The Acrylics Companion

Hashim Akib is represented by several galleries in the UK and has exhibited with the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, New English Art Club, Society of Wildlife Artists, David Shepherd Artist of the Year and Royal Society of Marine Artists at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London. He is in the UK's National Art collection and has also taught his unique techniques to art schools in the UK, Italy and France. Working as an illustrator in the UK for over 15 years, Hashim gained valuable experience in developing a backbone of drawing, conceptual ideas and various painting techniques. His illustration client list varied from New Yorker magazine, newspapers such as The Times, Daily Express, Daily Mail, Time magazine, ad campaigns for Smirnoff, Esso and a stamp for The Royal Mail. Throughout his career Hashim has won many awards; including in 2009 the SAA (Society of All Artists) Artist of the Year, having won the Professional title in 2005 and 2007. He worked with the art manufacturer Daler Rowney in their relaunch of the System3 Acrylic range, producing paintings for the ad campaign and demonstrating the versatility of the paint at various events and on live television. He has written several books, including Vibrant Acrylics and Painting Portraits in Acrylics, which reached number 1 in Amazon's Acrylic Painting Techniques category. He has been featured in various art publications including The Artist, Pratique des Arts, Art of England and is a regularly contributor to Artists and Illustrators magazine. More recently Hashim has been featured in a publication entitled Painting in Acrylics; The Indispensable Guide, Who's Who in Art and co-authored Artists Painting Techniques published by Dorling Kindersley in 2016.

Getting started



Acrylics - what's the fuss? 8



Your paint palette 10



Acrylics in a nutshell 12



Brush up on the basics 14



What brush? 16



Warm ups 18



Preparing your paints 20



Glazing 22



Neat paint 24



Following a drawing 26



Adding a twist



Linework with a card 28



Spray! 30



Mediums: flow improver 32



Slow things down 34



Modelling paste 36



Dry mediums 38



Colour pouring 40



Brushwork



Pressure 42



Beyond pressure 44



Make every mark count 46



Drawing with a rigger 48



Outlines - the drawing lasso 50



One hit wonder 52



Negative shape painting 54



Colour theory



Colours schemes 56



Notan 58



Colour mixing 60



Mixing marvellous mud 62



Dominant black 64



Break the harmony 66



Base colour 68



Colourful snow 70



Optical colour mixing 72



Planning and playing



Work quicker, work brighter 60



Edit your shots 76



Chaos into order 78



Black and white into colour 80



Flat areas 82



Glitching out 84



Playing with size 86



One-session painting 88



Taking your time 90



What to paint



Painting the everyday 92



Cafe scenes 94



Animals 96



Night scenes 98



Busy streets 100



Buildings with character 102



Composing portraits 104



Portraits on commission 106



Painting water 108



Painting a series 110



Professional tips



Using found images 112



Unhappy accidents 114



Finishing off 116



Floating frames 118



Canvas wedges 120



Packaging artwork 122



Being arty 124



Staying inspired 126







Glossary 128