Follow Sharon Tiernan’s top tips for creating vibrant acrylic paintings then pick up your brushes and paint along with her
If you want to expand your repertoire or explore from the perspective of a beginner, knowing more about acrylics can help you decide if this inclusive paint is for you. I started painting with oils but became frustrated with their properties, leading me to look further afield for a medium that suited my style more, and eradicating lengthy drying time, the need for flammable solvents and general messiness. Acrylics proved to be a fantastic middle ground between more traditional media, such as oils and watercolour.
There are so many more pros than cons associated with acrylics and, depending on the outlook of the artist, disadvantages can also be seen as advantages. First, you don’t have to follow the traditional fat-over-lean rule that applies to oil painting. Tear up the rule book! Acrylics provide you with the freedom and flexibility to develop your own method of working. They can be incorporated successfully into collage, watercolour, printing, stencilling, pen and ink, inks and Biro, and you can even overlay oils over acrylics (but never do this the other way round as the acrylic will flake off the oil).
Acrylics have excellent permanency and are more fade resistant than watercolour. They can be manipulated like oil paint or like watercolour, providing you with the best of both worlds. You can use them neat for a thicker application (smooth buttery texture that can achieve slight impasto) or dilute them like watercolour for washes or working wet in wet.
The major attraction for many artists is their fast-drying time. Impatient artists can speed up drying time with the careful application of a hairdryer, or significantly slow down their drying time with the addition of a retarder. Acrylics seal the surface so that you can overwork areas quickly with layered paint or a glaze medium. They become water resistant when dry, meaning that if you are not a careful painter, removal from clothes and carpets can be difficult. Once dry they can’t be reactivated so aim to conserve paint resources by not squeezing out too much to avoid wastage. I would recommend preserving the life of the paint by using a Stay-Wet palette or a tear-off palette, misting this regularly with water (through an atomiser spray) to keep the paint workable.
Your acrylic choices
There are different rang
