How to Use Acrylic Artist Paint
If you have ever touched paintings where the texture felt rubbery or like plastic, you were no doubt touching acrylic artist paintings. Acrylic paint is water soluble but when it is thoroughly dried, it feels rubbery sort of like plastic, which is why it is vital to clean paint brushes as soon as you are finished painting.
- Make sure all tools that come in contact with acrylic paints are cleaned after each use. Acrylic paint will stick to your brushes and other tools much more than other types paints after it has dried, which makes it difficult to remove. Moreover, if acrylic paint comes in contact with any surfaces, clean it immediately, otherwise it could strip whatever is underneath the paint.
- Realize that acrylic paints dry much quicker than other types of paint. Oil paints take a long time to dry on a canvas, but acrylics dry faster, which means you may feel a bit rushed when painting. However, there are products that can be mixed with the acrylic paints to make them dry slower so that you have more time to paint. These are referred to as acrylic retarder.
- Use acrylic paints as the base coat or under oil paints. This is a great idea if you want to have a base that dries quickly and then switch over to oil colors to paint on top of the acrylics. No other paint but acrylic gives you this option to use under other paints. It makes for a spectacular mix of colors and blend of colors.