Intro to Acrylic Paints: The Least Intimidating Way to Start (For the Reluctant, the Broke, and the Seriously Impatient)
Let’s get one thing out of the way—if you’re waiting for the universe to bless you with courage, cash, or the “right time” to start painting, acrylics are here to bulldoze your excuses. Forget oil’s drama, watercolor’s mood swings, and digital’s tech-tax. Acrylic paint is the streetfighter of art supplies: cheap, brutal, forgiving, impossible to truly kill. If you’ve never painted before, or if you’ve failed so hard you left your old brushes in the yard to rot, this is where you jump back in.
Confession: My First Acrylic Paintings Looked Like Roadkill—And That’s Exactly Why I Got Good
Acrylics are a godsend for control freaks and chaos junkies. You can pile ‘em on, scrape ‘em off, wash ‘em out, or leave ‘em to dry into gnarly, unfixable blobs. I started with a three-pack of crusty brushes, the world’s cheapest paints, and a warped canvas panel. My first piece looked like the aftermath of a food fight, but damn if it didn’t feel like I’d finally picked up a sword after years of butter knives.
What the Hell Is Acrylic Paint—And Why Is It So Damn Useful?
Water-based: Clean up with water, not toxic spirits. Your sink, your cup, your jeans—none are safe, but at least you won’t die of fumes.
Dries Fast: Sometimes too fast, but that means you can keep working, layering, fixing mistakes as you go. Perfect for the impatient and the perpetually distracted.
Sticks to Anything: Canvas, paper, wood, cardboard, metal, glass, old pizza boxes. No fancy surfaces required.
Forgiving: Screw up? Let it dry and paint over it. Hell, paint over it five times. Acrylics will let you.
Step-By-Step: Rust Dawg’s Gritty Acrylic Starter Ritual
Step 1: The Dirt-Cheap Starter Kit
You don’t need a $100 trip to Blick. You need:
The cheapest student-grade acrylics (Liquitex Basics, Artist’s Loft, Craft Smart). You can upgrade later if you fall in love.
Three brushes: one flat, one round, one big ugly house-paint brush for backgrounds or “rage moments.”
A pad of canvas paper, cardboard from an Amazon box, or an old piece of wood. Anything that’ll hold paint and not dissolve.
A couple of plastic cups for water (one clean, one for rinsing).
A palette: Use a paper plate, plastic lid, or even a square of tinfoil.
Old rag or paper towels—trust me, you’ll need ‘em.
Step 2: Prep Like a Barbarian
Tape down your surface if it’s curling or lightweight.
If you’re using slick cardboard or glass, rough it up with sandpaper. Acrylic loves texture.
Pour out small blobs of paint—you’ll waste less, and the paint won’t dry into sad little pancakes before you even start.
Step 3: The Ritual of Layering (Don’t Panic, Don’t Fuss)
Start with a big, thin wash. Water down your paint and block in a background. This kills the fear of the blank surface and gives your painting some atmosphere.
Let it dry for two minutes—seriously, it’ll be dry already.
Work dark to light if you want bold, bright, punchy color. Work light to dark if you want subtlety (or you’re feeling masochistic).
Don’t sweat mistakes. Let it dry, then go again. Acrylics don’t hold grudges.
Ingredient Hack: DIY Stay-Wet Palette
If your paint keeps drying out, lay a damp paper towel on a plate and cover it with wax paper or parchment. Squeeze your paint onto the waxed surface. Your colors will stay wet longer, and your nerves will last through at least half the session.
Survival Strategy: Learn By Doing, Not By Worrying
Try painting a simple object—a mug, a lemon, your middle finger to the art police.
Paint fast. Set a timer. You’ll learn more in five 10-minute paintings than one “serious” masterpiece.
Mix color right on the surface, not just on the palette—acrylics blend beautifully when wet, and layer strong when dry.
The Dirty Reality: Acrylics Are All About Control—And Letting Go
Don’t get precious. Acrylics will bully you if you try to “paint carefully” your first time. The beauty is in the rhythm: block, layer, fix, repeat. Embrace the speed—if you overwork, let it dry, scumble a new color on top, or wipe the whole thing with a wet rag and start again. You literally can’t ruin it unless you give up.
Rust Dawg’s Rituals for Maximum Acrylic Success
1. Master the Mess—Layer Like a Lunatic
First layers are never pretty. Block in color and values without mercy.
Don’t overthink. Big brush, big shapes, loose movement.
Let each layer dry (it’ll take minutes), then carve in details with smaller brushes.
Dry brushing (using a brush with almost no paint) adds texture and life—drag it over dry paint for instant grit.
2. Experiment With Texture
Mix in a little sand, baking soda, or even sawdust for toothy, unpredictable surfaces.
Use a palette knife, a credit card, a chunk of cardboard, or your fingers for scraping, slashing, and smearing.
Water it down for thin, transparent washes. Use it thick (straight from the tube) for impasto effects. Acrylic does it all.
3. Paint Over Your Mistakes—Again and Again
If something’s ugly, let it dry, then go right over it. Nobody needs to know what’s underneath.
Some of my most interesting work has five, six, seven layers buried in the history of the piece. Those old ghosts give the final painting character.
Ingredient Hack: Revive Dried Brushes and Paint
Soaked a brush too long? Try a little Murphy’s Oil Soap, dish soap, or even hand sanitizer to loosen dried acrylic.
Dried paint on the palette? Soak it, scrape it off, and start fresh. Nothing is too precious to save—except your time.
The Dirty Reality: Acrylics Don’t Care About Your Feelings
Work fast. Move on. Don’t let perfectionism kill your fun.
Paint for ten minutes, step back, and laugh at what you see. Then paint over the part you hate.
Accept that every painting is a battle—and the fastest wins are the ugliest.
Personal Confession:
My “breakthrough” acrylic paintings all started with a disaster. It was only after I stopped worrying about the outcome and started playing that I got anywhere. The best lessons are buried under failed experiments and accidental textures.
Survival Wisdom: How to Keep Growing With Acrylics
Fill a sketchbook with acrylic studies—portraits, objects, wild color swatches. Don’t show anyone until you’ve filled ten pages.
Try painting over old, failed canvases. (Garage sale scores are fair game.)
Use acrylics for underpainting, then switch to pencil, pen, or pastel on top. Layer, mix, abuse. There are no “rules.”
How to Actually Enjoy the Process: Acrylics as Playground, Not Prison
Here’s the liberation most “how to paint” books will never admit: Acrylics are for rebels. They’re not fussy, they’re not precious, and they reward the artist who gets their hands dirty and their ego out of the way. If you’re stiff, nervous, or worried about “ruining” your first paintings, you’re still fighting the wrong battle. Acrylics want you wild. The more you try, the more you’ll learn what works—and what fails spectacularly (which, let’s be honest, is sometimes even more fun).
Rituals and Tricks to Keep the Chaos Productive
1. Limited Palette, Unlimited Power
Grab just three primaries (red, blue, yellow), plus white and black. Mix your own damn colors. You’ll get to know your paints, learn color theory by accident, and avoid the dead, “factory-fresh” look.
2. Use Your Fingers—Seriously
Sometimes the best blending tool isn’t a brush, but a knuckle, a thumb, or the side of your hand. Push the paint around, wipe it away, carve textures right onto the surface.
3. Don’t Wait for Inspiration—Paint Anyway
Block out 20 minutes a night, throw some color down, and see what happens. Paint a mug, a shoe, the view from your window, or a raw burst of color that doesn’t mean a damn thing. The best breakthroughs come when you’re not trying so hard.
Ingredient Hack: DIY Varnish and Final Touches
Want to make your acrylic paintings pop? A coat of cheap, clear acrylic medium or even Mod Podge can seal and brighten color. Use gloss for punch, matte for subtlety.
Fix warping or curling canvas panels by misting the back with water and weighting them flat overnight.
Dirty Reality: “Finish” Is a Myth—Know When to Quit
Acrylics let you noodle forever, but the real magic happens when you step away. Don’t wait for perfection. When a piece makes you grin or pisses you off enough to start the next one, call it done. Move on. Growth is in the next mess, not the last touch-up.
Personal Confession:
Some of my “ugliest” paintings got the best reactions at shows and online. Turns out, viewers respond to guts and texture way more than flawless technique.
Ultimate Survival Wisdom: Paint Fast, Paint Dirty, Paint Like Nobody’s Watching
Use what you have, never apologize for being a beginner, and wear your mistakes like armor.
If you end up with more paint on your shirt than the canvas, you’re doing it right.
Celebrate every finished piece with a photo. Then start another.
See Also:
“Acrylic Revolution” by Nancy Reyner (pure experimental joy)
Jane Davies’ YouTube channel (layering, texture, play)
“Bold Expressive Painting” by Annie O’Brien Gonzales (freedom, color, wild work)
The Virtual Instructor’s acrylic basics (practical, accessible, no-BS)
#acrylicpainting and #paintdirty on Instagram (see how the real weirdos do it)