5 Ways to Loosen Up Your Acrylic Painting Style for Bold Results

If you’ve ever looked at your painting and felt it was too stiff or overworked, you’re not alone. Many artists strive for a loose, bold style but struggle with letting go of control. The beauty of acrylics is that they’re a highly forgiving medium—so why not take advantage of that and let your brushstrokes be just as free? Loosening up your style can open up new creative possibilities, allowing your paintings to come alive with energy and expression.

Here are 5 ways to help you loosen up your acrylic painting style and paint with more confidence and freedom.

1. Use Bigger Brushes

One of the easiest ways to loosen up is to literally increase the size of your brushes. When you use larger brushes, it forces you to paint broader strokes, which naturally leads to a looser, more gestural painting. With a bigger brush, you can’t get bogged down in the tiny details, which helps you focus on the overall composition and the energy of your subject.

Try this: Start your painting with a brush larger than what you think you need. Focus on laying down big blocks of colour and value without worrying about precision. You can come back later with a smaller brush for any necessary details, but you might find you don’t need as many as you initially thought.

2. Limit Your Colour Palette

Sometimes too many options can be overwhelming, and a wide colour palette can cause you to overthink your choices. By limiting your palette, you reduce the decision-making process, which can help you focus on the feel and flow of your painting rather than the perfect colour mix.

Try this: Choose just three colours (plus white) for your next painting and see how it forces you to think more about value and composition rather than colour. Limiting your palette can also help unify the overall look of your piece and create a harmonious effect.

3. Paint with Your Non-Dominant Hand

This might sound a bit unorthodox, but painting with your non-dominant hand is a fantastic way to break free from perfectionism and overworking your brushstrokes. Because you don’t have the same level of control with your non-dominant hand, your strokes will naturally be looser, more energetic, and less restrained.

Try this: For your next painting session, commit to using your non-dominant hand for a few minutes. You don’t have to do an entire painting this way, but just 10-15 minutes of freehand painting can help loosen you up and encourage you to be more spontaneous.

4. Set a Timer

If you find yourself overthinking every brushstroke, try adding a time constraint to your painting session. Setting a timer creates a sense of urgency, pushing you to make decisions quickly without second-guessing yourself. This technique can lead to a much looser and more dynamic result because it removes the pressure to perfect every little detail.

Try this: Set a timer for 10 minutes and challenge yourself to block in the major values and shapes within that time frame. The goal isn’t to create a finished piece but to loosen up your initial layers. Once the timer goes off, take a step back and assess. You might be surprised at how much energy the painting already has!

5. Focus on the Gesture, Not the Details

In the early stages of your painting, think about capturing the movement and energy of your subject rather than the details. This is especially effective when painting animals, people, or any subject with a lot of movement. By focusing on the gesture, you’ll naturally paint with more fluid, loose strokes that convey the life of the subject.

Try this: Before diving into the details, spend a few minutes sketching or painting the basic gesture of your subject. Use sweeping, continuous strokes to describe the movement and rhythm. Once you have the gesture down, you can decide which details to keep and which to leave out.

Final Thoughts

Loosening up your painting style is all about letting go of the need for control and embracing the spontaneity that comes with acrylics. By using larger brushes, limiting your palette, painting with your non-dominant hand, setting time constraints, and focusing on gesture, you’ll begin to feel the freedom and excitement that comes from painting more boldly.

Remember, the goal isn’t perfection—it's expression! So the next time you pick up your brush, try one or more of these techniques and see how it transforms your painting process.

Before you go, dream it, paint it!