We are always on the lookout for smart shortcuts and art hacks that actually work and make our process of creation easier and more fun.
For this article, I have gathered a bunch of art hacks that actually work for you to use on your future art projects. I found these on many platforms and made up this collection of pre-tested hacks that will make your life way easier.
1- Make your runny acrylic paint thicker and more pigmented
This art hack is very quick and easy, if your acrylic paint is runny or too watery, and goes on pretty transparent, you might want to thicken it up for a better outcome. You may also wanna try this art hack if you’d like to add some texture to your watercolor paintings.
To do that, you just take some corn starch and mix it with your cheap or transparent acrylic paint and mix until you achieve your desired consistency in making it more pigmented. This art hack is life-changing!
2- Use hair spray to lock in your charcoal and pastel drawings
Okay, listen, I am not a brokie, but I understand that you may not always have a charcoal fixative spray on hand, especially since it can get a little too expensive for someone who is sketching and making art on a daily basis. I learned this art hack from TikTok and it is the real deal y’all. Spraying some hair spray on your charcoal and pastel drawings locks it in place and prevents it from smearing all over and getting to your hands and making everything else dirty. It works just like a fixative spray!
Keep in mind that it might turn yellow over time, so only use this for trials and personal sketchbooks.
3- Work on grey and nude backgrounds for the best color accuracy
I am a big color person; I love my colors, and I spend most of my time analyzing how colors go together, and how they affect each other. And I have learned over time that applying a hue to a white surface makes the color look darker; likewise, on a black surface, it looks lighter. However, on a neutral or gray background, it appears to be very accurate to what is on the tube. So always buy neutral-colored papers and canvases, or stain them gray before you start painting.
Check these articles for more insights on these art topics:
Drawing for beginners: All you need to know
Free Tools to Pick a Harmonious Color Palette for any Art Project
4- Remove the dry acrylic paint from your brushes
I have previously shared a whole article on how to pick art brushes and care for them, but this art hack is such a good one. Take your dried brushes and soak them in acetone and it is going to melt off any dried acrylic paint that you have left on the bristles of your brush. Try it!
5- Copying a reference accurately
This art hack is for those of you who still struggle with copying drawings accurately from references. And while I have shared many articles in the past on how to master proportions, and draw different subjects realistically, this hack is helpful and would come in handy for many artists.
For this hack, you will need white computer paper + a graphite pencil. You don’t need to buy a graphic or carbon paper from the craft store.
You will take a white computer paper, put it over the sketch or image you would like to transfer onto your canvas, and then start tracing your image.
Once your image is traced, you are now ready to make the graphite paper.
To make your graphite paper, flip the paper you used to trace your image on, and shade with your pencil all over the back of the paper.
Your next step is to transfer the tracing of the image to your desired surface. Take your surface and place your image on top, sharpen your pencil well and retrace the image again. The pencil will be pressing the graphite on the back of the paper to your canvas or any other surface. You can even use a ballpoint pen for this step because you can then see where you’re retracing.
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This method is great for carving as well. Try it and let me know your thoughts about it.
Don’t forget to:
Try these hacks and share with me what you think of them in the comments section! Enjoy creating <3
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