!!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/343 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/353 What You’ll Get From This E-Book Quite simply, this book will help you to become a better Acrylics painter and just as importantly, you will get a huge amount of enjoyment from knowing how to use this vibrant and forgiving paint medium. Although aimed at those who have little or no experience with acrylics, this e-book will also help if you’ve tried Acrylics previously but, for whatever reason, haven’t progressed with them as much as you’d like to. In my ‘Watercolour Secrets’ e-book, I said;- I’m a great believer that anyone can be taught how to paint or draw or be “artistic”. I know from many years of first-hand experience that you don’t have to be blessed with a God-given talent. Now that statement is just as true with Acrylics as it is with Watercolours – or any other paint or drawing medium you care to mention. In fact, as we go through this e-book, you’ll find many of the techniques I’ve explained there are exactly the same with many other paint media. My wish is that with this little e-book, together we can open up a stunning world of acrylic painting that will enable you to produce pictures that will amaze family and friends with your new-found talent ! Have you ever been frustrated with art at school or in art classes where there seems to exist an assumption that students already know the basics and you’re expected to start off half-way down the road, so to speak. You’re thrown straight into terms like introducing ‘concepts’ and ‘energy’ and ‘abstraction’ into your work when all you want at that point is to find out how to mix a simple ‘shadow’ colour or create a believable-looking tree that doesn’t look like a grotesque green lollipop ? When you ask about how to avoid creating mud or painting water that looks wet, you’re told - “don’t worry, you’ll pick it up as you go along ” Well you’ll find that Acrylic Secrets tells you how to learn these basics – and a lot more useful stuff besides. This will get you going to the point where you can start to think about introducing some of those ‘concepts’ into your pictures. Every lesson, whether it’s in this e-book or the main DVD course shows you HOW. I don’t assume, like some of my schoolteachers did, that you’ll “just pick it up”… !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/363 It’s amazing what you can achieve when you’re shown step-by-step. I’m convinced, having seen the results complete beginners have achieved after following the Watercolour Secrets DVD Course that, with practice, the necessary painting skills required for Acrylics can be acquired by all of us. I promise, that with a little bit of practice (not years of trial and error) you’ll see great results - and quickly too. ! Print this e-book out - fast draft or economy printing will do. Take it to your painting station (I’ve graduated from the dining room table to a studio in a spare bedroom) and follow along. Read through a lesson and then have a go! That’s the most important thing to have a go and to have fun! Oh, and do look out for me in the free video lessons that accompany this e-book. Until then enjoy your painting. And if you like the e-book and sample videos then have a look at what you get in the full Acrylics Secrets DVD Course which I honestly believe is the best of its type that you can find anywhere. Best wishes, ! ! ! !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/373 Index of Lessons Page 4 Section 1: What is Acrylic Paint? Page 8 Section 2: What Other Equipment Do I Need? Page 16 Section 3: Basic Sky and Clouds Page 25 Section 4: Easy Middle Distance Trees Page 33 Section 5: Basic Winter Tree Page 36 Section 6: Simple Summer Trees Page 42 Section 7: Creating Depth in Mountains and Hills Page 47 Section 8: Cliffs Page 51 Section 9: Rocks and Stones Page 58 Section 10: Easy Water and Reflections Page 68 Section 11: Basic Buildings ! Page 76 Section 12: Simple Figures ! Page 83 Section 13: Animal Magic ! Page 91 Acrylic Painting Secrets on DVD ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/383 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 1.!What!is! Acrylic!Paint?! !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 !!!"#$%&'($)*(+,(+ /$%/,0"$123 3 )*-/393 ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 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[...]...  giving  an  impression  of  perspective  and  distance     www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  24   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com                                                                                                           4  Easy  Middle   Distance  Trees   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  25   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com       In  these  next  two  lessons  we’ll  look...  really  make  just  a  few  bright  highlights  stand  out     www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  32   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com                                                                                                           5  Basic  Winter   Tree   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  33   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com                                    It’s  so  easy  for...  create             8                                                           www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  14   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com                     1   2   3                               4   5                         www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     You  can  buy  special  palettes  for acrylic  paints  in  any   art  store  They  do  the  job  but  are  quite  expensive...  the  left  of  the  brush  that  I     haven’t  yet  blended                         www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     3   4   5   Page  18   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com           6                                 7                                                                     www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     About  ⅔  of  the  way  down,  as  in  Photo  6,   your  board  should  look... you’ve  got  two  surfaces  front  and  back  to  try  out!     4       www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  11   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com       In  Photo  5,  the  ‘stripes’  show  through  a   bit  on  some  types  of  corrugated  card   but  this  can  add  to  the  textural   possibilities  In  the  Acrylics Secrets   Course,  I  paint  a  scene  of  the  Toronto   waterfront  on  corrugated...  own  palette  and  to  get  painting  in  less  than   five  minutes!     Page  15   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com                                                                                                           3  Basic  Sky  &   Clouds   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  16   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com       It’s  quite  easy  to  create  a  basic  sky  using  this  technique...  manufacturers  are  also     improving  their  formulas  to  make  acrylics     stay  ‘open’  longer  but  these  tend  to  be  the     more  expensive  artists  quality,  so  the  gel     is  a  more  economical  alternative  if  you’re     just  starting  out                       www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  17   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com               Here’s  what  you’ll  need:-­‐  ...                                       5           6   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  12   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com          Here  are  some  rather  more    conventional  painting  surfaces    that  you  can  use  From  left  to    right  in  Photo  7:        1  -­‐  Watercolour  Paper    2  -­‐  Canvas  Panel    3  – Acrylic  Paper  Pad    4  –  Mount  Card    5  –  Plywood  ...  been  used  for  acrylics,  with  watercolour   brushes  for  more  detailed  work   Acrylic  paint  is  very  hard  on  brush  hairs  and  the  delicate  nature  of   watercolour  brushes  with  natural  hairs  means  they  get  damaged  very  quickly  So  don’t  use  your  best  sable   watercolour  brushes  with acrylic  paints!       In  the  last  few  years,  synthetic acrylic  brushes  have...  other’s     colours           In  Photo  15  I’m  adding  more  white  to  give     me  several  variations  in  tint  of  the  cloud     and  shadow  colours         www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com     Page  21   www.AcrylicPaintingSecrets.com       16                                       Photo  17  shows  that  I’m  also  bringing  in     some  of  that  darker  mauve  colour  I  mixed     to  create