Q&A for How to Acrylic Paint

You can add a water-based glaze to your acrylic paint. That will keep it "open," or wet, for longer while you work with it.

Make sure you wipe all of the color away. You can do this by rinsing it with cold water, and then drying it with a cloth.

Use light green or dark green to paint dots on a tree, then add details.

A paint thinner is a solvent used to thin oil-based paints or clean up after their use. Usually they are used in oil-based acrylic.

An easel may make painting more comfortable, but it's not mandatory, and they are expensive. You can just lay the canvas flat to paint, and consider getting an easel if you'll be painting with regularity.

Yes, but you run the risk of the paper puckering. Consider using a thicker paper, such as bristol board, cardstock, or watercolor. If you are going to paint on regular printer paper, keep the layers thin and let them dry before adding more; this will prevent the paper from ripping or tearing.

No, it shouldn't. Wet paper will cause the paint colors to mix and the paper will crumble and become wavy because of the excess of water.

No, it's not necessary. But you can use water to thin your acrylic paint since it is water-soluble.

Acrylics will dry very fast but it's a good idea to not touch them for at least 10-15 minutes.

It can be.

It will turn out just as if it were on a canvas; however, if the wall is textured, make sure to cover the surface evenly.

Many canvases come pre-prepped with white gesso, so you don't need to prep your canvas. If you buy a plain cotton one, you may prep it with gesso.

You can use a canvas board if you want to, but watercolor paper would be just as easy to use. You can even paint on wood!

It is a thinning of the acrylic paint. You can use glazing medium for thinning the paint, or just add water. A wash softens the color, leaving a watercolor effect, transparency where you may prefer to have color beneath peek through.

Yes, unlike oil paint, acrylic dries very quickly so painting on notebooks and journals is fine.

Start with watercolor washes and follow with acrylic. Acrylic is generally applied less diluted than watercolor so it would be harder to layer the other way around. Tape shouldn't be necessary unless you want to use it around the border.

Yes, you can.

You can, however, a fabric paint would be better suited to that. Fabric paints are acrylic paints that have a flexible additive that allows them to bend, move, and stretch with the fabric. Just regular acrylic paint won't flex as well.

I recommend using watercolors if you want to keep the outlines. Watercolors tend to be more transparent than acrylic paint.

Acrylic is not a great idea, as it will not look good. Use primer first, to make the color paint look neat. Maybe you could use a paint thinner, undercoat, topcoat acrylic or enamel paint for painting on a vehicle instead of acrylic.

Yes, it works best if you do. It will also make the paint less likely to crack.

No, it really depends on what type of consistency you want.

Add a small bit of water and mix well.

No. With acrylics, it will make the paint less opaque and very hard to paint with.

Yes, you can use acrylic paint on glass.

Yes, you can, as long as the first layer of paint is dry. Paints of the same type can be layered without fear of chipping or peeling.

No, it is not.

No. Acrylic paint is water based. Linseed oil is only used with oil paint. There's no such thing as oil paper. Canvas paper is used for both oil and acrylic.

You can use a gloss or varnish to keep it in good shape over a long period. While this is not required, it is recommended for ensuring longevity of colors and as protection from dust, etc.

A heavy body acrylic paint is thicker and generally leaves decent texture marks, and a soft body acrylic paint is more flowing and spreads a bit easier. Beware the soft body acrylic paint is not like a fluid paint which doesn't even hold its shape, while soft body does hold its shape quite well.