6 SIMPLE TIPS TO CREATE A LAYERED IMPASTO PAINTING – Beginner Art Tutorials and Techniques

6 TIPS FOR CREATING A LAYERED IMPASTO PAINTING:

1. Choose your texture medium – you can use either texture paste or gel. (Paste will dry opaque and gel tends to dry more clear.)
2. Layer some background texture onto canvas and let dry. Use just a little texture paste/gel on the canvas and let dry thoroughly.
3. Layer on some of your acrylic color. You don’t need to paint the whole canvas; just add some color in a couple of spot (as shown above). Let it dry.
4. Mix some light/white acrylic with some texture paste or gel and apply onto your canvas using a palette knife. Leave some peaks and texture. Let it dry completely.
5. Now working with just your white/light acrylics, you can apply thick layers of painting to the rest of your painting to cover canvas.
6. I used two different light colors: white and a light tan and applied each of them to give the background a more diverse look than just a white paint, however you can choose what you like!
   
   TIPS:
   
   Before it is dry, be sure to take a good look at all angles to see if you missed any spots with your final layer. Sometimes when working in a non-linear way on a canvas, it is easy to miss a spot or two!
   
   You can apply your varnish (one or two coats) when it is dry.
   
   
   

Here is an up-close of the blue/dark grey showing from underneath the white. Steps 3, 4, 5. Be sure to work around the colors with your final light layers, leaving some to still show through!

Here you can see the textures coming from the first layer of texture paste as well as some of the mixed acrylics with the paste/gel I applied on top.

SEE MORE PICTURES OF THIS ARTWORK

MATERIALS LIST TO CREATE THIS PAINTING:

This list does include affiliate links and I may receive a small commission from any purchases made (thank you!). I do provide links ONLY to what I know are good products or ones I actually used to create this artwork, like the canvas, paints, varnish, flat brushes, all listed/linked below.

24″ x 30″ Canvas – you can use any size, but this is what I used

Acrylic Modeling Paste – I used paste for this

Acrylics in Cerulean Blue and Dark Grey, Titanium White, Buff

Note on choosing paint type: It doesn’t matter the brand, however for a painting like this, choose heavier weight paints (not liquid or thin versions). You need heavy texture paints for an impasto artwork to create the texture!

Palette Knife – I used large palette knives like these

Flat brush – this is an excellent and inexpensive flat brush set

Varnish – I prefer a satin spray varnish (use it outside or in a really well-ventilated area!), but whichever you choose, you should varnish to help protect your final work!