How To Blend Acrylic Paints On Canvas

Share this post! Read more: how to get more orbs in the fire hero icon Learn three basic techniques on how to blend acrylic paint on any surface! Read: how to mix acrylic paint on canvas Acrylic paint is the process of mixing two colors together to create a new color. This is a technique that produces stunning, vibrant results that can be used in the background, sky, and other areas of the painting. Essentially, that means you’ll be mixing colors together while they’re still wet. However, it requires you to work quickly.

What if my paint dries too quickly?

Contents

You may find that your paint dries too quickly while you are trying to blend. This is a VERY common frustration for beginners.

You can use a fine mist spray on your palette to make sure the paint on your palette doesn’t dry quickly.
You can use the “Stay Wet” palette which basically uses a wet sponge underneath to keep the paint moist.
You can mix “slow drying medium” into your paint and that will slow down the drying time so the paint is easier to blend.
You can use paint that already has a “slow drying” environment. They are a bit more expensive and are called “open acrylics”.

Materials for mixing technique:

Video:

How to mix acrylic paint

Technique 1: Wet-on-wet blend horizontally

This technique is often used for sky, sunset and full background fill. I did this technique with my Sunset Hot Air Balloon Tutorial. In this demonstration I used the colors: quinacridone magenta, medium magenta, lemon yellow and titanium white. I also used a 3/4 inch flat brush. Try to apply an even amount of paint to your surface (not too thick but not too thin).Then, without washing your brush, load it with a moderate bright red.Apply horizontal strokes below a darker magenta.Start under the color you’re mixing, then paint in your color, then paint over and gently blend the lighter pink with the darker pink. You will have to swipe over it several times until it blends together.Wet paint from light pink blends into wet paint from darker pink.To go from magenta to yellow, it’s best to mix pink and yellow on your palette to get orange first. I don’t wash my brush, I just take some yellow and mix it together.Mix pale pink with yellow on your palette to create orange.Read more: How to uninstall Apex Legends | Top Q&AT Then smear it underneath pink and blend with pink. Tip: you can pour some water on the brush to increase flow and if your paint seems to dry quickly.Then, wipe down your brush. Load it with yellow only and add yellow below your orange. Gently paint the picture yellow during the transition several times so it will blend in.Tip: have a rag ready to wipe your brush when it gets “overloaded.” If you want to go with white, rinse your brush then apply titanium white underneath the yellow. Gently blend it with the yellow and paint over the transition area several times until it blends in.Here’s a technique you can use to paint the entire sky for a picture with a sunset!

Technique 2: Round wet-on-wet blend

I use this technique a lot for the background of paintings! You are basically doing a blend but going in a circular motion so that the color is lightest at the circle and the blend is darker. Use your 3/4 inch scouring pad. Start by painting a medium-sized white circle anywhere on your surface.Paint a white circle Then, on your palette, mix a light blue color. Simply take a small amount of blue on your brush that already has white on it. Mix it together to create a light blue color.Apply light blue color in circular direction around white circle.Then take a little more white (not too much) on your brush and paint over the area with the light blue and white transition. Gently brush over the “transition” several times to blend it in.Then apply more primary blue color in the rounded strokes on the outer part of the light blue circle. Gently blend it into the light blue color.Work in a quick circular motion to blend the blue. Add more primary blues to your brush as you work your way up. Tip: If your brush seems to be overburdened, have a rag ready to wipe off the excess paint on your brush.If needed, you can add more light blue and blend it into the dark blue to light blue transition.I had white streaks appear in my dark blue area and that’s okay! In fact, your blend doesn’t have to be a perfect transition from one to the other. Sometimes it looks great when it’s “unblended”.Read more: Time for new nipple jewelry? | Top Q&AW Swipe your brush or rinse it off completely when working on darker areas. Continue doing only the main blue on the outer parts, you can even darken it and convert it to black and a really dark blue such as Prussian Blue. I did this technique in my painting “Penguin Mommy & Me”!

Technique 3: Double Load Wet-On-Wet

Dual payload is pretty much what it is named. You will load your brush with two colors and use those two colors to blend. You are not creating a gradient, rather you are creating an abstract two-tone area. I do this a lot to fill a picture with an abstract background or when I’m working on a wood grain background. This is such a SIMPLE technique but it creates beautiful backgrounds.Use the full width of the brush to draw strokes up and down. Mix white with magenta but don’t mix all the way.When you reload, essentially reload your brush twice with two colors again. You can also add a little water to the brush when painting to increase flow or thin the paint down a bit.It is very simple! I did this background in my Spring Bicycle Painting with “Payne Gray” and “White”. When you’re doing double load mixing, you don’t have to always paint up and down (or left and right for that matter). You can be creative and do a “slash” or “x stroke”. To do the “x stroke”, simply load your brush twice with two colors and paint in criss-cross directions.You can blend white and magenta by varying the amount of white and magenta you have on your brush.Another super simple and beautiful technique! I did this “cross stitch” blending technique on my “Love Birds Tutorial” background.

That’s it for these techniques!

Practice practice practice! It’s always a great idea if you have a mixed pad or a simple sketchbook on hand to practice techniques like blending. Share this post! Read more: how to get more orbs in fire icon heroes