How to Use Any Type of Paint on Canvas

Painting can be a fun and relaxing pastime. Yet, for those just beginning their artistic endeavors, choosing the right painting medium can be something of a challenge. Learning how each medium behaves and how it is applied is essential for painting success.

• Acrylic: Acrylic can be used directly out of the tube for a thick impasto or it can be thinned all the way down to the consistency of watercolor for delicate washes that do not dissipate or lift when painted over. Mix with a gelling agent to work in mixed media and to float objects such as rocks, clay or metal in your paintings. 

• Oils: How you apply oil paint to the canvas will depend on the look you desire your artwork to have. Two primary ways to work in oils are alla prima, wherein you create the image all in one go working the paint "wet on wet" and glazing, where you build up thin layers of pigment over an under-painting, allowing the canvas to dry before continuing on to the next layer. 

• Watercolors: Watercolors come in tube or cake form and control of color value is achieved by regulating how much water is applied on the brush prior to picking up pigment. Opacity is achieved by using less water and more pigment. Typically, a watercolor painting is a blend of low opacity and high opacity pigment layers applied as a series of washes.

• Ink: To paint a Chinese or Japanese landscape, scene or calligraphy, you’ll want to use the traditional cake ink that is ground by hand then mixed with water and a proper Hsieh chao pi brush. To paint with ink in general, mix bottled ink with water or a glazing medium to thin it out. This will enable the creation of fine, translucent washes.