How to Paint a Vincent Van Gogh Blended Background in Acrylics by Ginger Cook

How to layer acrylic paint for a professional-looking blended background for either still life art or portraits and on master artists like Vincent Van Gogh used often. This demonstration illustrates a simple and easy technique for achieving that effect
This was one of our first videos I ever made (5 cameras ago) and I have left it up in spite of the shaky camera work because the information is so valuable to any acrylic artists.
These background examples are painted with professional Matisse Structure acrylic paint. Burnt Umber, cad yellow medium, cad red medium, Burnt Sienna, white, and Dioxazine Purple.
For more expansive information on painting with acrylics check out http/www.gingercooklive.com

[@toniasagoo5010]

Thank you so much for sharing this tutorial. As a fellow artist, I can't express enough how valuable this example is and how it will help me with my portraits. Thank you Ginger and God Bless xx

[@gingercooklive]

This is the technique I use if most of my still life art and backgrounds for portraits.glad you found it helpful.

[@MissReola]

Thank YOU Ginger!!! This technique is just what I needed to know! It's so counter-intuitive to use the brush that way, but it produces the exact effect that I wanted/needed ... I wish they had taught that (& so many other techniques) in my university art classes (grrrr). What a blessing youtube is!

[@debbaize4271]

I keep forgetting how important layering is. so much of the time my work looks so flat. now I understand why

[@gingercooklive]

Then this was a successful video Glad it made an impact for you. Ginger

[@jillusher5835]

Ginger, you are a great teacher! I've seen a huge improvement in my paintings, just from this one video alone.

[@kpatten9894]

This is one of my favorite Ginger Cook video's. I love doing backgrounds!

[@dh7217]

This was my first into to Ginger Cook. Fell in love with this technique and colors. 2 yrs later, I still come back to this video. 💜💜

[@cynthiathompson3016]

Absolutely stunning backgrounds! Love how easily you are able to make them happen. Great tutorial!

[@gailbernard1262]

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful technique! I used liquid acrylics for the background which turned out amazing. I'm using regular golden acrylics for the subject on top and I think it is beautiful.. Best tip I've learned in the last ten years. Love this!

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks Gail. Its an must have for most still life backgrounds and portraits.

[@annemcardle6007]

Gail Bernard +

[@jefferywarburton2116]

this can also be a great use for left over paint on the pallet or even when you clean your brush just keep a small canvas insted of a paint rag

[@gingercooklive]

Its true, we do that with our left over paint... Great observation

[@meglemaster461]

What a great idea!

[@pattyleib]

You're an amazing teacher. I sure do appreciate it.

[@sarahspilman8656]

Thank you Ginger! Your videos are educational and fun, and you have such a positive energy! Love your coaching, lessons, and appreciate your free videos! It is like talking to a friend when I hear your videos, don’t ever stop ❤️

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much Sarah, art hugs from Texas

[@hanneromeike9786]

These backgrounds are so beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and techniques with us🥰🥰🥰

[@gingercooklive]

we appreciate the positive feedback

[@nancybisogno118]

I actually loved the sienna background. To me it's pretty enough to be a modern painting by itself👏

[@gingercooklive]

Yes it would be very nice on a large canvas Perhaps introduce a third dark color.

[@chances26forever]

I’m so happy you did this, I have been playing with background color, very helpful ,Thankyou 💕

[@dorothymccaffrey4794]

Thank you so much for these tips. The backgrounds are beautiful.

[@suezq9155]

Beautiful background tutorial! Acrylic painting is so fast! Love your videos.

[@TheLizanne1]

I just viewed this again 5 years later as I need a similar effect for a 40x40 painting. I will upsize my brush and be in business!! Thank you xx

[@sahja324]

These are beautiful and would make wonderful dramatic backgrounds for photography.

[@BeauMeztli]

Thank you so much for this! I can't wait to try it!

[@leonsky999]

Very useful lesson Ginger. Many thanks....

[@brandywoldstad5528]

This was a great lesson on creating backgrounds. Thanks!

[@kimiskanvas]

Ginger, Your straight forward yet friendly and easy to understand teaching method has taught me so much. I enjoy watching your videos over and over just to catch a little tip you may give that I may have missed last time I watched. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much, your support and kind comments mean a lot. Art hugs from Jon and me.

[@deannaallen5195]

I am such a fan. You explain so well helping me understand my mistakes. Always wanted to do this background and now I know.....dry dry dry.....thank you so much.

[@gingercooklive]

That is absolutely the trick and keep your brush moving

[@leehauser8887]

Thanks so much! That was so exciting to watch it all come together . I'm encouraged!

[@CHCHNZ461]

Wow I am so glad I found your channel. I learnt so much in 15 min. Thank-you for your very clear explanation.

[@gingercooklive]

Awesome. This was one of the first videos I put up a couple of years ago. I really appreciate the positive response. Ginger

[@honeyrayen3549]

Thank you so much! Ginger in new to painting and I absolutely love this! Thank you for teaching me!

[@theyolachannel3725]

Spectacular!!!! What a great tutorial... Thank you so much, you are a great artist and teacher...

[@craz2311]

So beautiful backgrounds 😍Thanks for your tutorials.

[@LyndaThomasflymefree54]

Loved this! I learn so, so much from you. Thank you so much.

[@kristendixon7127]

Thank you for this video, Ginger. I’m going to try this background technique on a few different paintings I’m doing.

[@MaginFloridaBlue]

Thank you so very much for sharing this!!! I am a "novice " & was struggling with trying to figure out a background & how to do one, last night- well I ended up painting the canvas w/gesso so I could start again! What I mess it was! I truly appreciate you sharing your talent!

[@gingercooklive]

MagfromFlorida I am glad you found this technique useful I do free live classes on KZbin Tues. evening 7:30 and 1 pm Wed. central time. Feel free to follow along and ask question. Its fun because its live. Ginger

[@whitneythornton4489]

this is exactly what I needed. Thanks. You always come up with such helpful tips!!

[@Qzilla189]

I’ve painted since I was little. I’ve never had a painting come out like the tutorial I followed until I followed yours. I’m thrilled with my background

[@gingercooklive]

Awesome. I use this technique for most of my still life backgrounds, and just vary the colors. www.acrylicpaintingwithgingercook.com

[@teentb2075]

A great oldie but goodie, thank you Ginger for leaving this video up :-)

[@marycaciamasser3814]

Thanks for sharing this tip on making interesting backgrounds. These are beautiful. Love them!!

[@gingercooklive]

awesome, and they are a really good background for all kinds of things

[@55bkcherub]

I love this . Going to try very soon. I have a painting on my easel that has sat there for several months. The patron Unicorn Angela Anderson did. And I am just scared to do the swirls...just lines really . I love your lessons and have been bouncing around watching them. Love you and Jon. Great lessons,story's and caring

[@artsygirll2010]

Thank you Ginger! That was an excellent tutorial!!! Love them both!

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much. This is a wonderful technique to learn to do and so useful in all kinds of applications.

[@lisabpaul2931]

Thank you for the lesson!! Can’t wait to find more from you!!!

[@utesell7269]

Amazing video Ginger! I will practice this right away and try to find out how to use this technic in abstract painting.

[@Alison58539]

I always wondered how to do this my backgrounds are going to be so much better now, thank you for the tutorial👍

[@tonic5181]

LOVE the backgrounds!!!! I cant wait to use them in a painting.

[@gingercooklive]

Toni, Glad you liked them. I look forward to seeing what you have painted. by the way, the Van Gogh still life of the pot and flowers if part of next weeks live lesson on my gigsaw gingecooklive site. Ginger

[@sunshinegirl8214]

Ginger that was a really great lesson in layering, and thx for adding your brush technique as you went along. Thank you so much!!

[@louislogan6418]

Hello beautiful how are you doing

[@lucynicholas9489]

Really enjoyed your tutorial. The backgrounds are pretty enough to frame by themselves!

[@gingercooklive]

Gosh thanks so much

[@shavaunaronan3188]

Thank you very much Ginger for putting out this video. As a beginner it is quite amazing all the different techniques you can do with acrylic paint. Backgrounds can have some pretty cool depth as you have shown. I loved it.

[@gingercooklive]

+Shavauna Ronan I am glad you liked it. I will be live tonight on KZbin at 7:30 central time. Pop in and say hi.

[@Musicbox690423]

Wow, I just love this instructive video on how to use different brush techniques!! I am preparing a big canvas to paint an opened red rose and was looking for an interesting background that would compliment the rose and let it stand out. Thanks very much. So beautiful.

[@gingercooklive]

Awesome. I hope you can share it with us in my FB club; facebook.com/groups/GingerCookClub/ We share original acrylic work on Wed. and Sat great group and fun to see what everyone is painting.

[@socalsal627]

So beautiful! Thanks for sharing, this is such a valuable lesson to layer, dry, layer, dry, layer, dry..... then maybe layer some more! 😂 When I started doing this my paintings definitely improved by leaps and bounds.

[@gingercooklive]

You are so welcome!

[@marthiescholer4565]

THANKS so MUCH I'm going to repeat and repeat this video over and over again until I succeed!!!! THANKS AGAIN

[@eabtuning1]

This was really helpful. So glad I stumbled across it. Love your work. Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us. Looking forward to much more.

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much.. i hope you join our FREE facebook club.... facebook.com/groups/GingerCookClub/and check out all the latest news and would love to see your art work too.

[@marianaelenis1344]

thank you Ginger. this is soo so helpful! great and clear. you are very kind!

[@gingercooklive]

+mariana Elenis This blending technique is a great skill to have as it has so many applications too. Glad you liked it. Ginger

[@jayems332]

This is beautiful. I'm very grateful to you for sharing. Can't wait to try it. XX

[@gingercooklive]

We do most of our still life backgrounds using this technique, so glad you found it helpful.

[@patriciajohnson8501]

Thank you Ginger, This will help so much on improving my backgrounds.

[@gingercooklive]

yes and yes, the easiest to learn and the best to use.

[@amberhenry5566]

THis was a very helpful video. thank you for sharing. I always wondered about layiering and now I know a little bit more about it and the effects

[@gingercooklive]

+Amber Henry Acrylics is all about layering. I wll be doing a shadding demo tonight at 7:30 pm central live on KZbin. This is another one of theose technniques one needs to have for sucessful acrylic painting.. Ginger

[@Susanasart]

Thank you amazing teacher you are

[@gingercooklive]

Thank you. I am so glad you found this helpful. It is such a great way to blend multiple layers of color. Super

[@Pottymoon]

Thanks Ginger, nice to meet you!

[@josephlowry4320]

Thank you Ginger Cook, it's the perfect technique for when I do an Van Gogh style painting.

[@gingercooklive]

for any portrait back ground just change a few colors.

[@kayegroff3102]

Beautiful and you make it look so easy

[@melissadennis6431]

Thanks Ginger You are very good at explaining what I need to know and do

[@mklholst8854]

Loved it!

[@Cpickerel]

absolutely love the colors and the technique! Thank You!

[@gingercooklive]

+Charla Pickerel Thank you. This background is so helpful for so many different kinds of paintings.

[@Cpickerel]

+Ginger Cook , If I were going to paint a still life against the Burnt Umber background you did, and I had shadows against that "wall" from my vase of flowers, what would you suggest as good shadow color against it?

[@Shadri00]

Great information! So glad I discovered your channel. Thank you for sharing.

[@gingercooklive]

I appreciate your comments. I am glad these tips can be helpful. Ginger

[@ektasaikia7153]

This was quite helpful.

[@dianareid5661]

WOW!! This was just what I was looking for! Thanks so much for sharing... you've saved my day!!

[@gingercooklive]

You are so welcome!

[@aleezaymohsin170]

This was actually the kind of tutorial i had been looking for...God bless u 💚💚💚

[@gingercooklive]

awesome art hugs from Jon and me

[@anav.8719]

thank you so much for this demo, it's so helpful!!

[@gingercooklive]

I am glad you found this helpful and sorry to take so long to answer, just found your comment.

[@suzysmith3406]

Thank you so much, I plan on trying this out when I get home from work tomorrow.

[@joannkenslerive9274]

Very helpful and interesting to watch. Thank you.

[@bahaven1896]

Thanks Ginger - that is JUST what I needed. I just did a painting but wanted to abstract the background - now I KNOW just how to do it right! Barb

[@gingercooklive]

+BA Haven Awesome, this is a really great background for so many kinds of paintings and it can be any two or more colors to work....Ginger

[@katherinebareykadet7710]

Thank you Ginger for another wonderful lesson. It's so beautiful I don't want to paint over it. Cheers!

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much. its a good trick to know how to do.

[@fayemckenna558]

Lovely thanks Ginger

[@gingercooklive]

glad you liked it.

[@elisewong4976]

Very helpful. Will definitely experiment it on my next painting. Thanks so much for taking your time and efforts to share your knowledge with complete strangers :D

[@gingercooklive]

I am happy that other artist find this useful. When I started painting with acrylics in the mid 1960s it was a journey of discovery as acrylics were such a new medium. My goal was always to get oil painting effects with acrylics, which I discovered was possible but needed to be approached differently than the way oils are used. What makes acrylic paint for me to be so terrific is that they dry fast which is what oil painters hate about them,

[@merisonola]

Thank you for this. I love you for sharing your knowledge.

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much for the positive feedback.

[@Ramzixox]

Thank you so much! It's exactly what I was hoping to find! So trying this out x

[@gingercooklive]

Ramzixox I appreciate you feedback, and will continue to put up tips and tricks for better results with acrylic painting Ginger

[@donnaverrilli6604]

Love your video on background painting. Thanks.

[@gingercooklive]

Thank you, this is a great tip to lean because you have so many applications to use it with.

[@ethel2681]

thank you Ginger, I had to have a re cap of this lesson before I go ahead with my current background, cross your fingers for me that it works, you make it look so easy :) Thanks again xx

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much. This is a must have skill for so many acrylic painting applications too.

[@Jackzxc321]

Beautiful backgrounds, thanks for the vid.

[@gingercooklive]

+ultra blue Happy you liked them and took the time to comment. Ginger

[@kalavathikumar3492]

Wonderful !!! I have been struggling with my backgrounds. This video is very interesting and useful. My paintings were good, I felt, but the backgrounds were dull and lifeless. Now I have got the idea. Am so thrilled that I have started painting the moment I finished seeing this video. Thanks a lot. 😊

[@gingercooklive]

the trick is to dry between layers if you do multiple coats.

[@zoeyharris9924]

This was very helpful! Thank you for putting up your videos! I'm learning so much!

[@gingercooklive]

Zoey Harris Zoey, I am glad you found this helpful. Acrylics are painted very differently from oils or watercolors. The reason I love them so much is that not only can you complete a painting quickly, the ability to dry between layers or change your mind allows for a great deal of bold creativity. Ginger

[@maryhorn3829]

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing this with us.

[@gingercooklive]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lahaza6515]

I didn't even know enough to know what I didn't know! I've been trying for DAYS to create the loose, mottled dark tones you showed here & failing for it to look like this. THANK YOU

[@gingercooklive]

Just keep the the brush moving, always getting the edges. Do several layers. Start with a dry color first and then try it ( no wet brushes, just dry damp)

[@lahaza6515]

Thank you Ginger! Every bit helps!@@gingercooklive

[@tcl453]

wonderful tips from one artist to another....wanted to do some cool background and this is great !!!

[@gingercooklive]

Diane Zghoul It really works great, and if you are patient and dry in between layers you can do multiple colors. On of the best known equestrian artists I know starts out with a gold leaf gesso background and makes some awesome backgrounds using this technique.

[@MaginFloridaBlue]

Thanks Ginger! I'll mark my calendar!!!

[@angelanmarlow3605]

Great demonstration, thank you Ginger.

[@gingercooklive]

Cool, so glad you found this helpful. I hope you share our KZbin channel which allows us to reach a larger audience.

[@diannezalewski3885]

I discovered you late, but I'm loving your videos. I've only watched two, and I'm already hooked. Thanks very much for your tutelage!

[@gingercooklive]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@40bdg]

Excellent tutorial! This really helped me....Thank you!

[@gingercooklive]

thanks so much. Its an old video, have a lot better cameras now but the information is so valuable I have left it up.

[@macs_be_artsy101]

Excellent material. I’m learning that backgrounds add much more to a painting. In haste, wanting to get at the subject, I think I’ve neglected opportunities to make a nice painting a great painting.

[@gingercooklive]

So glad you found this helpful. art hugs from Texas

[@lucillerox6751]

I liked this a lot. I want to paint backgrounds like this for some mixed medial collage projects.

[@gingercooklive]

You absolutely could do that and it would be perfect.

[@Blaqu]

Wow I enjoyed your tutorial....this is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks a lot!

[@gingercooklive]

Thanks so much. This works for so many different kinds of backgrounds, just change the colors.

[@belindaroca4577]

Ginger... that was a great lesson.. as always you r awesome! Thank yoy..

[@gingercooklive]

+Belinda Roca thank you

[@Exercises10]

Amazing video, Ginger! I am a beginner painter. I am trying to create a background for a still life that I photograph. This is the best process and your suggestions work!

[@gingercooklive]

:This type of background is what the old masters used in their art work and can be done with any number of different color combinations.

[@CW008]

Gorgeous backgrounds!

[@gingercooklive]

Glad you like them!

[@allisonjames2923]

Thank you for the lesson. Lovely rich backgrounds

[@gingercooklive]

Glad you like them!

[@janiechase5052]

This is a wonderful video and it is really going to be helpful in future paintings. Thanks so much for sharing!

[@gingercooklive]

Janie Chase Janie I am so pleased you found it helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write such a positive comment. Ginger

[@nelboswell5587]

This is great, always wondered how the background came into play ... thankyou.

[@gingercooklive]

Yes and we use it all the time, just change the colors.

[@pcat1000]

marvelous ! i used a similar technique to paint out graffiti when i lived in los angeles.

[@Apollo_Blaze]

If you use acrylic medium to thin out a color you can put a see thru glaze over the finished background to really blend it all together in a very subtle way...This looks beautiful.

[@gingercooklive]

Great tip! I love Golden satin glazing medium and will try that.

[@gingercooklive]

however its a bit hard to chalk on an image over the glazing medium

[@kksilvestri5007]

Thank you for that tip. Very helpful as I'm just getting started in acrylics.

[@gingercooklive]

Great, its a very important skill to know.

[@hmax1591]

excellent lesson. Great technique.

[@gingercooklive]

thanks you, it really works well.

[@paulsmith396]

Huevonious Maximus

[@TheThaaq]

WoW that is eventually clear to me. Thank u so much Ginger for sharing your tips, really appreciate !!!

[@gingercooklive]

You are so welcome!

[@lauriemorseart]

Thank you for your instruction, it's so helpful and beautiful! Quick question on when to use the side of the brush and when to use it flat, I'm not clear on that? Thank you!

[@gingercooklive]

Just play around with it. but keep the brush moving all the time.... I use the sides most of the time or a round brush.

[@88Doug]

Great video! I love those backgrounds you could hand them just like that!

[@gingercooklive]

Thank you! Cheers!