Please scroll down for a list of Nana’s Acrylics Plus Links to Tutorials art lessons…
I thought that we could take a break from our wonderful pastel lessons and go explore a new medium…acrylic paint! I have painted with acrylics for many years…using them to paint wall murals, tee-shirts…the paint is a very forgiving medium.
Acrylics Plus Links to Tutorials
You can make a small investment at your local craft store and get enough basic, primary colors to mix any other color or hue that your heart desires!
Acrylic Paints:
Our local store is Michael’s Arts and Crafts. I had advised the Liquitex brand of paint, but after Christmas, Liquitex was not on sale. The Michael’s store brand, Artist’s Loft was very reasonably priced, so I purchased 7 colors of paint in 4 1/2 oz. tubes for about $2.99 each. I am a believer in buying a BIG tube or jar for myself, but for introducing acrylics to the grandchildren, these were the best buy. I bought yellow, red, blue…then the secondary colors of green, orange, violet and raw umber.
Paint Brushes:
Then I picked out at 25-piece set of all-purpose paint brushes…big, medium and small, and tiny brushes that could be abused by children without a big expense. This set was $10.99, I believe.
Paint Palettes:
Because my personal paint palette is a plastic microwave plate, I thought that I would splurge and buy a stack of disposable plastic palettes. These can be thrown away if you like, but being super frugal, I just rinse the paint off the palettes after each use…These were $10.99 also – for a stack of 20 palettes – and you could put them on the top shelf of your dishwasher. You can also simply use a paper plate.
Canvases:
Next were the canvases, I picked up 2 packages of three 5×7 flat canvases for us to try out our newest art adventure! The canvases cost $3.99 for each package. All of the supplies were Artist’s Loft brand, or Michael’s store brand.
That is it. For about $50.00, you have the supplies to let your imagination run with it…just think…learning how to mix colors, how to use more water to make the paint thinner…the teaching goes on and on. I am lucky because the children are super interested in art and usually make teaching a wonderful pleasure. If a picture does not suit the little artist, most anything can be corrected with a dab or two of more paint!
A note on acrylics: Just like pastels, acrylics will wash off your hands easily. But if the paint gets on any fabric – it is permanent! We wear a smock and cover our painting surface – usually with newspaper.
Below are our Acrylics Plus Links to Tutorials. Enjoy!
Heart Collage: Mixed Media Acrylic
Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat and Fish Acrylic plus colored markers
Peter Pan’s Hat in Honor of author James Barrie
Fall Trees Tutorial – make leaves with paper towels and spatters
Look Up! Summer Trees – a lesson in perspective
Find our Spring Trees Acrylic Tutorial in A Seasonal Start in Spring Chalk Pastels!
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Do you learn best with a video tutorial? Find Nana’s A Simple Start in Acrylics Video Art Lessons along with her The Gift of Art: Gifts to Make and Give Video Art Lessons at ChalkPastel.com.
Cant wait to try it! We have tried acrylics in the past-thanks!
After our vacation, we are getting the materials!
Hi there.
We have loved the pastel lessons, and wanted to try out your acrylics too. I have downloaded the pdf for each one, but only get the first page each time. Please help!
Caroline
South Africa
Hi Caroline – I went through the steps of clicking the green, print-friendly button and creating a pdf of the acrylic lesson. I was unable to duplicate the problem you describe. Can you share the steps and I can help you get to the bottom of it? Maybe email me by clicking the little envelope icon at the top right? I’d be glad to help! Thank you.
I have tried to download several, and only get your welcome page, too. Tried to do this one, and the pastel fall leaf one – nothing worked. Hoping I work it out, as these look great!!
Caroline – can you email me with the steps to exactly what you are doing? (there’s a little email icon in the top right hand corner of the site) When I click the green print friendly button it opens up a new window. I then select ‘create pdf’ and it magically appears for me to print out. I’d love to help you…
Thanks for our prompt feedback. I went in again today and it worked. Might have been a connectivity glitch the first time around. I have them now and will be adding them in to our programme next week. So exciting!
Hi, long time since I’ve left a comment. What a fabulous article. I’m a learning/growing mixed media artist and am currently working with Acrylics and different mediums used with Acrylics. A really great resource for buying product is dickblick.com. I’m not sure if the same stores in GA offer the same discounts to homeschoolers as in NC, but Michael’s, Joann’s, Barnes & Noble, and AC Moore offer discounts to homeschoolers. Just provide your verification from your state. I will use a 40 or 50% off coupon for the more expensive items along with my homeschool discount. It’s a great way to build your supplies. Thanks again for sharing yet another fab tutorial. Nana is awesome. Can I borrow her sometime….lol!!!! Enjoy your Summer!!!! (((HUGS))))
Kim
Thank you Kim! Love your frugal tips for art supplies. So happy you like the Summer Sea Acrylic Tutorial and yes, you ARE an artist too. Keep on learning and growing!
Would love Nana to give more acrylic tutorials! We’ve enjoyed these,
thanks!!!
Do they need the tubes of paint and the jars of paint?
Dilana – whatever is best for your artists! It really does not take much paint to do these. So whatever you think is best for your home. Nana just makes suggestions. Thank you!