ARTiful: painting demos » acrylic

If you like to experiment and build a painting layer by layer, changing your mind, adjusting, looking for satisfying composition and colors, mixed media and collage is for you. You have limitless...

https://paintingdemos.com/mixed-media-and-collage-small-paintings-a-few-techniques-you-can-use

Designing postcards with small linoleum stamps made from scratch is easy and you don't need much supplies. I recently made this series of postcards, starting with stamping and then experimenting ...

https://paintingdemos.com/bauhaus-inspired-postcards

These days I am looking for simple and fun creative art activities that can be done without much supplies at home. I used to love playing with paper dolls that you can dress up when I was a kid a...

https://paintingdemos.com/dress-up-illustrations

I don’t know about you but these days I have only so much energy and feel like tackling simple projects that are still fun and creative but not overwhelming. Here is a monochrome painting, done...

https://paintingdemos.com/simple-and-fun-monochrome-painting

I don’t know about you but time seems to fly when I am in life drawing class and I have only so much time to draw contours and shade, it is difficult to also add paint. You might also like: ht...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-over-life-drawings-with-mixed-media

I am selling a few online classes on this blog and 2 of them (26 weeks of inspiration and training and 12 weeks of drawing explorations) are built around assignments and  feedback I give to arti...

https://paintingdemos.com/what-did-i-get-myself-into-pushing-your-limits

I am doing a lot of work on paper and like experimenting with techniques that are modifying a bit the texture and water resistance qualities of the paper. You might also like:A yupo paper alterna...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-varnished-paper

I have been writing posts since April 2010 on this blog, I was surprised as it did not seem that long ! Anyways this is the 8 years anniversary for paintingdemos.com !! Time flies… So I thought...

https://paintingdemos.com/the-8-most-popular-posts-of-all-time

I like to take my time when I draw but during the 20 minutes poses we do in class, I sometimes have enough time to work a bit on shading like in the following drawings So, I like to rework some o...

https://paintingdemos.com/order-chaos-reworking-life-drawings-mixed-media

In part 1 , we saw how you can paint over a drawing and how you could build an image with lines, loops, scribbles patterns or words. In part 2 we will talk more about using drawing medium on canv...

https://paintingdemos.com/between-drawing-and-painting-part-2

The definition of what constitute a drawing is not as simple as it looks. Sometimes a drawing is defined by the tools you use (pen, pencil, crayon versus paint), sometimes it is defined by the us...

https://paintingdemos.com/between-drawing-and-painting

Once in a while, I enjoy working in black and white. You might also enjoy the simplicity, contemporary look and heighten impact of paintings and drawings made in black and white I am working with...

https://paintingdemos.com/black-white-white-black

Painting with acrylic skins is a fun and versatile technique. I think about it as something between collage and painting as you prepare skins to be added to your painting. Once they had time to d...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-flowers-acrylic-skins

If like me you like drawing as well as painting, you might be interested in trying out the dry brush technique. Basically a way to draw with brushes. This technique works well in mixed media pain...

https://paintingdemos.com/dry-brushing-for-mixed-media-portraits

Painting flowers from imagination is very satisfying, you can get rid of reference picture and enjoy the freedom of making up flowers that are whimsical and funny looking 🙂 Every year, the Nor...

https://paintingdemos.com/3-paintings-for-the-north-vancouver-anonymous-art-show

Adding a bit of visual texture to your paintings will make them stand out.  You can also use visual texture as a starting point to layer more colors or to make an abstract background. You might ...

https://paintingdemos.com/how-to-add-visual-texture-to-watercolor-and-acrylic-washes

If you are going to a life drawing class, which I recommend you do 🙂 You will probably accumulate a lot of drawings over time. I am going to our weekly life drawing class in North Vancouver. ...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-over-life-drawings-with-acrylic-and-watercolor-pencils

It is a good idea to apply an isolation coat on your paintings before varnishing. Why? I like that some varnish are meant to be removable. It is a good thing because if you change your mind afte...

https://paintingdemos.com/how-to-apply-an-isolation-coat-on-your-paintings-before-varnishing

I like to try new painting surfaces, and wanted to experiment on Terraskin Stone Paper. You can buy that paper in sketchbooks or in individual sheets, at first view, it looks quite similar to y...

https://paintingdemos.com/how-to-paint-on-stone-paper-with-acrylics-and-alcohol-based-inks

Watercolor and acrylic paint are somewhat translucent by nature, so it makes sense to preserve some areas of your paper or canvas so they stay white or light. Masking fluid is the best way to ach...

https://paintingdemos.com/6-masking-fluid-tips

Ink resist is an exciting technique that you can use in your mixed media paintings. It can seem a bit tricky at first though, so here is a video that will show you all the steps in details. Ink ...

https://paintingdemos.com/ink-resist-technique-a-video-tutorial

I like to add patterns to most of my paintings: to my flower paintings, figures but also landscapes and forest paintings. Recently I did paint this forest scene with lots of added patterns. Here ...

https://paintingdemos.com/adding-patterns-to-an-acrylic-forest-painting-discovery-walk

Pastels come in 2 types: oil pastels and dry pastels. They are very different medium as dry pastels is more like chalk and oil pastels have a very creamy texture. You might also like: How to use...

https://paintingdemos.com/dry-pastels-alternative-ways-of-using-them-in-mixed-media

I love everything about oil pastels: The textures and colors are gorgeous, they are affordable, portable, not too messy … You might have noticed if you do a google search though that not many p...

https://paintingdemos.com/how-to-use-oil-pastels-what-you-can-do-with-this-under-estimated-medium

To participate in our North Vancouver Anonymous Art show this year, I decided on painting flowers from imagination in acrylic and mixed media. Appreciation of Art is subjective and for sure, know...

https://paintingdemos.com/three-paintings-for-the-anonymous-art-show

As adults, if we don’t have a job or an activity that requires us to draw often, we usually don’t spend that much time drawing. Over time it can even become very intimidating to draw. It is ...

https://paintingdemos.com/everyone-is-an-artist-a-collaborative-work-of-art-in-north-vancouver-becomes-a-world-wide-project

Intuitive painting: When painting, you need a bit of planning, but it is also nice to leave some space for surprises and use your intuition. The more I paint, the more I plan before painting but ...

https://paintingdemos.com/step-by-step-tutorial-intuitive-semi-abstract-landscape-with-acrylics-on-canvas

I started painting with watercolor,  I think the unpredictability of the medium and its refusal to do what I wanted it to do got me hooked right away. I still enjoy painting with watercolors but...

https://paintingdemos.com/watercolor-and-fluid-acrylic-similarities-and-differences

Color is fun and I love color but you can also give impact to your paintings by working in black and white. When working in black and white, I like to use India Ink as it has many advantages: It...

https://paintingdemos.com/give-impact-to-your-paintings-with-indian-ink

I like to think that everything we like to do in our everyday lives is going to influence more or less what we create and what we paint. Your day to day life and interests can be an interest...

https://paintingdemos.com/find-inspiration-for-your-art-in-your-everyday-life-and-experiences

Using a dipping pen and ink to add patterns to your artwork can seem a bit intimidating at first but it is very easy to draw with a pen and it has many advantages. You might also be interested in...

https://paintingdemos.com/drawing-patterns-with-a-dipping-pen-and-ink

Painting Acrylic flowers on board with mixed media is a bit different than painting on canvas, if you want to start on a white surface you will have to apply either gesso or acrylic on the board....

https://paintingdemos.com/how-to-paint-flowers-on-board-with-acrylic-and-pen-and-ink

I did paint a series of three watercolor and mixed media flowers on yupo paper for the anonymous Art show. They are painted on Yupo paper mounted on board. Here are some pictures of the steps I ...

https://paintingdemos.com/a-series-of-three-paintings-for-the-anonymous-art-show

I recently worked on a series of 8 12 x 12 inches flower paintings in mixed media, simultaneously, switching from one painting to the next until they were all done, that was the biggest series I ...

https://paintingdemos.com/what-are-the-advantages-of-working-in-series

Yupo paper is fun to try with watercolor and ink as the paint will make very interesting textures while drying on that type of paper, that makes it ideal to start a painting with an abstract back...

https://paintingdemos.com/mixed-media-flower-painting-on-yupo-paper-mounted-on-board

If you like doodling and patterns, you can try incorporating zentangle and designs into your paintings. See how you can do it on a mixed media painting. To paint a flower painting with zentangle...

https://paintingdemos.com/mixed-media-flower-painting-with-fluid-acrylics-watercolor-ink-and-oil-marker-in-kyoto

Mixing media is fun but it is sometimes difficult to know where to start, especially if you don’t have a reference picture. Here is a technique you can use to mix watercolors, ink, acrylic  in...

https://paintingdemos.com/mixed-media-flower-painting-with-fluid-acrylics-watercolor-ink-and-oil-marker-part-2-in-barcelona

Painting with watercolor on canvas is possible. The main challenge is that the paint can lift off very easily even when dried. One technique you can try is to paint an abstract background with wa...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-with-watercolor-and-mixed-media-on-canvas-part-2-ikebana

It is difficult to paint from imagination starting with a blank canvas, it will be way easier if you start with an abstract background. Learn how to make this abstract background with watercolor ...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-with-watercolor-and-mixed-media-on-canvas-part-1-poppies-and-roses

Free yourself from reference pictures by using this mixed media painting technique to paint a flowers from your imagination in a few easy steps. To paint flowers from your imagination with mixed ...

https://paintingdemos.com/painting-flowers-from-imagination-part-3-greenery