Beginner Acrylic Painting Tutorial

For Summer 2021

Please note this painting tutorial is closed. To get access to next FREE painting tutorial make sure to join my mailing list by clicking on the button below!

Get access to this free beginner acrylic painting tutorial by signing up to join my mailing list. I send a free painting tutorial twice a year to my mailing list.

 Enjoy this free beginner acrylic painting tutorial to add some DIY summer art to your walls at home.

 In this free beginner acrylic painting tutorial, you will learn how to paint water lilies.

 I walk you through step-by-step instruction – this free painting tutorial is perfect for the beginner painter who is new to acrylic painting. An intermediate acrylic painter can still enjoy this acrylic painting lesson by learning helpful acrylic painting tips! 

Beginner Acrylic Painting Tutorials You Missed

Take a look at our Spring 2021 Painting Tutorial here!

Take a look at our Winter 2020 Painting Tutorial – Make sure to join my mailing list in the grey box below so you don’t miss another painting video lesson! 

 Is this painting tutorial right for you?

This beginner acrylic Painting tutorial is Perfect For You If:

1. You love art or painting

2. You want more time to yourself to be creative! 

3. You are interested in learning more about acrylic painting and developing your skills

4. You want a fun project to do by yourself or with friends or family (recommended age is 7 and up!)

5. You are a painter or want to give it a try!

6. You are beginner or experienced painter

7. You want to relax and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of painting

8. You want fun, simple and creative ideas to paint

 You can see some lovely examples of student work from last year on my summer painting tutorial here! They did such an awesome job and you can too! 

Not sure what supplies you need to get started with acrylics? Check out this post here!

My YouTube channel Jackie Partridge Art has lots of great free painting resources to help you become a confident acrylic painter. 

YOU CAN CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL HERE!

So, If You Are Ready To Add Some Creative Fun To Your Life And Become A Better Acrylic Painter…

– sign up below to join my mailing list. I send a free acrylic painting tutorial to your inbox that is an exclusive video that is not visible on my YouTube Channel! 

Enter your email below to get access -so you don’t miss this video or the next one!

Do you struggle with acrylic painting? I will show you the 10 common mistakes beginner painters make and how you can avoid them!

You can download my FREE 16 page guide where I show you the 10 common painting mistakes and how you can avoid them.

Winter YouTube Painting Lessons Recap

Practice your acrylic painting for beginners. In my free youtube painting lessons learn my acrylic painting tips and tricks. See step by step painting tutorials to improve your acrylic painting! Learn from artist Jackie Partridge and see acrylic painting tutorials from my YouTube -Jackie Partridge Art channel!

Here is the Winter YouTube Painting Lessons Recap. These are some beginner acrylic painting videos you might have missed from January and February 2021 on my YouTube channel - Jackie Partridge Art. Click the links below to check them out and be sure to subscribe to my channel to see new painting tutorials!

Check the the videos from part one in November and December here!

Reduce the Mess Painting With Kids

Learn how to paint with kids and reduce the mess while painting with children. Learn about aprons and how to avoid the mess in your clean house!

Watch How to Reduce the Mess Painting with Kids- HERE

Video Length: 5 min. 18 sec.

Painting with Stencils (Helpful Tips)

Ever wondered how to paint with stencils? In this video I will show you the technique of painting with stencils and share all of my helpful tips with you!

Watch Painting with Stencils (Helpful Tips)- HERE

Video Length: 15 min. 16 sec.

Love You to the Moon and Back Stencil Painting

Learn how to paint a full moon, stars and the night sky with the stencil Love You to the Moon and Back. In this Love You to the Moon and Back Stencil painting tutorial.

Watch Love You to the Moon and Back Stencil Painting- HERE

Video Length: 18 min. 32 sec.

5 Tips for Painting Snow

Learn how to paint snow in this video! I will show you five tips for painting snow. (It’s more than adding white paint!)

Watch 5 Tips for Painting Snow- HERE

Video Length: 14 min. 25 sec.

Wanting to Improve your acrylic painting? I show you the 10 common mistakes beginner painters make and how you can avoid them! Download the FREE 16 page guide by clicking the button below!

Related Articles

Learn colour mixing basics

How to get started with acrylic painting- the supplies you need and how to save money

My 10 favourite painting supplies!

I hope you enjoyed the videos! You can subscribe to my YouTube channel here!

Follow me on social media to connect- just click one of the icons below!

How to Get Better at Acrylic Painting

How to get better at acrylic painting is a question I get asked all the time! I want to help you and share some of my tips! Ever wondered how you to get better at acrylic painting? You want to improve but are unsure where to begin and what acrylic painting tips to follow?

Learn from artist Jackie Partridge for how you can improve your acrylic painting fast with these acrylic painting tips!

I am a certified teacher and artist with my Master of Fine Arts. I have noticed common mistakes that beginner acrylic painters to make and want to help you so that you can avoid them! I want to help you improve your acrylic painting and transition you from a beginner painter to a more confident painter!

How to Get Better at Acrylic Painting

Mistake #1 -They use the paint straight out of the tube

By mixing your colours and not using them straight from the tube not only can you show off your colour mixing skills but you can create stronger paintings that have more detail, more colour, more variety and are more interesting.

In a painting, it is good to avoid having large solid areas of a plain flat colour especially if you are wanting a more realistic style or to capture something like a landscape. Think about a small patch of grass -there is more than one shade of green. There is light green with green+white, bright green with green+yellow, dull green with green+red, dark green with green+black and even blue green with green+blue. Make sure you practice and experiment with your colour mixing. Read this blog post on colour mixing!

Mistake #2 -They don’t vary their brushstrokes or types of brushes

Just like practicing colour mixing it is important to practice different brushstrokes. In a painting you can use a different brushstroke in a different area. For example you might want a smooth brush stroke in a sky and a textured brushstroke in the grass or leaves. Check out my YouTube channel for tips!

Although you don’t need a ton of brushes it is good to have options. I recommend starting with 1-2 small detail round brushes for fine details, a 1-2 inch flat brush for the painting large areas like backgrounds and a medium round brush size #6 for painting medium sized areas like tree branches and shading. These are the main brushes I use in my painting and they are great brushes to start with. As you continue painting you can add extra brushes to your collection to experiment with.

Mistake #3 -They buy a ton of supplies they won’t end up using

You don’t actually need a lot of art supplies to get started painting with acrylics. Read this blog post for a list I recommend you to use to get started. By purchasing only what you need, you will be able to save money and not have extra supplies sitting around waiting to be used!

10 Tips to Help You Become a Better Painter - click the image to download now!

If you like these tips I have created a FREE 12 page guide for you to download - that includes a list of 10 common mistakes beginner painters make and how to avoid them! I share a lot of great acrylic painting tips with you in this guide!

You can also check out my YouTube channel - where you can see helpful step by step painting tutorials for beginner painters! Subscribe to my channel here!

Helpful Blog Posts

Read this blog post to help with landscape painting

Read this to help with still life painting!

Learn how to paint better clouds

Try painting coaching to improve your skills quickly!

click the image to download this free guide!

August 2020 YouTube Painting Tutorials Recap!

I started an acrylic painting YouTube channel >> Jackie Partridge Art << on Sunday July 5, 2020. Here is a list of YouTube videos that were posted to my channel this month as a little recap. In case you might’ve missed some of these painting tutorials on my YouTube acrylic painting channel!

You can read the descriptions of the videos before clicking the link to see the video.

You can watch these videos for free at anytime. If you have a YouTube account you can click the clock in the top right corner of the video to save it to your “Watch List” to watch it for later.

Be sure to subscribe to my channel —you can click the bell beside the subscribe button on YouTube to receive notifications of when new videos are added! - I release NEW videos every month!

If you like a video be sure to hit the “thumbs up” to like it or share it with a friend!

Let’s take a look at the videos for this month!

Painting with Posca Pens - watch here!

Painting With Posca Pens -The Basics!

In this acrylic painting tutorial for beginner artists I show you the basics of working with Posca Pens and incorporating them in your acrylic paintings! This video is perfect for people of all ages - I recommend age 9 and up for this video as having coordination with drawing, fine motor skills will be helpful for this art material. Learn how to use a Posca Pen, What are Posca Pens?, Ideas for using Posca Pens in your painting and more. This is video is for people who have never used a Posca Pen before and to provide them with a basic introduction.

Watch the Painting with Posca Pens Video Here!

Video Length: 12 min. 14 sec.

Palette Knife Basics

How do you use Palette Knives? What are Palette Knives? What Palette Knife is right for you? I will help you answer these questions in this quick video paint lesson. Learn about the difference between plastic and wooden palette knives and find the one right for you. Gain confidence in learning about palette knives to be able to create beautiful and textured abstract acrylic paintings! Fall in love with palette knives and explore the possibilities of palette knife painting.

Watch the Palette Knife Basics Video Here!

Video Length: 5 min. 8 sec.

Palette Knife Cloud Painting

This painting lesson is perfect for beginners with no experience using a palette knife before! Recommended age is 9 and up! This is an easy art technique and painting lesson to try --- learn a new simple acrylic painting technique to add to your skill development today! In this video art lesson -learn how to paint a cloudy sky with a palette knife. Learn about colour mixing with a palette knife, painting layers, creating texture, palette knife technique and how to paint clouds.

Watch the Palette Knife Cloud Painting Video Here!

Video Length: 27 min. 40 sec.

3 Acrylic Painting Tips To Save You MONEY!

3 Tips for Saving Money on Acrylic Painting! Check out this video and learn three tips for saving money on acrylic painting. Perfect tips for a beginner painter or intermediate painter of all ages.

Watch the 3 Tips for Saving Money on Acrylic Painting Video Here!

Video Length: 7 min. 53 sec.

Would you like to improve your acrylic painting? Grab my FREE 16 page guide where you can learn the 10 mistakes beginner acrylic painters make and how to avoid them!

Flower Printing is a great technique to create an abstract painting and is a fun project to try with kids!

Flower Printing

Flower Printing is a fun painting technique for any age! You could even try this technique with toddlers. This is a great technique to add to your painting. You can create a beautiful texture and layer your designs. Flower printing is great for abstract painting, fun experiments, collage or mixed media art.

Watch the Flower Printing Video Here!

Video Length: 16 min. 26 sec.

If you have an idea of a video you would like me to do- let me know in the comments. I appreciate every subscribe, like and comment on my channel - it helps me to make money as an artist!

I release a new video every other week- so be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss a thing!

Happy Painting!

See other painting lessons on my blog - here!

5 Tips for Still Life Painting - Paint a Better Still Life!

5 Tips for how to paint a better still life will help improve your still life painting! Painting a still life as a beginner painter can be difficult.

Especially when you are trying to make the painting realistic! I have written a collection of tips to help make this process easier!

There is also an assortment of videos on painting still lives from lemons to eggs and everything in between. You can check out those painting lessons on my acrylic painting for beginners YouTube channel

How to Paint a Lemon- watch this video to learn more: click here to watch!

Here Are Some Tips to Paint a Better Still Life:

1. It helps to have your still life set up and arranged in front of you to paint, alternatively you can paint from a colour photograph -however having a real still life like a bowl of fruit or a vase of flowers right there will allow you to see all the tiny details.

2. Map out your painting in a coloured stick of chalk. A still life is all about painting/drawing what you see. Draw your still life in a stick of chalk. If you make a mistake it will easily rub off -saving you paint and time! Using something like a pencil to draw on the canvas might still show through layers of paint and can be hard to erase.

3. Exaggerate the highlights and shadows! Shadows and highlights on an object is what makes it look three-dimensional in a painting. You have the creative freedom to express what you see and convince someone that what you are painting is life-like. So darken the shadows and brighten the highlights to make them pop and stand out! A way of doing this is shining a light from a lamp on your still life which will make it more obvious where the highlights and shadows are making it easier to paint!

Bird’s nest still life painting - watch how to paint the eggs- here!

4. Paint in the direction of your object. This sounds obvious but a lot of beginner painters make the mistake of painting all objects with long flat straight brushstrokes. This ends up making round objects like lemons, apples and vases look flat and lack having a form. I have created a great short YouTube video to help with this- click here!

5. Remember to paint in layers and take your time! You don’t need to finish your painting in one sitting, taking your time allows you to add more details which helps make the painting more realistic. If you don’t like something you can paint over it -this is why I love acrylic painting!

Bonus tip:

If you are painting a still life over a day take a photo of it to ensure you are capturing the same lighting and that objects haven’t moved!

You can learn more about acrylic painting by checking out my FREE 16 Page Guide - 10 Mistakes Beginner Painters Make and How to Avoid Them!

I would love to see your still life paintings and give you feedback! tag me on instagram @jackiepartridgeart and use the #jackiepartridgeartclasses

I invite you to subscribe to my NEW YouTube Channel where I have new videos for beginner acrylic painters every two weeks!

- Check it out here!

Practice Painting a Still Life

How to Paint a Lemon

How to Paint Round Forms like Eggs

How to Paint a Pumpkin

How to Paint a Poppy

Want to improve your painting quickly? Try my painting coaching!

Follow me on social media by clicking on one of the icons below for more great tips!

Fall Exclusive Painting Video

Twice a year, I send my email list an exclusive acrylic painting video lesson to your inbox! Be sure to join my mailing list by filling out the grey form so you don’t miss the next exclusive painting tutorial!

You can Still Access this tutorial by signing up for my free guide - click the button below!

(The video is linked in the guide)

Videos include start to finish instructions and are not on my YouTube Channel - You will have lifetime access to these videos! >>>Enter your email in the blue form below to join!

You will learn how to paint an acrylic painting from start to finish with valuable tips. I am a trained artist in acrylic painting and I am a certified teacher. I have my Master of Fine Arts degree and loads of teaching experience to make painting for beginners a simple process where you can feel confident and have fun! I send an email to my list each season where I give you a private link to the video tutorial. You will have lifetime access to the video lesson.

These videos are perfect for you if:

1. You love art or painting

2. You want more time to yourself to be creative! 

3. You are interested in learning more about acrylic painting and developing your skills

4. You want a fun project to do by yourself or with friends or family (recommended age is 7 and up!)

5. You are a painter or want to give it a try!

6. You are beginner or experienced painter

7. You want to relax and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of painting

8. You want fun, simple and creative ideas to paint

Enter your email below to get access each season -so you don’t miss the next video!

The videos that I send are exclusive videos only for my email list - they will not be shared to Youtube or social media. These videos are special gifts to those who have signed up!

You might be asking what supplies do I need to get started? You can read about the art materials needed in this blog post!

Here is the Fall 2020 Painting Video Lesson for my Email Subscribers!

Interested in Painting and Continuing to Learn and Develop?

Scroll up to the top to join just enter your email address in that grey form! You will receive an email right after you join. Check your junk mail if you don’t receive an email from me right away!

I am always open to suggestions and ideas. If there is something you would like to learn how to paint- you can leave a comment below or send me a DM on my NEW painting instagram account @jackiepartridgeart

If you make a painting from one of my lessons be sure to tag me on Instagram @jackiepartridgeart and use the hashtag #jackiepartridgeartclasses - I would love to see what you create and give you feedback and virtual hugs!

Can’t wait til the next video? Check out my YouTube Channel with lots of acrylic painting options!

Be sure to subscribe - NEW videos are added monthly!

Want to improve your acrylic painting quickly? Sign up for my painting coaching!

Don’t forget to join my mailing list to receive the next video. (enter your email in the grey form -just scroll up)

If you would like to improve your acrylic painting by learning what mistakes beginner painters make - click the button below to download my FREE 12 Page Guide NOW! You will join my mailing list and receive my exclusive painting tutorials every season!

See Other Painting Tutorials We Have Done

Summer 2021

Spring 2021

Winter 2020

Summer 2020

July 2020 YouTube Painting Tutorials Recap!

Check out my Jackie Partridge Art YouTube Channel. Here is a list of YouTube videos that were posted to my channel this month as a little recap. To see some acrylic painting tutorials you might’ve missed!

You can read the descriptions of the videos before clicking the link to see the video.

Read this blog post about what supplies you need to get started with acrylic painting! Click here to read!

You can watch these videos for free at anytime. If you have a YouTube account you can click the clock in the top right corner of the video to save it to your “Watch List” to watch it for later.

Be sure to subscribe to my channel —you can click the bell beside the subscribe button on YouTube to receive notifications of when new videos are added! - I release NEW videos every month!

If you like a video be sure to hit the “thumbs up” to like it or share it with a friend!

Let’s take a look at the videos for this month!

Art Supplies

I recommend watching this video first! It is a great introduction to acrylic painting and I will show you and explain the different acrylic painting supplies you need to get started. It’s nice to visually see the supplies you need. Buying art supplies can be a bit overwhelming at first but I help guide you to make this process easier!

Watch the Art Supplies Video- HERE

Video Length: 11 min. 40 sec.

In this video I go over basic supplies needed for acrylic painting to get you started! Check it out here:

https://youtu.be/r3LPp25h9mI

Related Articles

You can also read this blog post here if you prefer seeing a written copy of art supplies you need!

Check out my blog post on my favourite painting supplies here!

Colour Wheel and Value Scale

If you haven’t painted before and don’t know much about mixing colours - I recommend watching this video. I explain the basics of colour theory. You will learn about primary, secondary and tertiary colours and how to mix them. You will also learn about making a tint or shade with a colour. This is a great educational video perfect for beginners, teachers, parents homeschooling and daycare providers. Colour mixing is the foundation of acrylic painting!

Watch the Colour Wheel and Value Scale Video- HERE

Video Length: 25 min. 9 sec.

Grab a FREE Guide to Mixing Green/Grey here!

Mixing Green

This video is great for developing your skills. Mixing green is not as simple as mixing yellow and blue paint. If you are great at mixing greens then you will be able to mix a variety of greens and will be able to paint more realistic landscape paintings.

Watch the Mixing Greens Video- HERE

Video Length: 13 min. 20 sec.

Mixing Grey

Mixing grey is not as simple as black + white. The more variety you have in your colours the more interesting your paintings will be! This video is a quick way to develop your colour mixing skills and make more professional looking paintings!

Watch the Mixing Greys Video- HERE

Video Length: 8 min. 15 sec.

Mixing Brown

You have probably made brown before when mixing a bunch of colours together on your palette. Maybe it was even on accident! There is such a difference between mixing your own brown and using brown straight from the tube. Learn more about colour mixing and improve your paintings with this video!

Watch the Mixing Browns Video- HERE

Video Length: 6 min. 15 sec.

How to Paint a Campfire

Learn how to paint a campfire! This video is a workshop I have ran with kids as young as 7 and adults. This video tutorial is recommended for kids age 7 and up! (it can be challenging for the younger ones but if a child is creative and loves learning -this is for them) Learn how to paint trees, paint a night sky and of course a campfire. This is a great introductory painting for a beginner to try!

Watch the Campfire Painting Video- HERE

Video Length: 40 min. 41 sec.

Painting a Mermaid Tail

This is the perfect video lesson for age 7+ an amazing painting for beginners to try! This fun painting will explore mixing greens, printing with household objects to create texture and more! Learn how to paint this fun underwater mermaid tail!

Watch the Mermaid Tail Painting Video- HERE

Video Length: 28 min. 38 sec.

Painting Clouds

This video is a bit more challenging than some of the other videos. I recommend trying some other painting tutorials first. This video is great for an intermediate painter but of course beginner painters are welcome to give this a try! Painting clouds can be hard! In this video you will learn to paint more realistic clouds, how to paint a sky and creating highlights and shadows.

Watch the Painting Clouds Video- HERE

Video Length: 16 min. 46 sec.

This is a Painting Tutorial all about painting Skies and Clouds - Perfect for an intermediate acrylic painter! Check it out here: https://youtu.be/RNGKfQ2B20k

Painting Round Realistic Forms

In this video I show how to paint round forms and use the example of eggs in a nest. You will learn about brushstrokes and direction of shading. Learn about colour mixing, shadows and highlights to create a realistic round form. This is the perfect video for beginners or youth to try!

Watch the Painting Round Realistic Forms Video- HERE

Video Length: 15 min. 5 sec.

Painting a Lemon

This video is about painting a still life or a lemon in this case. Learn colour mixing, painting texture, highlights and shadows, choosing a background colour and more. This is a great video for beginners or intermediate painters.

Watch the Painting a Lemon Video- HERE

Video Length: 29 min. 41 sec.

If you have an idea of a video you would like me to do- let me know in the comments.

I release a new video every week- so be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss a thing!

Check out my YouTube Channel and Subscribe to see new video tutorials every week!

Do you want to get better at your acrylic painting? Learn how you can avoid the 10 common mistakes beginner painters make - by clicking the button below and downloading the FREE 16 page guide!

Happy Painting!

Bachelorette Paint Night - Blue Hydrangeas

Blue Hydrangeas Paint Night was a hit! In the summer of 2019 I had the pleasure of instructing an acrylic paint night for a bachelorette party. We painted blue hydrangeas! This is one of my favourite acrylic painting tutorials!

Blue Hydrangeas are my favourite flower, I even had some in my wedding bouquet when I got married. Blue Hydrangeas  are also really fun to paint because there are so many colours in the petals and details of the veins, shadows, highlights and lines. You can create such a nice abstract texture and even if you have never painted before you easily complete this painting and have success with it. 

If you look closely at blue hydrangeas they have so many colours and layers to them. Purples, blue, whites, greens, yellows, pinks, light and dark tones. There is such a variety of colours which makes it such an enjoyable flower to paint! 

You can host a virtual paint night by using one of my painting tutorials or you can contact me to have a private paint night over Zoom or locally in the Waterloo Region, ON. I would love to host another paint night if you have an idea for a painting please contact me @jackiepartridgeart just send me a message.

You can see my acrylic painting tutorials and tips in the link below! Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel Jackie Partridge Art so that you don’t miss new free acrylic painting tutorials that come out! 

Want to develop your acrylic painting skills? Check out my YouTube channel here!

They did such an amazing job painting! Here are the student works below:

Everyone did an amazing job for beginner acrylic painters most had never painted before!

Want to Try Painting with Me?

Try painting an abstract poppy here!

Paint a Galaxy Sky here!

Paint a sunset palette knife painting!

If you love the painting tutorials be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel!

Interested in having a paint night with your friends? - Email me for pricing options- I can do virtual paint nights where you supply materials as well!

Email me at jackiepartridgeart@gmail.com

If you want to improve your acrylic painting -download this FREE painting guide!