Acrylic Paint Scraping Techniques
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Overview:
- Before you start
- 4 acrylic paint scraping techniques
- Traditional paint scraping technique
- Scrape painting dots
- Scumbling
- Sgraffito
If you’re a fan of abstract art pieces, then paint scraping is the perfect technique for you to test out! The acrylic paint scraping technique involves using a paint scraper or a flat-edged tool to scrape paint across your surface, creating a unique pattern or design. The best thing about paint scraping is that it’s super simple to do and it only requires a few art supplies! In this guide we will show you all our tips and tricks when it comes to acrylic paint scraping. Read on.
Before you start
You will need some of the essential art supplies before you delve into these scrape painting techniques. Depending on what techniques you would like to test out, here is a list of the basic supplies we have used for these acrylic paint scraping techniques!
- A paint scraper, acrylic paint brushes, a palette knife or some metal
- Paint palette
- Primed canvas, board, or painting paper
4 acrylic paint scraping techniques
Traditional paint scraping technique
When you think of paint scraping, this is the technique you’re probably most familiar with. For this traditional paint scraping technique, all you will need is a flat-edged tool, some paint and a canvas! If you want to create some eye-catching blended or abstract pieces, follow these steps.
How to do it:
- Start by choosing your scraping tool. You can use a paint scraper, a credit card, a palette knife, a flat piece of metal or a spatula.
- Lie your canvas flat down on a table.
- Dip your scraping tool into a small amount of paint and press it down on the canvas in a scraping motion.
- If you want to create smaller scrapes, simply add a small amount of paint to half of the width of your tool. For larger scrapes, apply it to the entire width of the tool.
- Continue this process with different paint colours until you have achieved your desired effect.
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2. Scrape painting dots
Similar to the traditional acrylic paint scraping technique, you will be using a scraping tool, however this involves adding dots of paint onto the canvas to create a unique pattern. This is a fun and creative technique to enhance any abstract piece.
How to do it:
- Optional: Before you start placing your paint dots onto the canvas, you may want to paint the background of your canvas. Allow this to dry thoroughly.
- To get into the groove of scrape painting dots, we recommend practising on a piece of art paper beforehand.
- Apply small dots of different coloured paint onto your canvas. There doesn’t need to be a particular placement for these. Make sure to use different coloured paints to achieve the desired effect.
- Next, grab your scraping tool and run it along the areas where you placed the dots. You can either run this straight down or move the tool from side to side to create a wavy effect.
- Allow your artwork to fully dry and voila! Your scrape art is now complete.
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3. Acrylic pouring scrape
If you’re a fan of acrylic pouring, then this scraping technique will take your artwork to the next level. All you need is some acrylic pouring medium, acrylic paint and paint scraper to get started! Learn how to test this easy acrylic paint scraping technique below.
How to do it:
- Start by adding some pouring medium into your cups and add a different coloured paint into each cup. You can choose as many colours as you like, however we recommend using white paint in one of the cups.
- Mix the paint and the medium together.
- Pour the white paint onto the canvas. Make sure this covers the entire canvas as it will be your background. This will make it easier to slide the paint.
- Pour each colour side by side across the middle of the canvas. You can pour them as straight lines or wavy, the choice is yours!
- Grab your scraping tool and begin to scrape the paint upwards on each side of the line. We recommend doing quick swipes to get the best result.
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4. Sgraffito
This acrylic paint scraping technique on canvas is a little different compared to the previous scraping techniques. Sgraffito involves scratching through a layer of paint to reveal a colour of pattern underneath.
How to do it:
- Start with a blank canvas and paint on a background colour of any choice with acrylic paint. You can create a unique pattern for this layer and use different colours if you prefer.
- While the second layer of paint is still wet, grab a clay tool or any object with a sharp end and begin scratching through the paint to create a pattern or object of your choice.
- If you want to create more texture, simply keep adding on layers of paint. Just make sure to wait for each layer to dry before adding more paint.
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We hope you’ve been inspired by these 5 acrylic paint scraping techniques for anyone who wants to level up their creations. Don’t forget, you can grab all of your art supplies from Art to Art online or in-store. Enjoy free shipping over $100 if you shop online, plus, receive same-day delivery Australia-wide before 11am.
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