Courtney Burden - Playing with Paints: Acrylics

Whether youre a novice painter or a seasoned pro, this chapter will encourage you to have fun playing with your paints, showing you ways to sharpen your skills but also how to loosen up and fall in love with the painting process. It introduces you to the supplies you will be using throughout this book, as well as fun and useful painting techniques to jumpstart your creativity.

Throughout this book, we use a variety of my favorite art supplies that go well with the acrylic medium. We will get creative with paints, oil pastels, and markers on a lot of different surfacesnot just canvas!

Acrylic paints are my favorite paints to use for a variety of reasons, many of which we explore in this book. We will be using fluid acrylics, soft and heavy body acrylics, and acrylic gouache paints. These are all acrylic paints that vary in their consistency or fluidity. A heavy body acrylic, for example, will have a thick consistency whereas a fluid acrylic will be more like liquid.

Paintbrushes come in three basic shapes: flat, round, and filbert. I suggest having a variety of all three. Each type makes a different stroke, and varying sizes will give you more options and control over your marks thickness.

Palette knives are great, both for mixing paint and as a tool to paint with. A variety of shapes and sizes will be useful, and both plastic or metal knives will work well with your paints.

Painting sponges or traditional house-cleaning sponges are fun and useful both to build texture and add dimension.

Acrylic mediums are additives you can use with your paints to manipulate the texture or appearance, or change how the paints move and/or cling to your surface. Mediums include:

• gesso: prepares raw canvas and covers up mistakes

• texture: changes the texture or body of the paint

• gloss: makes your paint thin and transparent without becoming runny

• decoupage: gives your artwork a glossy finish

• extender: extends the body and drying time of the paint

• pouring medium: helps paint pour smoothly without diluting the pigment or binding agent of the paint

• glazing medium: enhances the color of your painting

There are a variety of palette options for you to choose from. My favorite is a white butchers tray as it makes it easier to judge your mixes. You can always choose a traditional wooden palette and prime it with white paint. Some palettes come with lids that help prevent your paints from drying.