5 Essential Tips for Mastering Vibrant Light and Color in Acrylics:

Are you struggling to capture vibrant light and color effects in your acrylic paintings? In this video, we tackle a common issue many artists face: achieving the brilliance of light and color with acrylics. Acrylics can sometimes get dull or muddy very easily, but with the right techniques, you can bring your paintings to life with stunning vibrancy.
In this tutorial, we'll cover:
Quality of Paints: Why good quality acrylics can make a difference in pigmentation and vibrancy.
Color Mixing: Tips to achieve the perfect hues and values, avoiding muddy mixtures.
Underpainting: How starting with a bright underpainting can make your colors pop and enhance the overall effect.
Using values for strong light and
Color Temperature for interesting color effects.
✅ Your FREE Painting Course: art.malcolmdewey.art/FreeCourse
🎨 Materials:
Golden heavy body acrylics set: amzn.to/4ceCd84
Amsterdam acrylics: amzn.to/3xhZK9h
Transform your acrylic paintings into masterpieces filled with light and color. Don't forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more art tutorials and tips!
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:18 Start of Demonstration
01:26 Tip 1 Underpainting
01:53 Materials
03:04 Tip 2 Paint Quality
07:13 Scraping off
07:30 Tip 3 Clean Color and Application
10:00 Painting Knife
11:56 Tip 4 Color Temperature
14:59 Atmospheric perspective
16:13 Tip 5 Value Contrast
17:48 How to make shadows
18:44 Foreground shadow
24:11 Highlights and accents
27:27 Final details
31:29 Completion
33:06 Free course offer

[@racheloliveri5568]

Bravo! Very inspiring. I can see why my work gets so messy. Your demonstration is a brilliant example of practicing restraint and the thoughtful, careful placement of colour.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you very much! Yes muddy color happens quickly with acrylics.

[@jacobtejada3913]

The simplified shapes and hues and brushstrokes are amazing! The loose effect is very nice.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you very much

[@michaelbarilli5915]

Beatiful painting. Enjoy your show very much Keep going M A Barilli

[@Sheena268]

Great looking, happy painting thank you Malcolm. I’m really inspired to take a “risk” in my current rather washed out looking painting😂😂. You make it look so easy, but I know this comes from years of practice! One day ……….. thanks for the encouragement!

[@MalcolmDewey]

Go for it Sheena!

[@mabyonedayicanbehappy]

He has a great video about taking risk and another about correcting mistakes and really all his videos are great you should watch those two and his loose painting videos right after. Make that "one day" today! And everyday!

[@Sheena268]

@@mabyonedayicanbehappy thank you, I will do!

[@bonniediener5413]

Thank you…I will watch this many times, I’m sure. I love your brush strokes, they’re so informed!

[@MalcolmDewey]

You are so welcome!

[@beckyhofer4328]

I really loved this! I don’t have any acrylics, but I do have oils right now. I will follow your tutorial with the oils! beautiful job painting and excellent job, Teaching! Thank you.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you so much!

[@tharwatoday4480]

I’m so happy to have found your channel. I love your teaching style. I’m actually grasping it and I love that you start with a red canvas. Greetings from California 🙏🏻🌺

[@MalcolmDewey]

Excellent, thank you!

[@elizabethlineham4065]

So good to see you painting with acrylics and creating such fabulous colors. Thanku again Malcolm ❤

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you so much 😀

[@kamleshsunak3176]

Thank you Malcolm for this demo. You have made a simple reference look so beautiful and vibrant. I have never felt comfortable with acrylics, but would love to try this.

[@MalcolmDewey]

You're very welcome!

[@dmortelli1]

Excellent video Malcolm! Great instruction showing your process from beginning to end. It was very helpful that you showed the change in the sky at the beginning. How you felt it wasn’t conveying correctly the way you wanted and easily changed it demonstrating how it is just part of the painting process, not a mistake. Your videos are always well done and packed full of great content. 🎨🖌️

[@MalcolmDewey]

Glad you enjoyed it - Yes, painting requires a lot of corrections to get the end result. This is why humans will always differ from AI art.

[@jordynhunsecker1620]

Amazing! So cool to see your thought process on how to make your reference picture fit your needs.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thanks so much!

[@sdc9572]

These colors are nice and vibrant, looks very interesting

[@Engelhafen]

You are such a great teacher

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you so much

[@davidbirch9558]

Never thought to use the reference as a basis only giving opportunity to put your self into the painting . Don't need to slavishly follow the reference Thanks David

[@MalcolmDewey]

Absolutely!

[@racheloliveri5568]

Beautifully vibrant and diverse colours that create an exciting visual experience. Lovely.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Many thanks!

[@pennyhenley6452]

luv luv your new colours thank you so much as always for sharing so kindly

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@BOMBAY_CAT]

I love to watch you paint, and thank you for your wonderful videos! Beautiful painting!

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you so much 😀

[@123tabatha]

Love how you make a dull reference so vibrant. I need to try thid & stop playing it safe. Thankyou.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Enjoy it!

[@laurierounds7102]

Excellent class. ❤

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you! 😃

[@simonapalosan3208]

It is a delight as usual, replaced my desert :). I have a similar reference photo that I think could be use it in this way, but with oil or gouache or oil pastel .... hope I overcome my procrastination. Thank you.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Sounds great!

[@predragprevolsek967]

Beautiful!

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you!

[@user-ql4sy5eo4t]

All your courses are informative, fun and you have a very reassuring voice. I’ve learnt so much about colour and value and I can’t wait to have a go at this!

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you, have fun with it 😊

[@charlottebd3877]

Thank you for inspiration and your calm way to teach. After watching several of your videos I just had to try painting impasto and it came out surprisingly good and now I love this technique more than any ! 🙏

[@MalcolmDewey]

Wonderful!

[@DSmith-pc9jn]

Beautiful, Malcolm, and so clearly shown. Thank you.

[@MalcolmDewey]

It's a pleasure, thank you

[@janinem3280]

Wow! This really pops! Thank you, Malcolm 💕

[@MalcolmDewey]

Glad you like it!

[@dollyhare5186]

Thank you! That heat is lovely in the painting.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you too!

[@ZYosef-sd7wu]

Thank you.

[@MalcolmDewey]

You're welcome!

[@kiritsi100]

Great work Malcolm! Love how you gave your own interpretation of the scene. Was also surprised how wet your paints stayed on your pallete. I sometimes use a staywet container and also mist the paints if outside. Didn't notice any of that on your video. You also painted pretty quickly so that could be it.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you very much! Yes, a smaller work like this can be done in 40-60 minutes, so the paints last fine. A sprayer to mist over the paints can extend that time.

[@edwinperez3689]

It's beautiful and great for the seeing bringing joy and relaxation.🎉

[@MalcolmDewey]

Yes, thank you

[@NatalyKenny-wz5zw]

Thank you so much, Master! I really needed this tutorial now! I am stuck with my idyllic Lake District landscape with the 7 sheep... cannot get to like it whatever I change. I think this video gave me some ideas.🥰❤️❤️

[@MalcolmDewey]

😊 sounds interesting. Good luck!

[@Krista1921]

Enjoy your tutorials so much! I recently had the pleasure of seeing a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit in Montreal. I have irises blooming in my garden so am motivated to try painting them. Question - how on earth does she get those lights to pop like that? Her whites look like they are backlit.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you - keep the wites warm and put some color alongside that helps them to pop forward.

[@kaygilbert8773]

So informative, thank you!

[@MalcolmDewey]

You are so welcome!

[@jsavideoproductions]

Very good demonstration Malcolm. Was it filmed in real time or speeded up a little in the edit?

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thanks - I did edit the gaps and so on - Took about 40 minutes

[@jsavideoproductions]

@@MalcolmDewey Thanks Malcolm. I think the speed at which you paint make your paintings feel fresh and lively. I have found acrylics much easier to handle spontaneously compared to oils as they allow layering and corrections to be made much more quickly.

[@lindagiese9609]

Do most of these tips apply to oils as well? Ty

[@MalcolmDewey]

Absolutely, they all do.

[@tetianaabramov]

❤❤❤

[@user-eq2cw2db7h]

👍👍👍👍👍🎨🖌️ 33:42 ♥️ from Frances uk 😊

[@sunshinejenny5536]

Do you ever paint Oils over the Acrylics?

[@MalcolmDewey]

Yes, that is how I started oil painting initially. It's always an option.

[@lazarenwaleri]

It's very tasty.

[@MalcolmDewey]

Thank you so much 😊