9 Different Brushstrokes
9 different brushstrokes you can add in your simple strokes painting. These 9 different brushstrokes will help elevate your acrylic paintings and take them to the next level. Learn what the 9 different brushstrokes are below!
9 Different Brushstrokes
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9 Different Brushstrokes to Practice
Splatter
Dry brush
Dab/pointillism/Impressionist marks
Washes
Layering -dry brush and wet brush
Scraping into wet paint
Drips
Cross-hatching
Paint in the direction of the object/hatching
Splatter
To splatter paint you need a bit of water on your brush but not too much. Once your brush is a bit wet you can add some paint on the end of the bristles. The further away you tap the brush the smaller the dots of the splatter will be. The closer you tap your brush to the canvas the larger the dots will be. If you have too much water on your brush you could end up with larger blobs. I usually tap the brush on my fingers of my opposite hand or flick the bristles with my finger.
Dry Brush
To use a dry brush you don't need any water on your brush, just some paint. You can even dab off extra paint so the brush is more dry. Then simply dab, rub or paint with the dry brush. You can layer other colours to create a nice texture.
Dab/Pointillism/Impressionist Marks
You can dab your brush with some paint on the end and you can choose to add water or not. You can dab with the side of the bristles or use the tip of the paint brush to create finer and smaller dots like pointillism. You can leave spaces in between and layer colours. You can do the same to create impressionist style brushstrokes by having longer strokes in the same direction and layering colours.
Washes
Add some water to your brush with some paint. You can then continue to add water to create a lighter wash when you rub the bristles on the canvas in a swoop like motion.
Layering -Dry Brush and Wet Brush
You can layer colours of different paint with a wet brush with water or a dry brush without water. Just start with one colour painting in the same direction then layer your next colour. Continue to layer the colours until they blend nicely.
Drips
Add some blobs of paint that are daily wet with enough water on the canvas. Then tilt the canvas to let the drips drop and roll. You can tilt the canvas in different ways to get different directions of drips.
Cross-hatching
You can add some paint in an x or t shape keep layering that directions of brushstroke. You can layer in some other colours to get some nice texture.
Paint in the Direction of the Object/Hatching
Painting in the same direction of the object you can add short little brushstrokes. If the object is round then paint in a curved direction.
Scraping Into Wet Paint
Start by painting a section of the canvas in one colour. Then you can paint another layer in a different colour over top when the first layer is mostly dry. Using the end of the paint brush or a toothpick you can scratch into the paint and it will review marks of the bottom layer.
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