool (lightest)

At this stage you have to wash your brush very often. I make 3-4 strokes and rinse the brush. If this is not done, then the paint drying on the brush leads to its thickening, the fineness of the hairs disappears, and the feeling of the fluffiness of the coat goes away.

I make the second layer of wool with a color that serves to display the shadow part of the wool. It may be some intermediate shade between the lightest coat color and the darkest. This medium shade should not be too bright. In my case it is natural sienna diluted with white paint

Second layer of wool (medium shade)

The third layer of wool is the layer where the final finishing of the wool is done. The shades used can be very diverse depending on the color of the coat. In my case, this is white, and shades of red, and shades of bright orange, and shades of brown. The more shades used, the more vibrant and realistic the wool looks (see Figure 12). As an example, here is a drawing with a small worked area of ​​fur on the left.

Third layer of wool (final development)

When painting fur, it turns out that an individual hair of fur is done with one brush stroke. The brush used is very fine, No. 0 or No. 00. Working with such brushes requires a lot of patience, but the result is worth it.