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Question:
How do you make beginning acrylic paintings look more like a professional?
My key techniques to help you create more professional-looking art.
Spotting a pro-creation vs. a newbie is usually fairly easy.
The differences are not rocket-science; just a few key tips that professionals know to do to their art that beginners are not aware of…yet.
These are simple tips to help turn your beginner art into something that looks next level:
- Work quickly. Acrylics dry fast! – Be sure you have everthing you need before you start. Laying down some paint and then realizing you don’t have the right colors/mediums, etc. to mix while it is wet is a small disaster. You can fix it, but once paint dries, it’s dried. You need to work over it or paint over it with Titanium White (a must-have for any acrylic artist) or Gesso and start again.
- Don’t put too much paint on your palette. Mix what you need. Again, acrylics dry fast. If you put down green and don’t need it until you’ve laid down other layers, it will be less easy to blend once it starts to dry. You could also use a slow drying medium added to your paint to help it stay wet longer.
- Be careful with blending; this is the one area that will separate a novice from a pro. Professionals blend, blend, blend! Always have some dry brushes, sponges (whatever tool of choice) to use to blend out edges and soften colors, if necessary. Dry mop brushes and utility flat brushes (for larger areas) are perfect for this.
- Acrylics require good mediums to really help manipulate them to do what you want them to do. Get comfortable with a few acrylic painting mediums and use them often. Yes, they can be pricey, but start with lower grade and play with them. They can make a dramatic difference in your finished artwork.
I use this one a LOT – Satin Glaze Medium. It’s excellent for helping to create tranparencies, layers, mix paint for a better flow and more. - Create various types of brushstrokes, layers, textures, etc. vs. a “one note” layer of paint. It’s fun to watch someone lay down multiple squiggles of paint on a canvas and then turn it into a ocean beach or county meadow within a few minutes.
However, one layer of paint looks like, well, one layer of paint. It can be thick, plastic-y and harsh. Working in layers in the key to a more professional result. - Know color theory and experiment off canvas to avoid making big mistakes you cannot erase. Have a couple of practice canvases or some sheets of a canvas pad to experiment mixing colors or a technique before you work on your larger canvas.
Trust me, you will be so happy you found out what works, and what doesn’t, before you apply it to your real artwork.
Learn how to paint full-scale abstract step-by-step – See my art tutorials you can take right now
