Beautiful Tonal Backgrounds - Acrylic Paints Tutorial

Written: February 2019

For All Artistic levels
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Welcome to this step-by-step tutorial of how to create effective tonal backgrounds using acrylic paints.

For this tutorial I used the GOLDEN Heavy Body acrylic paints and the support is the Ampersand Gessobord. I used one of my own paintings currently in progress for this tutorial as it needed a background and thought it would be ideal to show you how I achieved it. It is not necessary to use the same products I did but do be aware that different paints and surfaces may create different challenges and the finish will vary especially if using a weave canvas. Also know that creating tonal backgrounds with acrylics will take some practice to achieve those smooth, transitional tones and so trying a few surfaces before you find the best one for you, may be required.​ 

Sample tonal backgrounds

Tonal backgrounds are a mixture of colours where each colour blends seamlessly into another.  Achieving smooth transitions using a medium like acrylics can be extremely challenging unless you opt to apply with an airbrush which, once mastered can offer some amazing results - however, this tutorial shows you how to create tonal backgrounds using only a paintbrush and the secret to achieving great results is by using as little water as possible. 

​Patience is a virtue... 
Standard acrylics tend to dry quickly meaning you usually have to work quickly too, so you may find achieving good results takes a little longer than you thought, however do not worry about this! Art is all about patience and perseverance and you may find this tutorial helpful in the short term, but adapt your own way of getting better results in the long run. There's no right or wrong way as such, it's all about practice! you may find the Open/Interactive acrylics easier to work with as they do not dry as quick and are easier to blend. You can read about some of the differences between  Acrylic paint brands HERE
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I hope you enjoy this tutorial and that it offers a few great pointers to get you started on your journey to creating effective backgrounds for your own Acrylic paintings.

Where do I start?

Tools Needed​
2 Paintbrushes 1 x wide width brush  1 x smaller width brush - the size you need will depend on the size of the coverage area
Acrylic Paints - Colours chosen for your background will require variants of your colour choices.
Palette - A porcelain palette is easier to clean - A Stay wet palette keeps paints moist for longer working times
Kitchen Roll/Paper - have a couple of sheets of heavy, absorbent tissue/Kitchen roll to hand
Water jar - Ideally have 3 water jars available, one for light tones, one for dark tones and a 3rd for clean water
​Take a look at the Acrylic Paints product Recommendations page for some ideas

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Choose your Paint Colours

Dependant on the colour choices for your background, it is more effective if you use 3 or 4 tones of each colour you want to include into your background. For this example, I wanted my background to be mostly green with hints of yellow, so I used 5 different green tones (2 dark, 1 mid and 2 light), 2 yellow tones, a cream and White.  I always apply a couple of drops of water into each section of the palette before squeezing the paint out (see Tip).  If the paint is straight from the tube remember you can add more to the palette if you run out as opposed to wasting your paint and try and place each colour into a separate well to minimise colour mixing.

A Great Tip!

If you do not have a Stay wet palette, here is a tip to keep your Acrylics pliable throughout the process. Place a drop of water into each well of the palette before applying a small drop of paint over the top DO NOT MIX TOGETHER - this is to stop the paint drying out too quickly. If you need to take a break, you may need to apply a small drop of water over the paint (Do Not Mix) and then cover with cling film or place in a bubble wrap bag, ideally place in a cool place until you return or better still, place in the fridge until you have time to return to your painting. Acrylic paints can be stored for days, sometimes weeks in this cold environment (dependant on the amount of paint in the palette), without drying out.

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Preparing the Foundations

As the Gessobord I use is white, I apply a  wash of Burnt Sienna to the area before creating the tonal background. I chose this colour as I wanted to achieve a warm foundation with which to lay my acrylics on. I do not use water in my acrylics except for when I need to create washes as I did here. I wasn't concerned about the uneven application as this will be covered by future layers and so applied it very roughly and left to dry before the next layers. 

Once the foundation layer had fully dried, I then load my paintbrush with paint to create my next base layer. You can load paint onto the brush individually using a smaller paintbrush or dip the brush into each tone at a time although be careful as this may muddy the colours. Many acrylic paints are opaque (not transparent) which will fully cover previous layers, however there are some colours that are more translucent which create more of a wash and it is this where the foundation colours can play an important part in this process.

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Applications

At this point, I simply dab the paint onto the canvas, attempting to cover all the Burnt Sienna wash underneath. I continue to alternate the application of the green tones but without mixing them together, always ensuring I work small areas at a time to avoid the paint drying out before completion. The application you use is not important but you can see how I have apply lighter tones over darker tones in areas to avoid the creation of one continuous colour. You may prefer to create this in 2 layers, the darker tones first followed by the lighter tones on top - always ensure you use 2 colours to avoid one flat tone. Leave to dry ready for the next layer.

I always have a couple of sheets of kitchen roll to hand to absorb excess water. I simply hold the paintbrush on the kitchen roll so it grabs the excess water, leaving the acrylic paint on the brush slightly pliable for ease of application on the canvas whilst minimising the loss of any paint  on to the kitchen roll.  I find that acrylics work much better for me with minimal use of water, although you can safely mix acrylics and water together, contrary to some articles found on the Internet that watering down your acrylics will cause your painting to crack as the water evaporates, which is false (I checked this with an expert recently)

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Other Articles that may be of interest:

If you wish to find out more about products used in this tutorial or looking to start out with acrylics,  you can click on any of the images below and take a look at one of our other articles:
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Gessobord - the surface used in this article.

New to acrylics? Need some help starting out? Read on...

Pastelbord - another canvas suitable for acrylic paints

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Blending the tones

For the next layer, I began by working a small area each time and applying a little of each colour I wanted to add into my background. It is far easier to blend whilst the paint tones are wet and by using a smaller brush for this stage, it makes it easier to control the paint. If you are creating larger backgrounds, the size of the brushes you need will vary considerably which is why I haven't provided any brush sizes in this tutorial.

Whenever I am creating tonal backgrounds like this, blending the paint in circular motions helps the process. The trick is to avoid blending the colours together then end up with one solid colour and so it is recommended that you do this blending in small steps. To soften the edges of each tone, I ensure that I remove any excess water left in the bristles of the brush onto my kitchen roll and gently soften the edges with a slightly damp paintbrush providing the paint is still a little pliable.

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Changing Tones

It is better to apply the lighter tones at the end of the process to avoid them becoming a tinge of the previous colour applied and having chosen yellows as my secondary colour, I used the 2 tones plus a cream & a white to achieve the warmer highlights to the bottom of the canvas. Again I blend the colours using a circular motion and soften the edges with a dry brush. If you find the paint has fully dried, it may be better to apply fresh paint as opposed to re-saturating dried paint.

As shown in this image, applying too much water over the canvas can cause previous layers of paint to lift if they are not fully dried, revealing the tones from the previous layer which, may leave harsh marks showing on the canvas as seen here. If this happens, remove the excess water and leave the paint to fully dry before applying more paint and blending again. If too much water is sat on the canvas, the paint will simply slip around and can soften previously laid paint if it is not fully dry.

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Final Layer(s)

This was the 3rd and final layer that I applied to my background. You may find you need to apply 1 or more extra applications if your canvas has not covered well or your blending is not as smooth as you would like it to be. The good thing about acrylics is they dry smoothly, so consecutive layers do not create a big build up unless you mix your paint with a medium like Molding Paste should you wish to create a textured finish to your tonal background. There are many possibilities which is why acrylics are such an exciting medium!

I do hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Bonus Tutorial - Graduated Transitions

I thought I would include an additional point of interest for those looking to learn how to create graduated layers. The example I provide here has a background which overwhelms much of the portrait and it will be easier to create the background before applying the subject. There were 3 colour tones used here and I began by mixing each colour and placing into separate palettes, ensuring I had enough paint to cover the areas I needed to (I'd rather waste some paint than not have enough) This canvas is a square 12" size, so I used a 2" wide brush and loading the paintbrush with ample colour I began applying left to right (reverse if easier), always working downwards and making sure the canvas was fully covered.

I then introduced the mid green tone to the canvas starting just below the finish line of the blue to avoid muddying the colour on the brush. I then applied a layer of blue to join the two tones together and applied the green tone over the top so the two colours mingled together to create the smooth transition. I then applied the lighter tone of green below the darker tone of green (as with the blue) and repeated the same blending process with both green tones. If you find the paint is not as pliable as you would like, you may need to introduce a little water via a clean brush or even a spray bottle to aid blendability and always ensure you have fully covered your canvas before disposing of your paints, better still pop these colours in a seal tight container in case you need to patch up sections at a later date.

View our other Acrylic tutorials

How to create acrylic washes

How to create fine detail in acrylics

View all other tutorials >>>>