Acrylic Painting 101
How to Paint with Acrylics -
For Complete Beginners - Live & Online
Become the Artist You Are Meant to Be
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Discover your creative self and have a heck of a lot of fun -- and pick up Acrylic Painting tips, tools, & techniques in the comfort of your own home with artist and teacher Karen Lynn Ingalls |
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Our next class is July 28, 2024!
Summer is here — and it's a great time to get in touch with your inner artist. Do you need to stay inside to get out of the heat? Bored with Netflix? Overwhelmed or stressed by the news? It's time to try something new!
How about turning it into your own creative opportunity?
Would you like to just be creative with paint, without stressing about how things will turn out? No drawing needed, just an opportunity to play and make fun stuff?
Then you're in the right place! Here you can discover how to begin, just one step at a time, and have fun while you explore your creativity.
How about turning it into your own creative opportunity?
Would you like to just be creative with paint, without stressing about how things will turn out? No drawing needed, just an opportunity to play and make fun stuff?
Then you're in the right place! Here you can discover how to begin, just one step at a time, and have fun while you explore your creativity.
In this Art Adventure, we'll explore many of the different ways you can apply paint to paper or canvas, with brushes, palette knives, and more.
You will play and experiment with paint, and explore how it feels to paint with acrylics. You'll learn color mixing, too.
And yes, you will create your own abstract paintings!
You will play and experiment with paint, and explore how it feels to paint with acrylics. You'll learn color mixing, too.
And yes, you will create your own abstract paintings!
Abstract Meditation • 11" x 14" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Why abstract?
For now, we want to keep it simple — you don't have to think about whether it looks like anything in particular. That can come later!
And when and where will it be?
Sunday, July 28, 2024 — 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Live, online, from wherever you are (you don't need to commute!)
For now, we want to keep it simple — you don't have to think about whether it looks like anything in particular. That can come later!
And when and where will it be?
Sunday, July 28, 2024 — 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Live, online, from wherever you are (you don't need to commute!)
"I've learned more about how to make a real painting in three hours than I have in three years."
— Catherine Singels, Calistoga
— Catherine Singels, Calistoga
You will discover:
- What kind of acrylic paints to use
- All about different kinds of brushes, and how to use them
- All about palette knives and how to use them
- Even more tools you can use to make special creative marks on paintings!
- How to put what you've learned into an abstract painting
- 3 different ways to approach abstract painting
- How to keep that inner critical voice at bay — and that's important!
How this works:
Before we meet, you will get links to videos explaining:
If you have any questions in advance of our meeting, send them, so Karen can make sure to answer them when we meet.
Before we meet, you will get links to videos explaining:
- The materials you'll need (and a list of them)
- Paintbrush 101
- What are the different kinds of paintbrushes?
- And which ones will you want to start with?
- How to mix the colors of your paints (we'll be working with primary colors)
If you have any questions in advance of our meeting, send them, so Karen can make sure to answer them when we meet.
At the beginning of our Art Adventure:
When we meet, we'll start with mark making! You'll explore:
I will guide you through the process with direct instruction, slides, and time-lapse video demonstrations (so you have more time to try things out!).
When we meet, we'll start with mark making! You'll explore:
- How to make a wide variety of brushstrokes with your paintbrushes
- How to use different palette knives to make a range of distinctive marks
- How to use mark-making tools that you may have around the house to create fun, offbeat special effects
- How to create an abstract painting, with methods that you can develop and explore even more on your own
I will guide you through the process with direct instruction, slides, and time-lapse video demonstrations (so you have more time to try things out!).
As we continue our Art Adventure:
- You can ask any questions that have come up for you.
- You'll create two more abstract paintings, using completely different approaches — and discover even more painting techniques that you can use to develop your own paintings.
Sunday • July 28, 2024 • 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Location: Online, live on Zoom, from wherever you are
Materials you'll need: Download list HERE.
Price: Just $147
A portion of each class fee goes to support the Calistoga Art Center
Location: Online, live on Zoom, from wherever you are
Materials you'll need: Download list HERE.
Price: Just $147
A portion of each class fee goes to support the Calistoga Art Center
- And, when you take a class,
a portion of your fee goes to support the Calistoga Art Center.
FAQs
Is this like a Paint-and-Sip-type class, where the students copy what the teacher demonstrates?
Is this like a Paint-and-Sip-type class, where the students copy what the teacher demonstrates?
- No, most definitely not!
- You will learn how to actually paint YOUR OWN paintings, not to copy what someone else is doing.
- Because the whole point is to be creative, right? Not to be a copyist. (You can sip if you like — that's your choice!
Student creating abstract landscape paintings during in-person workshop. It's a little different from what we'll be doing — but easy to step into once you've gotten started.
What will we actually create when we're together?
- At the end of the day, you will have three original abstract paintings, each created with a different method.
- You can continue to explore all three methods, or whichever you enjoy the most, on your own.
- And you'll have fun techniques that you can use to:
- Develop your current paintings even more, if you want to
- Or apply them to future paintings.
Demonstration abstract painting in progress, with texture medium (that's in Acrylic Painting 102!_ • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
What if we want to add texture and collage to our paintings?
- If you like, you can discover how to do exactly that in Karen's next class — Acrylic Painting 102 — on August 25, 2024.
- You will learn how to add collage to your paintings, with your own printed photographs, drawings, or decorative papers.
- You will discover acrylic texture mediums, how to use them, and how to create your own texture mediums.
- You will find out how to create glazes, to cover areas of your painting with a subtle, thin, transparent layer of color.
What if we want to paint something realistic?
- You can do that in Acrylic Painting 103, where you will learn how to paint a simple still life. There's a lot that goes into painting something so simple — and it will apply to everything else you will want to paint, too. That's coming up on September 29, 2024!
An Introduction to Acrylic Painting 101
& Your Teacher
A little note: after making the video, I decided to add that follow-up meetup day into the afternoon portion of our class, so we can add a third method of making abstract paintings, and you'll still have plenty of time. 🙂
Sunday • July 28, 2024 • 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
And Even More Painting Techniques We'll Explore...
More examples to come....
Abstract Arch & Moon • 16" x 20" Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Students love Karen's classes!
"I have been taking classes from Karen Ingalls for approximately two and a half years. She is an amazing teacher. ...She is always positive... but also encourages us to move out of our comfort zones into a place that enables us to grow in our own individual styles. ..."
— Sally Briggs, Healdsburg
"Classes with Karen are fun. ... I had no idea if I could paint when I started taking her classes. It's very subtle, but you learn a lot, and everyone makes continual progress. She is very supportive of individual styles and gives really constructive feedback."
— Patricia Campbell, Santa Rosa
— Sally Briggs, Healdsburg
"Classes with Karen are fun. ... I had no idea if I could paint when I started taking her classes. It's very subtle, but you learn a lot, and everyone makes continual progress. She is very supportive of individual styles and gives really constructive feedback."
— Patricia Campbell, Santa Rosa
Student creating abstract landscape painting during in-person workshop
Why Use Acrylics?
Acrylic paints are the most versatile, and most forgiving, paint medium.
In what way are acrylics forgiving?
Do you want to paint quickly?
- They are way easier than watercolors or oil paints!
In what way are acrylics forgiving?
- It's simple — if you don't like what you're working on, just give your paint a little time to dry, and paint over it. No fuss.
- And you don't have to wait ages before painting over it, because it dries quickly.
Do you want to paint quickly?
- That's where acrylics excel. Because of its fast drying time, you can add layers of new paint over what you're working on, for rich, interesting surfaces.
- And if it's still not drying fast enough for you, you can speed up the process with a hair dryer or heat gun.
Abstract Floral painting — another direction you can take your paintings in!
Do you want to create a watercolor-like look?
Do you want to create work that looks like oil painting?
- You can do that in acrylics, without the challenges of watercolors (the most difficult painting medium, though it might seem easier at first glance).
- You can paint over it without re-wetting the surface.
- You can use white paint (eithier opaque or transparent) over the top of other paint colors.
Do you want to create work that looks like oil painting?
- You can do that in acrylics — except they dry a whole lot faster!
- And you can get a buttery, creamy paint consistency similar to oils, and extended drying time for three to four days, by using Open Acrylics — which also intermix with every other kind of acrylic paints.
Four different kinds of paint brushes
Do you want to work with mixed media, and incorporate collage into your work?
Would you like to add textural effects to your paintings?
- Acrylics are THE paint medium for working with collage,
- and they combine amazingly well with almost every other art medium.
Would you like to add textural effects to your paintings?
- Welcome to the world of acrylic mediums, which give you a large range of options to do just that! Textures can include:
- Molding pastes, Fiber, Sand, Pumice, Glass beads, Crackle effects, and more.
- You can also create your own textures by adding things like ashes, sawdust, or salt (or whatever you can think of) to acrylic mediums.
Abstract with Red Circles • 16" x 20" • Acrylics and mixed media on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Do you love the look of encaustics, but would rather not work with hot wax?
- You can create an encaustic-like appearance in your paintings, using acrylic paints and mediums.
Abstract Painting in progress • 11" x 14" • Acrylics on canvas • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Sunday • July 28, 2024 • 10:30 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific Time
Location: Online, live on Zoom, from wherever you are
Materials you'll need: Download list HERE.
Price: Just $147
A portion of each class fee goes to support the Calistoga Art Center
Location: Online, live on Zoom, from wherever you are
Materials you'll need: Download list HERE.
Price: Just $147
A portion of each class fee goes to support the Calistoga Art Center
