6 BENEFITS OF USING ACRYLICS for BEGINNER ART:
- Cheap
- Easy to get
- You can manipulate them easily with water and mediums
- They dry fast
- Many color choices and mediums available
- Easy clean up
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Painting is one of the most beautiful ways to express yourself.
The best thing about creating any art form is that you don’t have to be a trained artist for it. Anyone can paint as it is a fine way to express your emotions and thoughts.
You can let your imagination run wild and pour your creativity onto your canvas! It’s great personal therapy and a way to connect with yourself and let your creative streak fun wild!
Since painting has no language and bounds, it makes for an excellent medium for everyone despite our differences. When creating art, you have multiple types of paints to choose from. However, many beginners prefer painting with acrylics over other types of paints. See why I feel acrylics are best for beginners.
Why Is Acrylic Paint Best for Beginners
When I started painting, I started with watercolors.
I liked the washy look, but found them very difficult to control. Even with expressive abstracts, watercolors can be a little too loose for my like. I now, after years of painting, know how to work with them, but they were not the best way for me to truly learn to paint.
For that, I chose acrylics. I’m so glad I did, as I feel that painting with acrylics is the best choice to start with.
Here are some reasons why you might find it easier to begin with acrylic paint:
It Is Affordable
Once you enter a stationary store to buy art supplies, there are lots of options to choose from, and you might get tempted. But certain art supplies can be expensive, especially if you are on a tight budget.
Generally, acrylics are cheaper as compared to other paint mediums and are a perfectly great option for beginners. I suggest choosing student-grade acrylics and basics, like Liquitex Basics (a great acrylic line for beginners) or Arteza, a newer paint line that I love working with! They are very buttery and offer beautiful colors.
Once you have mastered your skills with acrylics, you can try more paint mediums and upgrade to higher quality paints.
Acrylics are Versatile And Easy To Manipulate
The best thing about acrylic paints is their ease of use and versatility. They can be watered down (use water minimally; choose flow mediums to thin out acrylics for a better result) easily to create a different effect and used as thick paint for a different texture. Once you have become more comfortable handling acrylics, you can add more varieties of acrylic paints to add shine, consistency, and texture to add more character to your paintings.
Acrylic Paints Dry Faster
It is quick-drying, so you can easily see the results of your painting without having to wait too long for it to dry as you would have to with oil paints. Due to this reason, you can also paint layers over your painting without worrying about ruining it.
As a beginning artist I was impatient. I couldn’t wait for oils to dry, I needed the result now! I found acrylics, while still needing a good drying time, were a great fit for my impatient nature!
Acrylic Paints Are Water Soluble
The benefit of being water-soluble allows the paint to be watered down if you want to create that effect. While acrylics are water-soluble when wet, they become water-resistant when dry.
EASY CLEAN UP!
Acrylic paints can easily be cleaned up with water in case of a spill, and the brushes can easily be cleaned under running water or use mild soapy water and good, clean water rinse to remove paint from brushes, surfaces.
However, dried acrylics can be difficult to remove. You can try to remove dry acrylic paint with Isopropyl alcohol. Be careful as alcohol can remove other surfaces, too. Be very careful trying to remove paint on a canvas with alcohol; it will take off ALL the paint (even underlying paint layers).
Acrylic Paints Can Be Used on Many Surfaces
Painting with acrylics is typically done on stretched canvas, but these paints can easily be applied on other mediums as well, such as paper, wood, ceramics, walls, and fabric. It makes them extremely versatile, expanding your possibilities to be as creative as you would like.
My recommendation: Purchase a set of inexpensive canvas boards in various sizes and then paint on each. Find which size you like the best and then you can invest in more expensive stretched canvases to paint on in that/similar size.
The Finishing Touches for Acrylics
So, what are you waiting for?
Now that you know why beginners are painting with acrylics get yourself a set of acrylics and a canvas and get painting. This is my favorite starter set of paints – lots of good colors and a decent quality paint, Liquitex Basics Set.
You can create many, many paintings with this set and it will often be cheaper to invest in it vs. trying to piece together a kit of paints.
You can do this as a joint activity with your partner or a friend or enjoy it as a solitary activity. Acrylic paints are the best tools to help you tiptoe into the world of painting. Remember, painting is meant to be a fun activity so try not to complicate it!
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