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INTRODUCTION TO ACRYLICS

​LESSON FOUR

Taking care of and making marks with brushes- the basics!

EXERCISE ONE

Picture

YOU WILL NEED
a round, an angle and a flat brush (middle size)
jar of water
your pad of acrylic paper
2 colours of paint

In this exercise you are going to learn how to hold a brush, how much paint to put on your brush, how to start making some marks with the paint and how to clean your brushes. 

​The good side of that is you don't have to spend a lot of money on brushes. Synthetic, inexpensive brushes are great for acrylic paint! Acrylic paint dries so quickly and moves more stiffly across the canvas than watercolour or oil, so I find my acrylic brushes lose their shape and get worn down faster than my watercolour or oil brushes. Save the expensive sable brushes for oil or watercolour!

Acrylic brush anatomy

Bristle - TAKLON (different colours mean different softness -  Black Taklon = soft. Gold Taklon = firm. White Taklon = stiff
Ferrule - 
Handle - 
Picture

Brush shapes and sizes

Picture
Picture
​As you have seen on your supply list, I have recommend only a few brushes to start with in these shapes -  3 round, 4 flat and 1 angle. As you develop as a painter, you will start to experiment with different brush shapes and sizes to see which best suit your style and the size of paintings that you like to paint. I would be embarrassed to show you the hundreds and hundreds of brushes I have - it may be a bit of an addiction! But really, you need very few to start with.
​
DIFFERENT COMPANIES USE DIFFERENT SIZE CHARTS
Acrylic paint is hard on brushes so there are a couple of things you need to know.
Buy cheap brushes
Always wash the paint off the brush
Wet the brush before dipping into the paint
Just put the paint on half way up the bristles - not into the ferrule
You can leave your brush in water for a very short time - but too long will ruin the brush bristles.
Clean your brushes with dish soap and water - shape and straighten out bristles when wet

ASSIGNMENT - YOU NEED - paper, jar of water, 

VIDEO on brush demo with paint

Holding the brush

How much paint to put on the brush

Working with paint and water while painting

Different brush strokes

VIDEO on cleaning brushes

Cleaning a brush

GO TO LESSON TWO
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