Varnishing can feel intimidating, even if you’ve done it many times. In this video, I share my experience with varnishing acrylic paintings:

Varnishing can feel intimidating, even if you’ve done it many times. In this video, I share my experience with varnishing acrylic paintings: why I do it, how I do it, and what I’ve learned along the way.

In this video, I delve into the distinctions between student-grade and artist-grade acrylic paints. Through practical demonstrations, I showcase how pigment concentration affects color mixing and opacity. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned artist, understanding these differences can enhance your painting experience.

You'll need something to paint on! With acrylics it's relatively easy. You can paint on canvas, canvasboard, paper and panel.

Basic information on acrylics and materials that are useful or necessary.

Canvas is the fabric that you paint on. It’s stretched around a wooden (or aluminium) frame. The frame is made out of stretcher bars. Bigger canvases often have extra crossbars as well, to prevent the main bars from warping.

A grey glass palette is very practical. It’s easy to clean and it’s much easier to judge colors/values than on a white palette.

In this video, I show how the choice of a colored background affects your painting process. Using four different background colors—white, gray, burnt sienna, and cyan—I demonstrate how the same sketch turns out differently during the painting process.

First I'll show you some general fan brush techniques. After that I'll do a painting demo, I paint two different types of trees with acrylics and fan brushes. Colors used in video: sap green, cadmium yellow light, yellow ochre, magenta and titanium white.

First I'll share some practical tips to help you improve freehand sketching. After that I'll do a short sketching demo.

7 Tips to avoid brushmarks for people who don't like them. And of course -the other way round - 7 tips to create brushmarks for people who do like them!!!

With glazing you can alter dried colors. You can change the color temperature slightly or increase/decrease contrasts. You can also use glazing to give your painting a uniform look.

Stepping back while painting is like taking a step away to see the bigger picture. It gives a clearer view of how these things are working together. It's also a bit like giving your eyes a break and looking at your painting with fresh eyes. This way, you can catch any problems you might not have noticed before.

Here are a few ways to make your subject stand out more in your painting. You can make certain colors pop, you can play with focus, you can attract attention with light and dark, with composition, size and the play of lines.

Most of the times it's wise to paint the background first. It's easier to get a coherent background and you can put foreground objects in front of it. It also helps judging colors and tonal values.

There are many different types of brushes available. In this video I demonstrate the possibilities of the most common types of brushes (flat, round, filbert, angled and fan).

Here are some great ways to transfer an image to your canvas, paper or panel. In this video I'll show you the grid method, how to use a proportional divider and I have some tips for sketching in general.

Let's make a glass grey palette! I'll show you how to do this, it's very easy.

You can paint on paper with acrylics. In this video some tips and general information. Also I'll show you how to stretch paper and prime it with gesso.

The main cause for drying problems while painting with acrylics: most beginners don't use enough paint on their palette and don't load enough paint in the brush. Also, if you prime your painting surface with gesso, your painting experience will improve and you save a lot of the more expensive acrylic paint. When you use a little bit more paint, painting gets way easier and less frustrating, saving you paint in the end.

Why and how to use standard medium for acrylic paint. I'll cover effect mediums and gels another time. Standard medium can be used to improve the flow of the paint and to make the paint more transparant.

With a mist sprayer you can extend the drying time of your acrylics. This is handy when you want to paint wet in wet. Important: refresh your water every time (use cold water), to prevent legionella growing in your sprayer.

Layering with acrylics

Gradations. Blending with acrylics

Most of us are used to drawing and painting on white paper since our childhood. But that doesn’t mean white is a logical color to work on. I will discuss some great benefits of working on a colored or toned ground.

Preparing canvas and paper with gesso. Why and how.

Benefits of mixing paint with a palette knife.

Cleaning acrylic brushes

Using a limited palette has some great benefits: learning to mix colors is easier, it's easier to remember how you got to certain colors and it saves you some money. Here are the colors I used in this video. Please keep in mind: this is only a suggestion to help you get started. There are no rules and everyone has his own preferences. With color mixing there are many ways to get the same results. Always feel free to experiment.

Sketching with paint has a lot of benefits and it's fun!

Here are the colors I used in this video. Please keep in mind: this is only a suggestion to help you get started. There are no rules and everyone has his own preferences. With color mixing there are many ways to get the same results. Always feel free to experiment.