What is Acrylic Paint and How to Learn to Paint with Acrylics?

What is Acrylic Paint?

Have you just started drawing and painting classes or do you want to get started? Still not sure what type of paint to use and what techniques to learn? Painting lessons will help you practice different drawing and painting techniques (graphite pencil, Indian ink, dry pastels, gouache, watercolor, red chalk, charcoal, oil painting, etc.).

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But do you know what acrylic paint is and where does it come from?

According to Wikipedia's definition, “acrylic painting is a type of painting using pigments mixed with synthetic resins and the corresponding pictorial techniques.”

This type of painting has not always existed, as can be the case with watercolor. Oil painting also has a long history but acrylic paint is a little shorter. The first synthetic paints appeared in the 1930s in the United States. These paints are basically used to paint cars or buildings. But some painters then began to use them for artistic purposes.

A brand was created a few years later, in 1949, by American printers: Leonor Color and Sam Golden. The latter created the Magma brand in order to market the paint. Artists like Barnett Newman or Morris Louis then use this paint mixed with turpentine to color their works.

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But painting as we know it today was invented in 1963. It was the chemist Henry Levinson who invented this paint that can be diluted with water for a much more artistic rendering. The first brand of acrylic paint is called Liquitex. 

The acrylic painting did not arrive in Europe until the 1960s when Pierre Alechinsky discovered it during a stay in the United States. The painting as it is today is made from lightly ground natural or synthetic pigments. Added to this is a binder made of water and acrylic resin to give the final texture.

How to Learn To Paint With Acrylics?

Knowing the theory is good, but putting it into practice is better. So how do you learn to paint with acrylics in your spare time? Several options are available to you depending on your availability but also your character and your desires.

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Learn To Paint In Art School

If you are still looking for what to do with your life and you are in high school, you can try to enroll in a higher art school. The School of Fine Arts or other, great art schools teach their students all kinds of painting techniques (watercolor, acrylic, oil paint, gouache, Indian ink pastels, etc.) so that you can be easily specialized.

Integrate Art Workshops

In order to learn to draw or learn to paint without wanting to do your job, you can turn to art workshops. Held by painters, the latter often offer painting classes and workshops of all kinds to discover the basics or to deepen them.

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Intensive course, sketching, sketching, travel diary, painting on canvas, painting on fabric, painting with a knife, acrylic on canvas, painting on glass, painting on porcelain, painting on silk, anything is possible.

Contact Art Associations

Often more accessible than workshops, associations are present in some cities in order to share art with as many people as possible. Evening classes, weekly classes, it is possible to learn to paint in acrylic for all levels. It is also an opportunity to exchange with other student artists to share all the good advice.

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Find a Private Tutor / Art Teacher

When the schedule does not allow it, it is also possible to find a private art teacher. You can find your art teachers on the internet (Nearby You) by exploring various profiles that offer their services to support you in your artistic process, help you progress, and develop your creativity.

Where To Take Acrylic Painting Lessons?

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Learn to paint on your own

Some people don't need or want to take painting lessons. Others simply do not have the possibility because they are too far from the course centers or not the time.

They still manage to give themselves a few hours here and there to watch some tutorials on the internet and put into practice what they observe. It is also a great way to learn painting. Water-based painting, watercolor painting, abstract painting, colored pencils, calligraphy, pastel pencils, still life, many themes are available on the internet.

Do You Know About Acrylic Paint Pens?

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These water-based acrylic pens are easy to work with. These markers give you a reversible nib that allows you to press and use your desired amount of color. What's more, you don't have to worry about running out of Paint ink because these Fabric Pens can work for a long time. So you can create whatever you want without fear of running out of ink.