What are the Best Acrylic Painting Techniques for Beginners?

Acrylic painting is one of the most beginner-friendly ways to start making art. The paints dry quickly, keep their vibrant colors for years, and work on almost any surface — canvas, wood, paper, even fabric.

Because they dry fast, you can layer colors, fix mistakes quickly, and finish projects without waiting days for the paint to set. Plus, acrylics are durable, versatile, and easy to use, which makes them perfect for learning and experimenting.

Let's go through simple acrylic painting techniques that are great for beginners. You’ll find easy methods like dry brushing, dabbing, blending, and even fun tricks like splattering paint or creating gradients. All explained step-by-step so you can try them right away.

1. Increase the Amount of Water

A little extra water can make your acrylic paint glide more easily and create soft, see-through layers. This works well for backgrounds, skies, or smooth gradients. Add the water slowly so you can control the consistency. Too much water can make the paint lose its color strength or struggle to stick to the surface.

2. Use the Stiff-Bristled Brush or Paper Towel to Dab

Dabbing with a stiff-bristled brush adds texture and makes your painting feel more dynamic. For a softer, more solid look, try a soft-bristled brush instead.

You can also press a crumpled paper towel into wet paint to create interesting patterns and depth. This works especially well for adding foliage, clouds, or rough textures.

3. Experiment with Stippling or Repetitive Dabbing Technique

Stippling is all about building an image with small, repeated dots of color. You can use different shades to create patterns, shading, or texture. Try changing brush sizes and adjusting pressure to control how bold or subtle the effect is.

This technique is common in abstract acrylic painting, but it also works for adding depth to landscapes, portraits, or decorative details.

4. Try Dripping and Acrylic Pouring

Dripping lets wet paint run down the canvas to create abstract, melting-style effects. Acrylic pouring is similar but involves pouring paint directly onto the surface and letting it flow into organic shapes and patterns.

Tilt the canvas on a stand to guide the paint’s movement and control where it settles. Both techniques work well for bold, abstract pieces and can create unique results every time.

5. Lift Portions of Paint

Lifting means removing some of the paint from your canvas while it’s still wet. This creates soft, subtle effects that work well for clouds, reflections in water, or gentle highlights. Use a sponge or a damp paper towel to blot the paint, and experiment with pressure to see how much color you want to remove.

6. Use Painter's Tape for Precise Lines and Shapes

You can use painter’s tape to mask off some areas. This technique will help keep the paint away from desired areas and achieve sharp edges and defined shapes, like geometric patterns, buildings, and more.

7. Scatter Your Acrylic Paints

You can dip your flat brush in some diluted paint and flick it onto the canvas with your finger to create a scattered effect on your painting. This technique creates splashes and miniature explosions on the canvas. You can use this method to show rain, explosions, or a starry night.

8. Dry Brushing

Dip a dry brush into paint and apply it to a dry canvas for a scratchy, textured effect. This is great for adding details that don’t need blending, like sand, tree bark, or rocky surfaces. Dry brushing works especially well in landscape paintings to create depth and texture without overworking the paint.

9. Use Palette Knives

Palette knives are small chisels used to apply thicker layers of paint on the surface of the canvas. You can also use them to neatly scrape paint from the canvas. Palette knives are typically used in paintings to create ocean waves, ridges, and even fish scales.

10. Detail With A Wet Brush

A thin, round-tip brush is often used to outline paintings, but they can be outlined more easily and neatly by using fine brushes that are wet. Getting brushes wet makes them more firm and helps the paint to flow more easily on the canvas. The tip also has to be thin to have it outlined more perfectly. This is a good technique for painted portraits.

11. Apply Lighter Layers Of Paint To Accentuate Darker Colors

You can highlight areas with darker tones to make your paintings more detailed and realistic. In this technique, you can use a lighter shade of the colors of dark parts of the painting to make them more appealing. For example, to paint shine on a painting of a wooden table, apply small dabs of off-white paint around the table.

12. Build Up Layers

Since acrylic paint dries quickly, you can add thin layers on top of dried paint to build depth and detail. This is perfect for refining shapes, adding highlights or shadows, and experimenting with different shades. If you’re confident with color theory, try layering subtle color variations for a richer result.

13. Blend Colors and Create a Color Mixing Chart to Recall Your Combinations

Using primary colors, (Red, Yellow, Blue) to create various other colors for your painting is very easy. However, it can get confusing when the mixture is finished and you are required to make that combination again. You can make a color mixing chart to make the process more convenient and remember the exact shades and amount of colors. 

14. Use Various Shades of the Same Color

You can use different shades of the same color in your acrylic paintings to make them look more attractive instead of using several different colors. The same shades blend more easily and neatly, and they also go well with each other. For example, if you are painting a sunset, you can use a darker orange on the top, and make your way down with a lighter orange on each layer.

15. Gradient Effect

The gradient effect technique involves using various shades of the same color to create an ombre effect in your paintings. This technique makes the painting’s tone look more attractive and gives it more proportion. Overlapping the darker shade with the lighter shade makes it easier to blend with a fine brush if you want to have a smooth alteration between them.

16. Spatters from a Toothbrush

You can dip a toothbrush in water-diluted paint, and flick it with your thumb on the canvas to create little freckles or specks. You can use this technique in Abstract art or a starry night-themed painting. The size of the specks can be controlled by the distance of the splattering brush from the canvas and the amount of paint that is on the brush.

17. Blend Colors Smoothly

Use a soft-bristled brush with light pressure to create smooth color transitions. Slightly wet the brush if the paint is drying too quickly. Apply gentle strokes in a circular or stippling motion until the colors merge seamlessly.

18. Combine on Canvas

Combining colors on canvas involves mixing colors straight on the canvas to come up with new and unique shades of colors. To combine the colors, start with a base color like yellow, and then top it with blue to create a subtle shade of green. Lightness or darkness of the color can be adjusted by adding white or a little bit of black.

What are Acrylic Painting Techniques with a Paintbrush?

Various acrylic painting techniques can be achieved using different types of paintbrushes. Some common types of brushes suitable for acrylic painting are the following:

• Flat Brushes

  These brushes have a little rounded tips to achieve broad strokes, washes, and filling in large areas. 

• Round Brushes

  These brushes have round yet pointed tips to achieve both detailed work and broad strokes. You can create thin lines and fine details using round brushes.

• Fan Brushes

  Fan brushes have bristles in the shape of a fan. These brushes are perfect for blending and creating soft edges. 

• Detail Brushes

  These brushes have fine and pointed tips and are perfect for complex details and fine work.

• Filbert Brushes

  Filbert brushes have flat and oval-shaped tips. They are a mixture of flat and round brushes. You can use these brushes for blending and creating soft edges and curved strokes. 

The most common acrylic painting techniques you can perform with a paintbrush are dry brushing, wet brush on dry canvas, wet on wet, and stippling. 

Here’s how to paint acrylic painting using the best paintbrush techniques:

Dry Brushing

The dry brushing technique involves applying a small amount of acrylic paint to a dry brush and then lightly dragging it on the surface of the canvas. This technique can create textured effects and is ideal for adding highlights to acrylic paintings. 

Wet Brush on Dry Canvas

In this technique, you can apply acrylic paint on a wet brush and then apply it on a dry canvas. The wet brush allows you to control the application of the paint and achieve precise detailing. You can also create crisp lines and fine details using the wet brush on dry canvas technique. 

Wet on Wet

Wet on wet, also known as the alla prima technique, involves applying wet acrylic paint on a wet surface. This technique allows a smooth blending of colors and creates soft transitions and atmospheric effects. You can also create a gradient using this technique. 

Stippling

Stippling is an acrylic painting technique where you repeatedly tap the brush on the canvas to create small dots or points of color. You can use this technique to build up texture and add detail to your artwork. 

How to do Acrylic Paint Color Mixing?

Color mixing in acrylic painting is a process of combining different colors to create new shades, tints, and tones. This technique can help you achieve a wide range of colors and effects. The most common steps for acrylic paint color mixing are using a color wheel as a color mixing guide, using pre-mixed colors from tubes or bottles, and Alla Prima.

The steps to perform acrylic paint color mixing are listed below:

Use a Color Wheel as a Color Mixing Guide

A color wheel is a tool that portrays the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. It helps you understand color theory and how different colors interact with each other. Identify the desired color you want to achieve and determine with the help of a color which primary colors you can use to create it. For example, mixing equal parts of red and blue can create purple. 

Use a Variety of Pre-Mixed Colors from Tubes or Bottles

You can find a wide range of pre-mixed acrylic paint colors in the form of tubes or bottles, readily available in the market. Using these pre-mixed colors can save time and effort, especially for beginners or artists looking for convenience. 

Alla Prima

Alla Prima, also known as wet-on-wet painting, is a technique that involves applying wet paint directly on previous layers of wet paint. This method allows spontaneous blending and mixing of colors directly on the canvas. You can practice alla prima painting using a variety of brushstrokes and blending techniques to achieve the desired color transitions and textures.

How to Seal an Acrylic Painting?

You can seal an acrylic painting by ensuring the painting is dry, applying a clear varnish, letting the varnish dry, applying additional varnish coats, and storing carefully. 

The steps to seal an acrylic painting are listed below:

• Ensure the painting is dry

  Make sure your acrylic painting is completely dry before sealing to prevent smudging or trapping moisture.

• Apply a clear varnish

  You can use a brush or spray to apply a clear acrylic varnish on the painting on the entire surface of the painting. Varnish will protect the painting from dust, dirt, and UV rays. 

• Let the varnish dry

  It’s important to let the varnish dry thoroughly for several hours or overnight.

• Apply additional varnish coats

  You can apply additional coats of varnish for added protection. However, make sure to let each coat dry between applications.

• Display or store carefully

  Once the varnish is fully dry, your acrylic painting is ready to store or display. It’s important to handle it with care to avoid scratches or damage. Frame it with a high-quality frame to preserve it well.