Acrylics are easy to use and the famous muralist Diego Rivera is no exception. Diego used acrylic paints on a large scale because of its durability. Since the 1950s many artists have drawn inspiration from the old guards. The acrylics have become commercially available and increased in popularity. Suzi Nassif is a Lebanese born artist whose primary medium for her artwork is based on acrylics and oil. Suzi successfully uses layers of glazes in her paintings. The polymer-based paint dries faster than oil paint on canvas so most artist prefers to use it. Want to know more about acrylic painting techniques? Here are various ways and styles artists can work with acrylic paints.

Underpainting

The underpainting is a technique used to unite color values in the overall painting.  Though simple it has a key influence on your overall painting. Before you start painting, thin the paint with a solvent to lift a bit. The artist needs to take precautions to avoid the risk of outer layers cracking or peeling as time moves.

Impasto

Impasto painting technique has been in existence for many years. This technique tries to hide the fact that an artwork is painted. Impasto creates the impression of 3-dimensionality eliminating the evidence of an artist’s hand or brushstroke. An artist applies undiluted opaque paint like acrylic directly from the tube similar toothpaste onto a panel or canvas. You can as well use a brush or painting knife. Artists use impasto acrylic painting techniques to convey messages feelings and emotions. Jackson Pollock is an abstract expressionist who used the impasto technique.

Glazing

What is the secret to a successful glaze? Plan the composition and you can the colors before you begin painting, at the gesso stage. Use a smooth surface when painting to avoid a blotchy look. A liquid glazing medium is preferable not water when diluting the paint to help disperse the pigment evenly. In your mixture make the paint 10% and the glazing liquid at 90%. Even so, the amount of glaze you add to the paint depends on the color’s transparency. If you want to build transparent layers let each of the glaze layers be thin and leave to dry completely before applying the next layer.

Scumbling

How can an artist liven up the color blocks? In scumbling acrylic painting technique layers of broken colors are placed on top so that parts of the lower layer of the other color shows through the scumbling. The painter has to wait for the first color to dry up so the colors can’t mix.

Suzi Nassif is an award-winning acrylic artist who mirrors her views in her paintings. Besides she has drawn her experiences and journeys around the globe to produce phenomenal artwork. The contemporary artist has taken a range of abstraction to create her finished masterpieces. Her work reflects an excitement of discovery.  As a result, her acrylic on canvas painting is high energy.