Keep your Acrylic Paintings Vibrant

                                                     NEON PEAR   acrylic wash on paper (click to enlarge)

  

The above painting was a little study made while honing a technique in a class -  making acrylic washes.  The beauty of acrylic paint is that you can use it to create either a rich, oil-painterly look or a soft, more ephemeral watercolor effect. When using full body professional-grade acrylic paint you will end up with thick lustrous color without doing anything to it.  However, when you mix the paint with a lot of water, to make washes, blending of watery colors etc.,  it will dry very dull.

When you create your piece and it's still wet, you'll love it, but then become disappointed when it dries and the result is a flat--a grayed out dull painting.  DON'T DESPAIR!  You can bring your painting back to life. Just brush a couple coats of high gloss varnish over it and all the colors will come back to life!  You can use varnish from the art supply store...or just plain old boat varnish.  It will last you a long long while and be cheaper.  When you brush, use a cheap hardware store type brush; always brush in the same direction to avoid bubbles.