Acrylic Painting Step by Step

Glazing to Build Warmth and Texture

One of the most exciting features of acrylic paint is that you can apply it in quick-drying glazes, just as you do with watercolor. These thin layers of paint are perfect for building up colors within large areas, such as textured walls or rippling bodies of water. The grainy surface of the canvas or board “catches” the color of the glaze to give the areas a subtle variation and texture, preventing them from appearing flat and two-dimensional. In addition, glazing give you a lot of control over the color shade; you can alter the temperature or hue of the color slowly and deliberately, instead of immediately covering the area with one-toned, thick mixtures of paint. In this painting, I begin with cool pinks ...