Paint on Cardboard with Acrylics

The use of cardboard as a material to paint upon is not something many artists attempt. Acrylics, as you may know by now, can be used on many surfaces. When you use cardboard to paint upon, you need to prime it first. Afterwards you can layout your picture in charcoal or pencil. You may now begin painting your gessoed cardboard with acrylic paints.

Gessoing cardboard is not all that difficult. The trick is to prepare the surface as quickly as you can without soaking the cardboard too much. This means to lay in on as thin as you can. You may need to add a second layer after it has dried. Fill in the edges of the cardboard with the gesso to prevent critters from burrowing into your painting. Prime the other side of the cardboard once the first side is completely dried.

Find a picture you like and begin sketching it out with either pencil or charcoal. Hard charcoal works well. Try not to use too soft of a pencil. A 4B is soft enough to layout your sketch. The sketch does not need to be perfect since you will be painting over it.

You are now reading to begin painting with acrylics on the prepared cardboard. Spend some time mixing the colors for larger areas first. Do your best to get the color to match the picture. You may need to dip the brush into the paint and hold it under good lighting near the picture. A short or long ruler can be used as a guide to help the paint stay in check.

Once the large areas are defined well, you can then start painting in the lesser larger areas. Working towards the finer details will pay off because you can fix irregularities in the painting as you continue. With each new color or layer, do your best to define color borders. This does not mean to outline as a child would with crayons.

The defining colors can be added, as you get closer to finishing the painting. Hopefully you layered your colors giving them time to dry before adding colors next to them. Add more dimensions with harsh brush strokes or knife texturing. Run a paint knife along the border of a color to add a creased indenture between colors.

Careful placement of each color will bring out the luster of your painting. Take time in mixing the colors so that they are as close to what is seen in the picture you chose. The patience and effort you put into your work of art will show when you are done. Because this is an acrylic painting, it does not need to be placed behind glass. Finish it off with a varnish or glaze.