If you're a beginner,painting with acrylic may seem like a daunting task. After all, it has a reputation of being one of the most difficult to master. But in my experience,painting with acrylic is way easier than eitherwatercolor or oil .
1. Easy Things to Paint With Acrylic Paint - Flowers
[amazon box="B08YKHFWLQ"]Flowers are wonderful subjects for beginner acrylic painters, primarily because they'reextremely flexible and forgiving. With justa few strokes of the brush , you canpaint realistic-looking roses and abstract bouquets in mere minutes!
There's no "wrong" way topaint flowers . They're foolproof, no-fail subjects that anyone—especially beginners—can do.
To prove how easy it is, Angela Anderson made a step by steplavender field tutorial with the help of cotton swabs. In the video, she dotted the tip of a cotton swab around some stems to form the petals of the lavender flower. She then repeated this process until she formed a fullfield of lavender flowers .
Daisies are great subjects, too. Once you master daisies, you can alsopaint sunflowers , zinnias, black-eyed Susans, dahlias, and other perennial plants. This is because they all follow a similar pattern; that is, petals surrounding a circular body or center.
Roses aren’t as easy to master as the flowers above, but they’re beautiful subjects to challenge oneself with.
Other easy to paint flowers are as follows:
2. Still Life
[amazon box="B07R3TKDCF"]The idea of paintingstill life may not be the most exciting, but it's one of the most beneficial in terms of skill development. It's more than justpainting a boring bowl of apples and pears. Stilllife can depict a number of themes, whether cultural, personal, mythological, philosophical, or religious.
When you'repainting still life , you're teaching yourself shading, composition, reflections, and even how tostart a painting .
Still lifegives you the chance to paint beautiful non-moving objects, including household items with interesting colors and patterns, raw ingredients, steaming cups of coffee, unfinished books—the list is endless.
The absolute best thing aboutpainting still life is that it allows you to grip some of the most important foundations of a painting without overwhelming yourself with outside details.
There are a lot of easy still-life subjects that young beginners can perfect without much effort. This includes:
- Candles
- Stationery and art materials
- Shells
- Glass of water
- Shoes
- Fruits
3. Nature
[amazon box="B0838PM8WD"]FromVincent van Gogh toClaude Monet , nature has been the source of inspiration for some of the best-known artists out there—and for a good reason. Nature-inspiredpaintings help individuals master brush techniques that are vital for beginner artists.
If you've ever watched one ofBob Ross's painting tutorials, you'll find that most of his primary subjects are mountains, trees, lakes, landscapes, and a combination of other natural sceneries.
Nature is an extremely broad topic. You can eitherpaint an amazing summer landscape or a gorgeous mountain range in the middle of winter. It might seem a bit intimidating and “too much” topaint nature subjects as a beginner , but it's actually quite easy as long as you implement the right techniques!
As an artist, you have the freedom to depict your vision of earth in your own unique way. It doesn't have to bepainted realistically in an effort to replicate nature as closely as possible. It can be surreal, imaginative, or abstract.
Another great advantage of nature-inspiredpaintings is that you almost always have a live subject. You can paint the morning sky from your balcony and immerse yourself in the beauty of the scenery as you paint. You can also find millions of heart-stoppingly stunning nature photos that are accessible on the internet.
Some of the easiest nature subjects are as follows:
- Sunsets
- Beaches
- Forests
- Mountains
- Waterfalls
4. Galaxy
[amazon box="B08SC7QFQW"]Galaxies are easy subjects because there are so manyways to paint them. Some use the spongepainting technique to recreate gorgeous starbursts and clouds, while others use the splatter technique to recreate a vibrant star-filled sky.
You can also skip both tools and simplypaint with a regular brush!
The coolthing about painting galaxies is that there's no particular way to do it. The galaxy is vast and unknown, so you can do pretty much whatever you want, and it’ll almost always look good.
Plus, galaxies are extremely forgiving subjects. If you make any mistakes, it'll be easy to cover them up or fix them. Best of all, they’re beautiful!
To help youpaint the perfect galaxy, take some time to look at real galaxies on the internet. You can start by visiting the officialNASA website. This will give you a good idea of some of the colors you'll use.
Starburst galaxies are one of the easiest topaint because it's a mere explosion of color and constellations.
5. Road Scenery
[amazon box=B07BN94G3S""]Paintings with road sceneries symbolize new beginnings , journeys, and hope. Whether it's between a forest of trees or a desolate countryside,road paintings are as stunning as they are easy to paint.
Road sceneries teach you how to paint perspective. Moreover, you can learn how to paint buildings, towns, trees, vehicles, and more while painting roads.
Easy Things to Paint With Acrylic Paint - Factors to Consider
With so many known brands out there, buying the rightacrylic paint can be a bit overwhelming. After all, there are so many colors and variations within an arm’s reach! To help you with your choice, consider the following factors:Quality
Like otherpainting tools and materials, acrylics come in two grades: student quality and artist quality. For beginners, student-qualitypaints are the optimal choice . They're cheaper than artist-qualitypaints and come with a relatively wide color selection. If you're planning to practice a lot, it's best to go for student paints so you won't have to worry about "wasting" them.Artist quality paints , also known as professional paints, are made from highly concentrated pigments and therefore much more expensive. Beginnerartists should start with student-grade paint before moving on to artist-grade paint.
Permanence
Permanence, also known as lightfastness, tells you how long thecolor of your painting will last over the years without fading.Acrylic colors usually have higher permanence ratings than either watercolor or oil. If you're planning to hang your paintings on the wall, it's best to search for paints with high permanence ratings.
TheASTM permanence standard is as follows:
- ATSM I: Excellent lightfastness
- II: Good lightfastness
- III: Ok lightfastness
- AA: Extremely permanent colors
- A: Durable colors
- B: Moderately durable colors
- C: Fugitive colors
Container
Acrylics come in tubes or small jars.Tubes are usually cheaper than jars because they're smaller. You can find them sold in sets or individually.
Jars are usually favored by artists who work withlarge paintings as they're economical. In addition, they’re zero-waste, as you don't have to squeeze the paint into a separate container to use.
Easy Things to Paint With Acrylic Paint - Final Thoughts
[amazon box="B083G2DW9Y"]Acrylics are extremely fun to paint with. They're versatile and easy to use. If you're just starting out withacrylic paint, have a hand in any of the subjects above . Give yourself the chance to practice, and you'll be able to create masterpieces in no time!
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