Want to start acrylic painting but not sure where to begin? This guide covers the basics beginners ask about most: colour mixing, brush types, palette knives and a full step-by-step rose painting, all with the Opus Essential Acrylic Deluxe Studio Set.
Acrylic painting for beginners: why start with acrylics?
Acrylics are one of the most beginner-friendly paints you can pick up. They dry quickly, clean up with water while wet, and can be used thin and transparent or thick and textured. That flexibility makes acrylic painting for beginners a great way to learn colour, brushwork and composition without a lot of setup.
In this demo, artist Steve Williams of Canvas Method walks you through every tool in the set, covers the fundamentals, then brings it all together in a painting of red roses, from first sketch to framed finish.
What you'll learn in this demo
- How to set up your palette
- How to mix tints, natural greens and deep shadows
- How to mute colours that look too bright
- What each brush and palette knife is for
- How gloss medium changes your paint
- How to clean your brushes so they last
Colour mixing basics
Set up your palette
Squeeze out small amounts of each colour around the edge of your paper palette, leaving the centre free for mixing. Acrylics dry quickly, so it's better to put out a little and add more as you go.
Mix tints with white
Adding titanium white lightens a colour and makes it more opaque. Add white a little at a time. It's strong, and it's easy to end up with a chalky, pastel mix.
Mix natural greens
Green straight from the tube can look artificial. Mixing your own from yellow and blue gives you greens that feel more natural. Try a warm yellow for brighter leaves and a cool yellow for softer, sage-like greens.
Mute colours that look too bright
If a colour feels too loud, add a touch of its complement (the colour opposite it on the colour wheel) or a little burnt sienna. This knocks back the intensity without turning it muddy.
Mix deep, warm shadows
Instead of reaching straight for black, try mixing your darks. Burnt sienna with blue makes a rich, warm dark that looks more natural in shadows than black on its own.
Brushes, palette knives and gloss medium
Brush types explained
The set includes five synthetic brushes. Use the large flat for blocking in big areas, the filbert for soft, rounded shapes like petals, the angle brush for crisp edges, the small flat for controlled strokes, and the round for fine details and lines.
Palette knife mark making
Palette knives aren't just for mixing. Use them to lay down thick, textured paint and expressive marks that a brush can't make.
What gloss medium does
Mixing gloss medium into your paint makes it more fluid and transparent and gives it a glossy finish when dry. It's great for glazing thin layers of colour over dry paint.
How to clean your brushes
Acrylic becomes permanent once it dries, so never let paint dry in your brushes. Rinse them often while you paint, wash them with mild soap and lukewarm water when you're done, and reshape the bristles before letting them dry.
Step by step: how to paint roses in acrylic
- Draw the roses. Start with a light pencil sketch of the main shapes. Keep it simple: circles and ovals for the blooms.
- Block in light and shadow. Use a large brush to lay in the darkest and lightest areas first. Don't worry about details yet.
- Paint the greenery. Add leaves and stems with your mixed greens, varying warm and cool to create depth.
- Add loose background roses. Suggest a few roses in the background with loose, simple strokes so they don't compete with the main blooms.
- Paint the background and edges. A purple background makes the red roses glow. Paint the edges of the canvas too, for a finished look.
- Refine the details. Go back in with smaller brushes to sharpen petal edges and add highlights.
- Frame it. Pop your finished painting into the gallery frame and it's ready to hang.
What's in the Opus Essential Acrylic Deluxe Studio Set
The Opus Essential Acrylic Deluxe Studio Set gives you everything you need to start painting:
- Nine acrylic colours: titanium white, a warm and cool yellow, red and blue, burnt sienna and lamp black
- Five synthetic brushes: large flat, filbert, angle, small flat and round
- Paper palette with 40 tear-off sheets
- Three palette knives
- Gloss medium
- Pencil set and sketchbook
- 11 x 14 stretched canvas
- Gallery frame with hardware, ready to hang
Is acrylic paint good for beginners?
Yes. Acrylics dry quickly, clean up with water while wet and are very forgiving. Once a layer is dry, you can simply paint over a mistake.
How do I mix natural greens with acrylic paint?
Mix a yellow and a blue instead of using green straight from the tube. Add more yellow for brighter greens, or a touch of red or burnt sienna to soften them.
How do I clean acrylic paint brushes?
Rinse your brushes often while you paint and never let acrylic dry in the bristles. When you're done, wash them with mild soap and lukewarm water, reshape the tips and let them dry flat.
What supplies do I need to start acrylic painting?
To start, you need paints, a few brushes, a palette and a canvas. The Opus Essential Acrylic Deluxe Studio Set includes nine colours, five brushes, palette knives, gloss medium, a sketchbook, an 11 x 14 canvas and a frame.
More beginner painting demos
Keep learning with the rest of our Opus x Canvas Method series: