Dreamjaguar
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Line drawing acrylic painting ideas
I like to mix mediums alot. Acrylic is very versitile that way. I like to use oil pastels on top of acrylics, I just seal the layers up with an acrylic gloss in between layers. I am even able to blend the oil pastels with lighter fluid without damaging the acrylic underlayers.
January 9, 2008 at 2:12 pm #1096463
IF you’d like to try acrylics then try some fluid acrylics – they’re already fluid with full pigment load so you don’t have to water them down. I do draw on top sometimes with pencil. but not often. Tina
Abstract coast and geology art: www.tina-m.com | Art/Science gallery: www.grejczikgallery.com
January 9, 2008 at 2:24 pm #1096471
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Hi Brusher
I.ve been painting with Acylics for a few years and i’ve used waterproof and fadeproof fineline pens with some success. They have very fine tips so you can do tiny detail. I’m in the UK but if you go to any supplier for Graphic Artists you’ll find them in a huge range of colours. Once dry they are very durable but a coat of varnish would make them more so. Worth a try on a scrap of trial Acrylic. Kay:cat:
Dreamjaguar
Life is a Mystery, live it don’t just pass through.Smile at people even if they think you’re nuts.
Please visit: www.artfromthesoul.co.uk
January 9, 2008 at 6:18 pm #1096470
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I often put a drawing on top of an acrylic underpainting or a painting to which I am adding more detail. You can make the drawing on paper, and then put a piece of graphite paper like Sally’s between the drawing and the acrylic canvas or panel or whatever, and trace the drawing onto it. The graphite paper comes in light and dark, so use whichever, depending on the tone of the painting. Shirl
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January 9, 2008 at 7:42 pm #1096469
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I just draw right on top of the dry painting with graphite pencils. I did a painting of a bunch of bottles, and blocked in the labels with color and value. Then I drew the detail (lettering, designs, etc) right on top of the painting….then painted on top of that. Works fine for me.
January 9, 2008 at 9:00 pm #1096467
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THis question has come up a few times in the past, the best answers seems to be an acrylic marker, apparently (I havent seen them) there is an empty marker that you fill with liquid acryllics and use like a pen. You might also try using an old style dip pen with the liquid acrylics
C&C welcome and encouraged
it’s only paint. have fun with it
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January 9, 2008 at 9:17 pm #1096464
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Using acrylic ink in a refillable marker is a good option (available through Jerrys artorama), a soft graphite stick (not a pencil) 6B or softer. Caran d’ Arche water media crayons (solid stick pencils). Personally I would avoid permanant markers. Some use them but many complain of bleeding and spreading. Liquid acrylics with a ruling pen (available at many art supplies and office supply stores like Office Max, Staples or Office Depot) Waterproof India Ink may also work. There is an all surface pencil with a red painted body that is amazing in how it writes on almost any surface, can’t remember the brand name. I recently saw some pens that are supposed to have archival inks and available in a nice selection of colors.
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January 10, 2008 at 4:13 am #1096473
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I use FW Acrylic Inks with dip pens to add really fine details, as well as waterproof black India ink. I can get a much finer line than I can even with thinned Golden Fluid Acrylics and tiny WC brushes.
January 10, 2008 at 12:02 pm #1096465
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Wow, THANKS to everyone – you all have such diverse ideas, and they are all things that I woud have never thought of. I so much appreciate your experience and input. Debbie: I read your post on Sharpies and it’s an interesting idea. Sealing with gloss medium – sounds like a perfect solution to protect the delicate linework, whether it’s a sharpie or something else. LavenderFrost – Yes, I’m in the same boat, I was using China markers for awhile, but that didn’t work out too well. La Diabla – Oil pastels – That sounds DELICIOUS! And then sealing them with the gloss medium – I have some oil pastels that I haven’t used in years, and this sounds like the perfect way to use them. I try to make my acrylic paintings look as much like oil paintings as possible, and this sounds very encouraging. Tina – Your suggestion about fluid acrylics is very good. I’ve tried white, and probably will purchase a few more colors that I use for details and go with that. Kay – The fineline pens I think I know what you mean; there’s Pilot, and I have some sepia and burnt sienna sketching pens and will try them out. Shirl – Thanks for the suggestion about the graphite paper. I am familiar with this paper and might still have the old roll around (which I used in the “pre-computer” age for transfer of a line drawing.) 1100ww – Thanks for your suggestion, will try it. Dreams – Will look into the acrylic marker, and Wow! I have a drafting pen, again which I haven’t used in years & years – It’s good not to throw things out! Will try it for this. Howard: Thanks for your variety of suggestions. Many different ways to approach this, and I think the pencil you mean is the “All Stabilo” pencil. Many thanks. Julian: Thank you for your suggestions, I will definitely check out the acrylic inks. What a rich haul of suggestions and advice – Again, thank you all so much – you have been so generous!! Cathy
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How to paint clean, crisp lines with acrylics
Reader Question:
I would love to know how to paint clean, crisp lines in acrylic. I have practiced several different mediums with art for my whole life but am fairly new to acrylic. I love your style and am attempting to create my own version of your abstract designs (they are all beautiful!). I live in Tucson so the Dia de Los Muertos ones are particularly inspiring. Well, my question is how do you keep your lines so crisp and clean? Artists tape? That seems like too much work. I’m having a hard time accidentally painting over something I didn’t want to paint over and then having to totally recreate the shape which changes the balance of the overall piece. I’m sure you understand where I’m going with this, so I’d love some advice.
Great question! When I paint with acrylics, I keep my lines crisp and clean in a few different ways:
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- I use small brushes for detail (either round or pointed round), and (smallish) flat brushes for slightly larger areas of color. This is probably the most important factor. The small brushes allow more control over the acrylics. You can read more about the different types of paintbrushes for acrylics, and what they can do, on this page about artist paint brushes.
- When I am painting straight lines or need straight edges, I use artist’s tape. (Artist tape is preferable over “regular” tape because it is easily removable and won’t leave behind any visible residue.) I apply the tape gently but firmly where I want to paint a straight line, and then apply the paint right next to it, with part of the paintbrush (and the paint) going over the edge of the tape. That ensures that the line goes right up to the edge in a nice, even manner. I then wait for the paint to dry before removing the tape. It’s important not to load your paint brush too heavily with paint when you use this technique, because if you do, after it dries and you remove the tape, there might be a jagged ridge of paint all along your straight edge. In some cases, you may not mind that at all, but in other cases it may not be desirable – so it’s something to be aware of.
- I paint with high quality acrylics, which allow pretty good coverage. Sometimes I can get the color I want with one layer, and sometimes it takes two layers, but usually that will be enough to get the color I want. Artist-quality acrylics have more pigment than student-quality acrylics, so they give better coverage. Student-quality acrylics have more binder and filler, so it can take more layers to get the color or coverage that you want, which provides more opportunities for mistakes.
Hope that helps, and best of luck with painting crisp, clean lines!
Getting the Line Drawing Right for Acrylic Painting
Skye writes; Hi Lisa
I have worked in watercolours for a long time and I want to get started on acrylics but I do not know where to start I always have started with a super accurate sketch but as soon as I start painting I go back to my watercolour techniques but I feel that I ruin all my sketches by painting over them I watch a lot of your videos and try and follow your techniques but I feel that I have something lacking.
Acrylic painting is very different in how we approach the canvas. Acrylics dry very quickly. In order to achieve a seamless background without having a sort of glow/halo effect around the subject, you are better off painting the entire background, then drawing the subject out on top of that with a white charcoal pencil or tracing/transfer paper, THEN painting the subject.
The tracing and transfer paper is one of my favorite methods for painting in acrylics.
- You can still use this method even if you prefer freehanding. Just draw your subject on another piece of paper, then trace it onto the tracing paper and transfer it onto your canvas when ready. The reason for drawing it onto another piece of paper is so that you can do any erasing there without damaging the tracing paper.
- Your work stays cleaner. No drawing/erasing marks on your canvas.
- You can move the tracing paper drawing around over your painted background to get your subject positioned exactly in the right spot. When drawing onto the canvas first it’s so easy to end up too big/too small/too far to the left or right etc. The tracing/transfer paper method keeps you from messing up your canvas with these mistakes.
- This method allows you to pull your drawing back over your work as you paint to make sure you’ve not lost your shapes or general form. Is the eye starting to look too big? Check with your initial drawing, it may just be an illusion caused by how you’ve shaded around it, or you may need to change the shape. The tracing paper gives you much more control in keeping your drawing accurate.
In general, when I paint with acrylics I paint from whatever is farthest back and add layers as I move forward. Many of the acrylic paints are quite opaque so I can easily cover my backgrounds. Let’s say I’ve painted an underwater scene. I get my background painted dark blues but I want to add a red fish over that. The reds are going to be quite translucent and not show up well over the blue. In this case, I draw my fish out on my tracing paper, use the transfer paper to transfer just the outline of the fish. I fill the whole fish in with titanium white. I then can paint the base red layer of the fish over that. When that dries I can use my transfer paper again to transfer the details like fins/eyes/markings back onto the red of the fish, and then paint in my details and work on shading from there.
I do want to be clear that this is not the one “right” way to paint. I’ve seen amazing artists paint in all different orders. This is simply what has worked best for me.
