Painting a Landscape with Acrylics
This article is written with the assumption that you do have some artistic talent and understand some basic principles in composition. I am also assuming you have a prepared surface in which you will be painting on. All righty then, you got all you art supplies together and you just can't decide what you are going to paint. Well go ahead and search the Internet and get some ideas. One thing to remember is that if you are going to be painting a landscape with acrylics is that it is going to be original, even if you got the idea from a photograph or someone else's painting. Obviously, a painting can not be traced and getting your idea for the composition can be easy if you know what you are looking for. No matter how hard an artist tries, it is not possible for two paintings to be just alike. The colors are often difficult to re-produce as are placement of and dimensions. In other mediums such as photography , duplicating your work is a possibility, but this won't happen with a painting. Most artist start the painting from a simple sketch, determining the horizon. and some basic shapes of the main objects in the composition. Always avoid putting in the details until you get all of the big picture to start taking shape. Some major keys to remember are to paint things in the distance first, such as the sky. As objects get closer to to the horizon they will appear smaller. And colors hue that imply the distance are colors that tend to be gray or lighter in tone. Objects in the foreground tend to be larger and more near the bottom of the painting. The great thing about painting a landscape with acrylics is that when you make a mistake, it can be easily covered up and try again. The paint dries quickly depending on the amount of water used. Most of the time when I am painting a landscape with acrylics , I use a lot of white as a base to mix most of my colors. If you don't have an eye for color, you can buy a color wheel at your favorite art supplier. Another of my favorite tips is that when you start detailing the painting is to work down to smaller brushes. The smaller the brush, the higher the detail. Don't limit your self to just brushes, try a piece of sponge or an old rag. I recommend using cheap brushes with acrylics because the brushes tend to wear quickly as I often mix the colors directly on the canvas. Colors can be built up in layers and increase their intensity. This is something that you just have experiment with, and that's what makes painting a landscape with acrylics fun. Acrylics tend to dry quickly and you can clean up with just water. It is recommended that a spray a clear over coat for protection. These sprays can have either a gloss or a matte finish depending on the desired look.