Help!

[Nehav]

Hi All,

I have been painting with water colors for the past couple of years and now I want to have fun with acrylics! I have never used acrylics before so want to know if acrylics can be used on paper? If yes then is there any special type of paper available for acrylic painting or can i use water color sheets for the same??

Happy painting!

Thanks,
Neha.

[ribeyedsmile]

Originally Posted by Nehav

Hi All,

I have been painting with water colors.........water color sheets for the same??

Happy painting!

Thanks,
Neha.

Start using it exactly as watercolor. Do washes and build transparent tones like a watercolor because it is a watercolor.

When ya see what is as watercolor....START to add body to paint. See what a few impasto strokes do for you.

Then leap into canvas and board and glazes and pastes and gels and pouring and collage and scraping and layers and blends and .................

[wineberry]

Paint on any brand of watercolour paper . I use stretched 140 lb Arches cold pressed , 300 lb. cold press without stretching . One can even use hot press paper.
Just remember that acrylic does dry faster that watercolour . Have fun.

[BeeCeeEss]

Yes, acrylics work great on watercolor paper. You can use them as transparent washes (like watercolors), or semi-transparent or all the way to fully opaque. Because they dry so quickly and cannot be rewetted or lifted as you can with watercolors, you might want to plan ahead a bit. One of my favorite techniques in using acrylics on watercolor paper is to prewet the paper and lay in a transparent wash of acrylics. If you want a soft blend or edge, have a just-damp clean brush handy to softly swab over the area you want to blend or soften. The great thing about acrylics is that, once they dry, they are permanent and you can go over them as many times as you wish with more layers of color without fear of the bottom layers being mixed in and becoming muddy.

I generally begin a painting on watercolor paper by laying in transparent washes of color. I gradually start adding a bit thicker paint, working in semi-transparent to opaque layers to finish the painting. It is a combination I love.

If you look at my gallery website, you will see that most of my acrylic paintings are done on watercolor paper.

You can work on many different kinds of surfaces. Two of my other favorites are illustration board and watercolor canvas. You can choose to apply some coats of acrylic gesso first or not. The gesso will help to seal the surface and make it less absorbant. The paint behaves differently on different surfaces. Explore and enjoy!

Beverly

[Nehav]

Thanks Michael Beri and Beverly for the suggestions.

Looking forward to painting with acrylics!

Thanks Neha.

[jonc50]

Neha,
You might like the clayboard for painting with acrylics; it is smooth and isn't affected by the application of water in the way that paper is. It is a sturdy, smooth board and thin washes will show the brilliance of the board through the glaze. Great for detail work.

Jon C.

[moepar]

There is also acrylic paper, but I have also tried the WC paper & prefer that to the paper made for acrylics. Especially since you've had experience with wc paper before, why change now??
Canvas panels are also great for working on, & can take a lot from whatever you do with acrylics.

[christiansaghbini]

it looks much nicer on canvas than on paper, although you can still use it on paper

[artistonthemesa]

Ampersand has several boards that work well with acrylics, also. I like the Aquabord, which is like a clayboard but with a little bit of texture.