Things You'll Need:
- Stretched linen or cotton canvas
- Source of water
- Acrylic paint
- Acrylic paint brushes
- Palette knife
- Masking tape
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Step 1
Mix acrylic paint with water to work with transparent acrylic techniques. Acrylic paint may be watered down to a near-watercolor paint consistency and still retain brilliant hues. Transparent acrylics may be used to make a painting look like watercolor or to paint glass or water.
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Step 2
Layer more transparent acrylic paint over existing and dry layers to create a glazed effect. Glazing is suited to acrylics because the watery layers will not muddy up the underlying colors, unlike watercolors. The technique may be used to add depth to objects and backgrounds, or to blend colors on the canvas.
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Step 3
Work with the natural thick body of acrylic paint to create opaque acrylic techniques on canvas. The colors may be blended on a palette or directly on the support itself. Opaque layers may be painted over transparent layers or over textured backgrounds.
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Step 4
Stipple the paint to create optical blending of color. Close up the viewers will see dots of color, and when they step back the colors will appear to blend. Splattering with a brush is another technique for blending color.
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Step 5
Mask a portion of the canvas with masking tape or a paper stencil to create straight lines, geometric shapes or layered effects of solid color. Remove the masking tape or stencil when the paint is completely dry.
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Step 6
Squeeze paint directly onto the canvas to work with extruded paint techniques. The extruded paint may cover the canvas, or it can be used selectively for emphasis. Dried strands of extruded paint may be braided and added to a painting as well.
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Step 7
Spraying paint onto a canvas with an airbrush is another technique suited to acrylics. Airbrushing may be used on large canvases or to create masks and detail work.
