Acrylic Paint on Paper: EASY Tips, Ideas and 5 Videos!

Creating Acrylic Paintings is super fun and forgiving because Acrylic Paints have a longer dry time, can easily be layered and come in so many colors! For beginners, using Acrylic Paint on Paper is a great way to build their skill and explore techniques.

Hello friends! Today I am flipping through my dot journal with you and showing you how I use acrylic paint on paper to create quick florals.

Can you use acrylic paint on sketchbook paper?

A sketchbook with a slightly thicker paper will work great. If your paper is too thin, your acrylic paint on paper will warp the as the paint dries. I pull out my sketchbook whenever my painting skills feel rusty or I just need a creative break. Spending some time playing with paint colors and filling a sketchbook with easy flower paintings always lifts my mood.

Check out my hashtag #mysketchbook06 for more easy flower paintings.

For all these below examples, I used the same exact acrylic paint on paper technique, just different colors, and compositions. My sketchbook is a Toned Tan one and to maintain a nice border around my page I’m using tape.

ALSO READ: Best masking tapes for your sketchbook

how to paint on paper with acrylic paints VIDEO

In the below video, I am using acrylic paint on paper and this is actually a dot journal! The paint I’ve used dries hard and dry to the touch and the pages don’t stick to each other once dried. Click the video box below and enjoy the video! https://www.instagram.com/tv/BxaqlbGHCi5/

4 Tips for using acrylic paint on paper:

1. Avoid adding water:

Paper can buckle when you use too much water. With craft acrylic paints I find that I rarely need to add ANY water at all. If you need to wash your paintbrush in between colors, wipe it down before painting again.

2. Block in your flower shapes:

acrylic paint on paper archer olive dot journal

For this floral painting, I blocked in my flower shapes to completely fill in the page without any paper background showing. I used just one single color of paint per area to do the blocking. Then for the next layer, I applied a paint shade that is close in color and applied dry uneven strokes. This way the new paint color and the previous paint color show through and create a beautiful variation.

3. Partially mix your colors:

This below floral sketch was painted in under 10 mins. It was a busy day and I needed a quick creative outlet. So I chose just 5 colors here, a pink, a yellow, a green and finished it off with a touch of white and black. By keeping a few colors to choose from, I was able to quickly paint my flowers. I was still able to vary the colors in our petals slightly my picking up both pink and white onto my paintbrush at once. I am not mixing my colors completely before painting, and this creates a nice color variation in each element of the painting.

4. Easily layer your colors to fix mistakes:

acrylic paint on paper using deco arts paints

For this floral painting, I took my time and layered my colors. Again, to prevent my paper from buckling, I let my paint layers dry in between.

conclusion: Acrylic paint on paper

There is something just so satisfying in sitting down and adding paint onto paper. It is relaxing and not as daunting as a canvas. This was just what I needed today. It cleanses your mind as you add stroke after stroke of color to create something beautiful.