3 Acrylic Painting Techniques to Boost Your Confidence!

So many people want to paint, but they think that they can't because they weren't born with the artistic talent that other people have. If that describes you, we have good news!

Painting is a skill that can be learned, one simple technique at a time. Acrylic painting is not a skill that is only for those lucky enough to be born with talent. With the right tools and a few simple techniques, anyone can create something that makes them proud. Acrylic painting is perfect for beginners.

Let's cover three super simple techniques that'll take your paintings up a notch!

1. Blending
2. Stippling
3. Clouds​

---

BLENDING

When we help beginners with their acrylic paintings in our studio, the thought of having to blend colors causes so much immediate anxiety. The good news is that when they (very quickly) find that they can have success with blending, their confidence level goes through the roof!

It's very simple. For acrylic paint to blend, all of the colors that you are blending need to be wet, and you need to use plenty of paint.

For a sky, we recommend side-to-side strokes, switching from one color to another without rinsing your brush in between. If you notice a lot of canvas texture showing, put more paint on your brush. If your painting starts to look muddy, simply finish the section you are on, let it dry, and come back to it with another layer, where you can make any adjustments you like!

These three paintings will give you the perfect opportunity to practice this skill!

Sunrise Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Snowy Moon Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Easter Cross Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

If, instead of a sky, you're blending to simply create a more interesting background, the technique is a little bit different.

Start with two or more colors. For example, the light blue and medium blue you see to the left. Then you can start filling in your background with the first color by doing strokes in a variety of directions. When you run out of paint on your brush, pick up the other color, and continue filling in.

Here are three paintings that utilize this type of background!

Tea Cup Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Cardinal Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Alpha Queen Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

---

Want to see these blending techniques in action? Sign up to receive FREE access to our Acrylic Basics Video Library, where we demonstrate techniques and give painting tips!

---

STIPPLING

When painting foliage in landscape painting, stippling is the technique for you! Think of Bob Ross, tapping his brush on his canvas and creating dozens of trees in a matter of moments. That can be you!

To stipple trees and foliage, all you need to do is dab or tap your brush on your canvas.

Switch from one color to another to create the illusion of lighter and darker areas. In the example to the left, we switched between two shades of blue and a light purple to create leaves in a variety of colors.

If your colors overlap and blend as you go, you're doing it right! If you see a lot of the canvas showing through between your dabs of color, keep layering. You'll be amazed at how gorgeous your trees will be and how quickly they will come together!

Practice your stippling with these three paintings!

Snowy Path Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Autumn Bridge Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

Painting for Two - Couple's Cherry Blossom Canvas Painting Kit

Shop

---

---

CLOUDS

Clouds are one of those natural wonders that are so exciting to capture in paintings! They may seem advanced, but we promise that they are absolutely perfect for beginners learning to use acrylic paint!

​Let's break this down into three easy steps!

Step 1
Start by painting your entire sky either blue or sunset colors!

Step 2
Pick up white paint on your brush and use a twisting motion to get cloud texture.

Step 3
Keep layering your paint until your clouds are nice and full.

If some of your sky color mixes with your white for your clouds, let it! All this will do is add to the texture. Perfectly bright, white clouds with no color in them will look less realistic, so embrace the blending!

Want an even easier technique?

Use a paper towel! Simply ball up your paper towel, and blot it like a sponge on your canvas. You can get a beautiful cloud texture without even picking up a brush!

---

---