Acrylic Painting – What Do I Need?
I’m quite new to using acrylic paints. Often what stops me from having a go at something new is that I’m not sure what I need. This blog post will tell you the basic materials that you will need to get started with acrylic painting.
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The Basic Acrylic Painting Materials
Acrylic paints
Acrylic paints mix really well so it is entirely up to you if you want to opt for a set of paints like this that have lots of colour options. I have a set of various colours that are great when I don’t want to have to think about colour mixing. Alternatively, you could go for the primary colours and black and white and get mixing. I’ve got this in Daler Rowney system3 Acrylic and you can get these in various sizes depending upon your project.
If you are starting out then I’d highly recommend checking out The Works in the UK for acrylic resources. There are some very reasonable options to get you started.
TIP: Only put out a blob of roughly how much you need as acrylic paints dry quickly. You can always add more to your palette as you need. Keep your tops clean and put the lids back on straight away too. This will keep your paints fresher.
Brushes
You can use any multipurpose paint brush with acrylic paint especially if you are starting out. However, I’d recommend going for a synthetic brush that’s sturdy if you decide to dabble more frequently. Acrylic paint is thick and dries quickly so having a durable, firm brush suitable for acrylics would be best. We have these ones.
TIP: Acrylic paints works so well in mixed media projects. Don’t feel you need to be confined to just using acrylic paint. They adhere to lots of surfaces so you can get creative with sculpting before you paint or use pastels or other media to layer on top of your creations. As I mentioned earlier, they dry very quickly so are ideal to use with other media.
Paper
Acrylic paint is thick so you ideally want a paper with a good bit of weight behind it. I’d opt for around 230-250gsm like this pad.
TIP: Acrylics can be used without water. However, if you plan to dilute down the paints you may prefer to opt for a heavier weight of paper to avoid cockling. Love that word – cockling paper is when the paper distorts. This can happen when the paper becomes too saturated with paint/ water.
Sketching pencil and rubber
Usually, you’ll want to sketch out parts of your design before you start. I’d recommend sketching with a 2B pencil but a standard HB will do to start. A rubber is useful.
You can get full packs of 2B pencils here but if you’re tempted to dabble more creatively then you could go for a sketching set like this or this one that contains a range of pencils including 2B.
Extras
- Jars for water – we use jam jars. We use two. One as our ‘dirty’ pot and one as our ‘clean’ pot. This way you wash your brushes in one but if you need to dilute your paint you dip in your clean pot. Something to wipe your brushes on is helpful also.
- Old plate/ cardboard/ Tupperware – as your palette. My Mom had lots of decorate plates that she no longer wanted. We’ve saved a few that we use as our palettes.
- Old clothes/ apron – acrylic stain!
- Something to cover your working surface with.
Acrylic Painting Tutorials
The Vibrant Dragon picture above was following an ArtBase tutorial. We have a monthly subscription we pay for with them. You can give their tutorials a trial using some of their free ones on YouTube.
If you’re new to acrylic painting like me, I’d recommend finding someone to help you. There’s so much available on places like YouTube.
Carving Time to be Creative
My daughter Floss is six and we often do creative projects such as painting at the same time. We use the same resources and sit side by side.
Therefore, if you’ve got children and struggling to carve in creative time then don’t forget it’s something you can do together. Being prepared is my big tip for being creative with children. That way you can relax knowing the surfaces are covered and old clothes are on!
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