Home » Painted Rock Ideas » 35 Awesome Acrylic Painting Tips That Will Blow Your Mind!

35 AWESOME ACRYLIC PAINTING TIPS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!

Here’s our list of the best acrylic painting tips and painting hacks that won’t bust your budget. Want to spend more time, doing what you love? That’s why I’ve taken the initiative to find some of the best money-saving acrylic painting tips and tricks to make painting fun so that you can spend more time doing what you love!

35 acrylic painting tips that will blow your mind

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1. Can’t-Wait to Paint Your Rocks?

After cleaning your rocks with soapy water, dry the rocks in a 300 degrees oven on a cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Then place the hot rocks in a glass or metal bowl and put it in the freezer for 2 minutes. You’ll be ready-to-paint in less than 15 minutes!

2. Acrylic Painting Tips that Rocks!

Use an upside-down cup as a stand for applying base coats to your rock. This way you can paint the sides and parts of the bottom as well.

acrylic painting tips for rocks

3. Stain Remover Hack

I’ve used this acrylic painting tip more than I should! Use 91% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol to remove dried acrylic paint from clothing. Soak the stained area for 15 minutes and then scrape with a butter knife or old toothbrush. Repeat process until the stain is removed.

paintremover

photo by: BuzzFeed

4. Handy Dandy Sanitizer Trick!

Place 2 tablespoons of hand sanitizer gel in a cup and swirl your old paint brush around to loosen and melt the old paint off your paintbrushes. This will make it easier to separate the bristles to remove paint, rinse it well.

5. Make Rock Painting a Smooth Process

Any wood filler can be used to make rocks smoother for painting.  After the filler is dry, sand the rocks with a light grit sandpaper, then apply a base coat of acrylic paint.

6. Kids + Paint = Mess for Mom

Your kids love to paint, but the aftermath scares you a little. Try using disposable drink cups with lids as a no-spill paint cups for kids. That way, it will hold the paint and paintbrush without all the mess and toss when done!

no mess paint cups

photo by: bebravekeeping

7. Are you a Multitasker?

If yes, try painting 2 -3 rocks at a time, so while the paint is drying on one rock, you can start on another rock! Let’s keep that creative mojo flowing!

8. Want to be an Amazing Artist?

Then start painting every day! Practicing will improve your skill and it will help you discover new mediums and techniques that you’ll love creating.

9. Best Acrylic Painting TIps – Craft Paint Bottle Trick

 Try adding a glue twist caps to your acrylic craft paint 2oz. bottles to use to write or draw designs on your rock. This is also great way for kids to create!

gluecaponcraftpaint

photo by:BuzzFeed

10. DIY Metallic Colors

Make your own metallic colors! Add some silver metallic acrylic paint to any color acrylic paint to create beautiful metallic colors. The more silver added results in more shimmer the paint will have.

11. Color Mixing: Darken Colors

Never use black to darken a color, it will create a muddy look. Try adding a small amount of brown or dark blue. A little odd you may think but it will give it a more vibrant and natural-looking color.

color mix 1

12. Color Mixing: Vibrant Blues

Want a deeper darker blue in your painting? Add a small amount of red to your blue and it will create a vibrant rich blue, perfect for beautiful blue oceans.

red and blue mix

13. Color Mixing: Muted Colors

To make muted colors in your painting, you can mix a primary and it’s complementary color to make a muted tone that’s not so bright.

complementarycolorwheel

14. Keep your Paint Fresh and Ready to Go Tip

Did you know that acrylic paint will stay fresh for up to 2 weeks in the fridge? Place your paint palette in the fridge for your next painting session.

paint palette

15. Sketchy Hack

If drawing is not your best skill. Try using transfer paper to trace a beautiful inspiring word or design on the rock and then paint your design over the traced area.

16. DIY Brush Jar & Brush Holder

Cut the top off of an empty plastic water bottle to make an instant water cup for your paintbrushes. Make it a double-duty tool by attaching binder clips to the top to make a paintbrush holder too.

water cup

Photo by:  Makoccino Youtube

17. Make Old Brushes New Again!

Here is a great money-saving hack, wet your old paintbrush with water and then move your brush over a bar of bath soap. Keep moving your brush around until you get it to the shape it was when it was new, then let it dry overnight. Rinse the soap off the brush and let it dry again.

acrylic painting tips

Photo by:  Makoccino Youtube

18. DIY Paint Palette

Wanna paint but don’t have a paint palette? Simply use an empty egg carton or plastic ice cube tray as a make-shift paint palette.

acrylic painting tips

Photo by: momdot

19. Acrylic Pouring with Precision

Using a kitchen food scale can help measure and record the amounts of acrylic paints used for your acrylic pouring project. This way when you’re making a “dirty pour” and want to make another, now you know how much paint to use.

20. DIY Acrylic Pouring Tools

I love the acrylic painting tips that I can actually use! Take empty applesauce, yogurt, or condiment cups and use for mixing acrylic paint for acrylic pouring. Wash and reuse.

applesauce cups for acrylic painting tips

Via pinterest

21. DIY Acrylic Pouring Tools 2.0

Mixing sticks are basic tools for acrylic pouring. You can use craft sticks over and over for mixing and spreading the paint for any art project.

22. Make your own Alcohol Inks

Take any color sharpie marker and with gloves on, take the nub off and the take apart the sharpie to get the ink pad. Then put the nub and ink pad into a cup with 1.5 oz of 91%  or higher Isopropyl Alcohol. Let it sit for at least 2 hours, then fill in 1.5 oz travel size bottles.

Via youtube

23. Be Creative and Make Your Own Art Tools

Here are some fun creative acrylic painting tips that your kids will love to try. Take a clothespin and attach pom-pom, scraps of felt, pipe cleaners, feathers, or anything you have on around the house. Also, Q-tips make an easy painting tool for little hands.

dot art with qtips
diy-paintbrushes-for-kids

photo by: theinspiredhome

24. Another Use for Press and Seal Wrap

Use Press and Seal wrap to cover your kiddos work area to craft projects. When your little one has completed their masterpiece, pull up the Press and Seal wrap and trash it. I will never use Press and Seal Wrap the same again!

pressandsealwrap

photo by: diyncrafts

25. Clever Idea for Craft Paint Storage

Want to organize your craft paints on the cheap? Go to your local Dollar store or Walmart for these plastic cubes. Setup cubes on its side you can store your craft paints.

plastic cubes for craft paints

photo by: mistysart

26. True Color Tip

Are you working with acrylic paint and think your eyes are deceiving you? Well, don’t worry your eyes are fine, acrylic paint will appear darker after it’s dry. Try mixing your colors a shade or 2 lighter than you want for your painting.

27. Save Your Paint for Another Day

Here’s a great money-saving tip for saving that left over paint on your paint palette. Simply, place a damp paper towel over your paint palette and then cover with plastic wrap to keep the paint from drying out.

28. Make Your Own Dotting Tools

Dotting tools come in handy for making beautiful mandala designs. In a pinch, you can make your own dotting tools by using bobbie pins, toothpicks, or pencil erasers. Really anything that has a point can be used as a dotting tool.

diy dotting tools

photo by: digitaldozen

29. Fast Way to Dry Art Work

Your hairdryer can now be your favorite double-duty tool in your art toolbox! Using a hairdryer on a low cool setting can speed up the paint dry time. No more “watching paint dry”, now you can keep that artistic mojo flowing!

30. Paint Pouring Supplies for Beginners

If you’re looking to start acrylic paint pouring. That’s great, it’s a fun medium to explore. The acrylic pouring supplies can be expensive, so for beginners, try using an All-Purpose Glue. That way you can use it for other craft projects.

31. Easy Eye-Popping Art Trick

Does your painting seem a little flat to you? To give your painting some dimension try adding some white or a lighter shade of the color that you’re wanted to add dimension too. This will make your painting POP!

acrylic painting tips for 2d art

32. eBay Deals for Art Supplies

If you’re looking to score some awesome deals on art supplies then try  EBay. Its a   great marketplace search for art supplies sold in bulk or bundle sets. www.ebay.com

33. Trying Something New? Start Cheap!

It’s a good idea for beginners to look for cheap art supplies when learning a new craft. When you’re learning and practicing new art, it’s practical to use cheap supplies until you decide you’re addicted and want to explore more in that art medium. Then you can upgrade your supplies to professional artist brands.

34. Refresh Old Brushes

Another money-saving hack that will keep your brushes lasting longer. To refresh old brushes, try washing your brushes with regular hair conditioner. Just like our hair, it conditions and provides moisture to the bristles making them last longer.

35. Make Your Own Paint Pouring Tray

The last of these acrylic painting tips and tricks is one of my own diy tools that I use all the time.  I made a paint pouring tray using only bamboo skewers, a hole-puncher, and a foil baking pan. It’s perfect for paint pouring over rocks or canvas.

paint pouring tray

I hope you find these acrylic painting tips and tricks helpful.

Do you have your own painting tips that you would like to share? Let me know in the comments below.

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