Acrylic paint usually dries up darker Especially when working with studio colors, the colors dry up darker. This is because they often contain a higher proportion of acrylic binders in relation to the pigment. If the result is too dark for you, try painting over the colors with layers of lighter mixtures until you get the result you want.

Acrylic paint is wonderful to work in layers (glazes)

As mentioned above, acrylics do not only dry very quickly, but also dry water-insoluble in a water-resistant flexible film. This means that you can put glazes over glazes without redissolving the lower layer of paint. This makes acrylic paint so perfect for variations of different painting techniques such as glazes, pasty painting or painting with the dry brush.

Acrylic paint can be used as both: watercolor and oil paint

Acrylics are very versatile. This versatility is even increased by the variety of media. For example, acrylic paint can be diluted with water and paint media. This allows you to use acrylic paint like watercolor paint. It can also be used in thick layers to obtain similar effects comparable to oil color.

Add white to translucent acrylic paint to increase the opacity

As you already know, some pigments are more transparent than others. For example, student inks tend to be transparent because they have high levels of binder. How to make this more opaque? Add a small amount of titanium white or gesso to the color. This brightens the color a bit, but it also increases the opacity. Another possibility would be to add proportions of colors that are similar, but on the same time more opaque.

Acrylic paint can be used with mixed media and for collages

Acrylics are ideal for mixed media works and collages. The paint interacts with different media nearly like glue. So they make up a nice surface for drawings like graphite and coal.

Despite our tips, you’ll never learn better than from your own experience, so: Just start experimenting! The possibilities are endless!