Acrylic painting for beginners
Acrylics are the friendliest paint to learn on: they dry fast, they cover mistakes, and they clean up with water. The trap beginners fall into is buying twenty tubes and mixing everything into grey-brown. Work from a small palette and paint in the right order and acrylics become very forgiving.
Prompts to try
Tap one to open it in the design generator — you get the image plus 10 simple painting steps.
Who this is for
Anyone opening their first set of acrylics who wants a method rather than a shopping list.
The palette we teach with
Every step-by-step guide is written against these eight acrylics. Anything else gets mixed from them, so there is nothing extra to buy.
- White
- Black
- Red
- Dark blue
- Light blue
- Pink
- Yellow
- Brown
How to approach it
1Eight colours are enough
White, black, red, dark blue, light blue, pink, yellow and brown will mix almost any shade you need. Every design we generate is written against exactly that palette.
2Work light to dark, background first
Acrylics are opaque, so darks cover lights easily but not the other way around. Sky first, subject last.
3Keep a damp brush, not a wet one
Too much water breaks the binder and leaves streaks. A quick wipe on a cloth between colours is usually all you need.
4Let each layer dry before detailing
Five minutes of patience prevents the muddy blend that ruins most first paintings.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to prime a canvas for acrylics?
Shop-bought canvases come pre-primed. A thin coat of white or a background colour first just makes blending easier.
How do I stop acrylics drying too fast?
Spritz the palette with water, work in smaller sections, and blend while the paint is still shiny rather than matte.