You can also dampen the paper towel with some water and wipe it off that way too. If you mess up, don’t worry-before the paint dries you can take the paper towel and wipe it off. This will help you get in place all the important details and where you want them. Lightly apply the paint on the canvas and “draw” or outline the major parts to your painting. You may drag your brush on the paper towel just to make sure it’s not too dark, or you don’t have too much water on your brush. Take a little black paint and dip your brush in water to lighten it up. Whatever works to help you out, it’s just something you have to keep in mind! Most photos are rectangles, so if you want, you can digitally crop your photo to help you visualize what you’re going to paint better, or you can cover up a part of the photo if you’re using a physical copy. The canvases I used are square(and most mini canvases are). You might not be able to fit everything in the photo onto the canvas. Keep in mind the proportions of your canvas in relation to your photo.

Outline, Color Blocking, and detail adding steps with the final painting on the right. If you’re just getting started, you can purchase all the colors I listed above separately, or get yourself an Essentials Set like this one. The colors I used for these paintings are: Titanium White, Ivory Black, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Deep Magenta, Cadmium Yellow, and Naphthol Crimson.

I’ve used a bunch of different acrylic paint over the years, and you can use whatever brand you want, but if you’re really into painting and/or just want the best quality you can get, then try these out! They look better, they feel better, they mix really well, and they go a long way! They’re a higher viscosity(thickness) than cheaper brands, so you can water down as needed. These are AWESOME paints! They really are worth the extra money for the higher quality. Acrylic Paints – I used Liquitex pro grade(or heavy bodied acrylics).You can also use the round body to get larger strokes-so you’ve got both thick and thin in one brush! I highly recommend a set of various sizes like these! The round brushes are nice because once dipped in water and paint the tip comes together and you can get a pretty sharp line with it. Brushes – For all these paintings, I used 2 round brushes.Paper Towel – I always have this on hand to wipe off any excess water on the brush to get the right consistency while I’m painting.Water container – Any empty plastic container or cup will do! The bigger/fancy one you see in the picture here is actually nice because it has holders for your brushes on the sides, 3 different water chambers, and some grooves on the bottom to make it easier to clean your brushes.Acrylic paints can be peeled or scraped off pretty easy! Paint palette – I like to use the round plastic ones.2×2 inch mini canvas (they usually come in packs, I got a set of 6).Done using Acrylic paints, each one took about an hour or so.Ī Quick Step by Step Painting Process on a Mini Canvas “Scenes from the Smokies” is what I’m calling them, as they are all from photos I took when I visited the Smoky Mountains a couple years ago. So here’s my first set of mini canvas paintings. I thought they would be so neat to make tiny paintings of, and they really were a LOT of fun to do! In fact, probably the most fun I’ve had doing a painting, because they don’t take long being so small, you can try out so many different things and not waste a lot of time or a big canvas! Scenes from the Smokies – Acrylic Paintings on mini canvases I got myself a little 2×2″ mini canvas pack at a craft store years ago. This post may contain a few affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through them I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Mountain acrylic painting