Carla Co Chua - Creative Acrylics: A Step-by-Step Beginners Guide to Creating with Paint & Mediums

A STEP-BY-STEP BEGINNERS GUIDE TO CREATING WITH PAINT & MEDIUMS

Carla Co Chua

Painting is one of the most relaxing and fulfilling hobbies a person could ever enjoy. So many possibilities exist for what you can create, and I love how anyone can bring their imagination to life in a unique way. Painting, no matter how simple an activity it may seem, can leave a positive effect on a persons well-being. In my years of teaching, Ive always emphasized how painting is a skill that can be learned and improved on through constant practice. Nobody is born an artist.

When people ask me to name the easiest medium for beginning painters, my answer is always acrylics. Acrylics are so easy to work with and so versatile. The paint adheres to a variety of surfaces, and you can achieve different effects with various techniques. Frankly, theyre just a lot of fun to use!

Ill show you how to paint with acrylics using simple methods and demonstrations. My goal is to make it easy for anyone to follow along and get a feel for how they can use this fantastic medium. I chose subjects and exercises that are suitable for beginners and for those with some experience who just want to paint for the fun of it. Im a self-taught artist, and the exercises and lessons in this book show you my thought processes as I work my way through a painting, from start to finish. Because I mostly learn through practical application, the tips and instructions Ive chosen to include in the book are easy to understand, even if you dont have any formal art training.

Im also excited to share the special projects that reveal the seemingly limitless potential of acrylics. These projects are very close to my heart, as they led to the writing of this book! Working with acrylics has enabled me to put my paintings on different substrates, making the pieces practical and interesting. Im always taken by surprise when people ask me to paint on items I never would have dreamed of painting on.

As I tell students in my art workshops in the Philippines, try not to focus too much on the final painting, as we all interpret subjects in unique ways. Your orange painting might turn out different from mine, and thats perfectly okay!

I hope that the lessons in this book will inspire you to experiment further with acrylics. This is something youll cherish for the rest of your life. My wish is that this book will be a stepping-stone for you as you begin your creative journey.

Walking into an art store and seeing the rows of paints, brushes, mediums, and all the miscellaneous tools and equipment can be both exciting and overwhelming. I love visiting arts and crafts shops to find interesting materials that will inspire me to sit down and create. Although you dont need a lot of tools to paint, its best to learn which ones you need to get started and when and how to work with them. In this section, Ill give you an overview of the different kinds of materials used for acrylic painting.

Acrylics are fast-drying, water-soluble paints made with pigment and acrylic polymer emulsion. Like most paints, acrylics come in student-grade and artist-grade quality. Student-grade paints contain more fillers, making them more budget friendly. Artist-grade (also known as professional) quality paints are more vibrant, with a higher concentration of pigmentmeaning they also come with a steeper price tag. Here are the various types of acrylic paints and their properties.

Heavy-Body Acrylic Paint

As the name suggests, heavy-body acrylic paints are the thickest and heaviest of the lot. These paints are like butter when you spread them over your canvas. Heavy-body acrylics retain brush marks and textures well, and they can be thinned with water or a thinning medium. The versatility of heavy-body acrylics makes them popular among artists.

Soft-Body Acrylic Paint

Soft-body paints have the same creamy consistency and opacity as heavy-body acrylics but are smoother in application. These paints are more suited to fluid brushstrokes and can be used effectively to create even, watercolor-like layers. This type of paint wont retain brush marks as well as heavy-body acrylics, but you can create marks with a firmer brush if needed.

Fluid Acrylic Paint

If a project requires paint with more flow and evenness, fluid acrylics are your best option. Although they contain more water than thicker paints, fluid acrylics retain the opacity, vibrancy, and consistency of tube acrylic paint. They are often used for acrylic pour or drip paintings.

Acrylic Craft Paint

These paints have a lot of mediums and binders mixed in. Mediums may include fiber, sand, black lava paste, pastel ground, or molding pastes for texture. Craft paints usually come in a variety of colors and contain less pigment than more pricey acrylic paints. The paints are typically thinner and smoother than fluid, soft-body, and heavy-body paints.

Acrylic Ink

Acrylic inks are made from finer pigments suspended in an acrylic emulsion and are even more fluid than thinner paints. Theyre ideal for creating translucent watercolor wash effects and airbrushing. Acrylic inks can also be combined with the other acrylic paints listed here.

Acrylic Gouache

Acrylic gouache is a hybrid paint, meaning it has properties of both acrylic and gouache mediums. Although pure acrylic tends to dry a bit glossy, acrylic gouache is more matte because it contains gum arabic as a binder. When completely dry, these paints are water-resistant like regular acrylics.

Acrylic Markers

Acrylics can also come in pen or marker form and are applied with pen nibs that range from thin to thick. Markers are particularly handy for writing on surfaces such as wood, glass, and stone, as theyre permanent when dry.