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Acrylic Painting for Beginners: Step by Step
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items Want to try acrylic painting but have no idea what you actually need? Start here. I pulled together beginner-friendly kits, paints, brushes, canvases and a few follow-along projects, plus free resources that explain what to do once everything is sitt...
Sections
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Just Give Me a Kit and Let Me Paint
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Build Your Own Beginner Setup
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I Need Someone to Tell Me What to Paint
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Free Help Before You Decide You Are Bad at This 😂
Just Give Me a Kit and Let Me Paint
If choosing every single supply separately already sounds exhausting, start here. These put most or all of the basics in one box so you can get to the fun part faster.
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This gives you 24 paint colors plus brushes, canvas panels, palette knives and a palette. A nice option if half the fun for you is having LOTS of colors to play with.
Kingart Studio, Starter Acrylic Painting Art Set, 36 Pieces, for Beginners and Experts
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Thirty paint colors, brushes, canvases, a palette, sponge and paint knife means you can experiment without immediately needing another supply run. Because nothing kills a new hobby faster than discovering you forgot the thing you need. 😂
46 Pack Acrylic Paint Set, Shuttle Art 30 Colors Acrylic Paint with 10 Paint Brushes 3 Painting Canvas 1 Paint Knife Palette Sponge, Gift Set for Kids, Adults , Beginners, School Activities
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This set keeps it pretty simple: 24 colors, brushes, two canvas panels and a palette. Enough to sit down and try acrylic painting without buying an entire studio first.
Lartique Acrylic Paint Set, 24 Color Paint Set with Canvases, Paint Brushes, and Paint Palette
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This one even includes an adjustable tabletop easel, multiple canvases, paint knives and a water cup. It is a lot of gear in one box for someone who wants the whole little painting setup.
KEFF Acrylic Paint Set - Art Painting Kit for Adults & Kids with 24 Acrylic Paints, Wooden Easel, Canvases, Palette, Paint Knives, Water Basin & Bag - 51Pcs
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Another all-in-one option with paints, brushes, canvases, palette, easel and even a brush washer. Good for testing whether acrylic painting is about to become your newest hobby rabbit hole.
AUREUO 35PCS Acrylic Painting Set, Complete Starter Kit with Table Easel, 24 Colors Acrylic Paints, 5 Brushes, 2 Canvases, Palette, Brush Washer & Sponge for Artists, Hobbyists, Beginners
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Paint, brushes, canvas boards, a palette AND a little tabletop easel. This is exactly the kind of kit I would point a true beginner toward because there are fewer decisions between you and actually starting.
25pc Artist Acrylic Starter Set - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Easel & Paint Kit with Brushes, Palette, Canvas Boards, Design Guide
Build Your Own Beginner Setup
Prefer to choose the pieces yourself? These cover the basic paint-brush-canvas-palette situation without turning your kitchen table into an art supply warehouse.
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If you want to move beyond craft paint, Liquitex BASICS is made for students and newer painters and works well for learning mixing and brushwork. You do not need professional paint on day one.
Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint, 4oz., 12 Pack
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A simple little set of acrylic colors with a brush included. This is enough to start learning how acrylic behaves without buying 47 shades before you know whether you even like painting.
12ct Acrylic Paint Set with Paintbrush - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Non-Toxic Water-Based Craft Paints for Adults
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Round, bright, filbert, angle and fan brushes plus a mixing palette. Translation: you can actually try different brush marks instead of expecting one lonely brush to do everything.
18pc Paintbrush and Palette Set - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Nylon Brushes for Watercolor, Oil, Acrylic, Tempera Painting
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Twenty-four brushes is more than you need for your first painting, but it is a fun way to figure out which shapes you naturally reach for. The canvas storage case also keeps the brush explosion somewhat contained.
24pc Artist Paintbrush Set - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Nylon & Wood, All Paint Types, Angle, Fan, Round, Filbert Brushes
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Three palettes plus two mixing knives give you room to learn color mixing and play with texture. And yes, mixing your own colors is half the magic once you stop being scared of messing them up.
5pc Paint Palette Set - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Art Spatulas & Plastic Paint Tray Holder for Arts and Crafts
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I like smaller canvas boards for beginners because every painting does not need to become A PROJECT. Six 8x10 boards means you can practice, make mistakes and start another one.
6pk 8"x10" Canvas Boards - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Art Canvases for Painting, White Paint Board, 1.5" Depth, 6 Count
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Ready to graduate from practice boards? An 11x14 canvas is big enough to feel like a real painting without giving you three square feet of blank canvas to panic over. 😂
5pk 11"x14" Stretched Canvas White - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Art Canvases for Painting
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Once you want a little more room to play, these larger canvases give you space for landscapes, florals and bigger brushwork. I would not START here if a big blank canvas makes you nervous, but it is a nice next step.
5pk 16"x20" Stretched Canvas Set - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: Art Canvases for Painting, White, 0.63" Depth, 5 Pieces
I Need Someone to Tell Me What to Paint
Blank canvas intimidation is REAL. These give you a project, pattern or follow-along direction so you can practice the actual painting part first.
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Four floral paint-by-number canvases are a very low-pressure way to get used to controlling acrylic paint and a brush. Nobody said your first lesson had to begin with staring dramatically at a blank canvas.
4pk Paint by Number Canvas boards Floral - Mondo Llamaâ„¢: DIY Art Kit, Acrylic Paint & Brushes, Adult Craft Activity
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This includes the canvas, paints, brushes and a step-by-step video you can pause and replay. THAT is beginner-friendly: tell me what to put where until my hands start figuring it out.
Kit for 1 – Paint Night Kit | DIY Acrylic Painting Supplies with Video Tutorial
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Artist Will Kemp walks through an entire beginner acrylic painting step by step, including a reference image you can download. This is where I would send someone who has the supplies and is now saying, 'Okay...what do I DO?' 😂
Acrylic Step-by-Step Tutorial - Easy Fishing Boat Painting
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Paint-by-number is not cheating. 😂 It lets you practice paint consistency, brush control and staying inside shapes while still ending up with something recognizable.
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Free Help Before You Decide You Are Bad at This 😂
Acrylics have a learning curve, especially because they dry quickly. These free resources explain the basics and give you an actual step-by-step project instead of leaving you alone with a pile of paint tubes.
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This is a whole free library of acrylic knowledge, techniques, how-tos, guides and project sheets. Bookmark it instead of trying to learn every acrylic technique in one afternoon.
Acrylic Painting Resources
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Liquitex put the acrylic basics into one free visual guide: how the paint works, common terms, surfaces, mixing and mediums. Save this before you start wondering why your paint dried while you were still thinking about it.
Liquitex Us Wp Content Uploads Sites 42 2020 06 LQX Basics Educational Poster pdf