Painting Acrylic Pictures: Beautiful ideas (not only) for Beginners
You want to paint with acrylics, but you lack the idea for a motif? We give you tips on how to keep finding inspiration for your paintings and present five ideas for abstract painting techniques and simple motifs.
Interesting facts about painting with Acrylic
Acrylic paints are ideal for painting beginners in particular – they are easy to use, versatile and inexpensive to boot. Mistakes can be easily touched up – quite different from oil paints.
This is what you need for your Acrylic Painting:
- Acrylic Paints (e.g. primary color set of white, black, magenta/red, cyan/blue and yellow)
- Brush in different thicknesses
- Painting background (cardboard, canvas…)
- old shirt/painting smock
Optional:
- more Painting tools like spatula, painter’s knife or sponge
- a Painting Plate, to mix the colors (alternatively e.g. also an old plate or a wooden plate)
- a Primer for the canvas (e.g. artist’s primer or acrylic binder)
- Old Newspapers or foil, to protect your table from paint stains
Once the basic equipment is in place, you can get started. You do not need an easel for acrylic painting – put your Canvas simply on the floor or a table. To protect the surrounding area from paint splatters, it is best to lay out foil or newspaper!
But which motifs are suitable for beginners? And how do you even find ideas for acrylic painting? In the following, we will give you suggestions on how to find special ideas and motifs for your acrylic paintings.
Paint Representationally or Abstractly with Acrylic Paints?
When you start painting, the question arises whether you prefer representational or abstract paintings. Maybe you even try both?
Abstract Painting with Acrylic
For beginners abstract painting is very suitable. So you get a feel for the material and techniques. In addition, you can simply try out and live out their creativity freely. For more info and tips read our Beginner’s Guide: Painting Abstract Images.
Figurative Motifs with Acrylic Paints
Your pet, a bouquet of flowers, landscapes or portraits – if you want to paint representationally, you have a wide range of possible motifs. For starters, simple motifs such as a sunset are well suited – so you can calmly familiarize yourself with the colors and techniques of acrylic painting.
Whether representational motifs such as forest and trees and Animals or abstract paintings –at KunstLoft you will find many inspiring examples of acrylic painting and real eye-catchers for your walls:
How to Find a Good Subject for Acrylic Painting?
You can find good motifs for your images, for example, by
- Collect photo templates (Photos from magazines, from architectural picture books, your own vacation photos, illustrations from science textbooks…).
- from Motives from your surroundings (garden pond, sunset, street with houses…).
- in Museums and Galleries seeking inspiration.
- the Change perspective: Choose an unusual image section from a template or turn an image upside down.
- Watch YouTube tutorials: These offer numerous ideas for creative and easy to paint motifs.
- browse on KunstLoft.de and be impressed by the diversity of the Acrylic paintings of our artists.
5 Creative Acrylic Painting Ideas for Beginners
Whether representational or abstract: acrylic paints are infinitely versatile. It is worth experimenting with different techniques little by little. Discover here some concrete and simple motifs and ideas for your acrylic paintings.
Acrylic Painting Idea #1: Sunset
From orange to pink to fiery red: sunsets conjure up very unique colors in the evening sky. No wonder they are popular motifs for painters. To paint a sunset, you can use a photo template. On the painting background, first mark the horizon line with pencil – it will serve as your point of reference. Then choose your colors, for example red, orange and yellow, and think about which color you want to apply in which section of the picture.
The following video shows you how to paint a sunset relatively easily:
Acrylic Painting Idea #2: Impasto Technique
The so-called impasto technique is particularly popular in acrylic painting: Here you apply the paint in thick layers to the painting surface. This creates unique color gradients and a special, relief-like structure. Be sure to try this technique yourself! Let the following video inspire you:
Acrylic Painting Idea #3: Garden Pond
Do you have a pond in your garden? Then you have a wonderful motif for acrylic painting. But you can also work well with photo templates. In this tutorial Elena Baron shows you how to create a scene on a pond:
Advanced users can also take Claude Monet’s famous water lilies as a model – Mustafa Jannan explains and shows in his video how to implement your own version:
Acrylic Painting Idea #4: Sgraffito technique
Another exciting technique of acrylic painting is the sgraffito technique. The name comes from the Italian verb sgraffiare, meaning to scratch. So with the sgraffito technique you scratch motifs into the colors.
First, apply a first layer of paint and let it dry well. For the second layer of paint, it is important that you apply the paint very thickly – then it will not dry as quickly. You can now use a painting knife to scratch motifs into the wet paint so that the background peeks out. For more variety, you can also use different tools for scratching – such as the handle end of a brush or a comb. This creates great effects and patterns!
Instructions for sgraffito painting can be found in this video:
Acrylic Painting Idea #5: Wet on wet technique
With the wet-on-wet technique, you apply a first layer of paint and immediately afterwards, while the paint is still wet, start on the next layer of paint. Because acrylic paints dry quickly, it’s best to use a drying retarder, which is a liquid or gel that allows the paint to stay wet longer (available in artist supply stores). When painting wet-on-wet, you create great color gradients, for example, by applying different shades of the same color wet-on-wet.
Short & Concise: Beginner Tips for Painting with Acrylic Paints
Typical questions and answers about acrylic painting we summarize here briefly and concisely.
What can you paint with acrylic paint as a beginner?
As a beginner, you ideally start with simple motifs, such as a sunset or flowers, or abstract painting. In this way, you can gradually familiarize yourself with the acrylic paints and various painting techniques.
How to start Acrylic Painting?
As a beginner to acrylic painting, it is best to first learn how to use the material and try different techniques, such as wet-on-wet painting or the impasto technique. When painting a picture with acrylic, start with the background and then work your way forward. This way you can easily fix mistakes – you simply paint over them.
What do I need to consider when painting with Acrylic Paints?
Painting with acrylic paints is simple and straightforward. Note that acrylic paints (unlike oil paints) dry quickly. If you want to paint using the wet-on-wet technique, for example, drying retarder is a practical aid. Be sure to wear old clothes or a painting smock when painting with acrylics, as paint stains are very difficult to wash out. It is also important to wash out your brushes and palette thoroughly immediately after painting.
Paint Acrylic pictures yourself: Get creative!
Whether you have been painting for a long time or are just starting out: The most important thing is to have fun and enjoy trying things out. You can find new and creative ideas and motifs for your acrylic painting in many different ways. Let yourself be inspired by your surroundings, music, photo templates or the works of other artists, such as famous abstract painters.
By the way: Also the Acrylic Paintings in the KunstLoft store are truly unique and hand painted by artists with great attention to detail. Learn, how these paintings are made, and get inspired for your own art.
We hope you enjoy painting!
Photo credit: Image : © KunstLoft