Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics
Like Duolingo, but for Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free during early access · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics
- Placing tools on the side of your dominant hand prevents reaching across the canvas
- Light coming from the same side as the painting hand casts a shadow over the work area
- Keeping the water jar further away than the palette prevents drips from falling on the mixing area
- Positioning light on the opposite side of the dominant hand ensures a clear view of the brush tip
- The painting surface is the primary focus and should be closest
- Understanding light source positioning to eliminate hand shadows
- The water jar is the most 'dangerous' item for spills and should be the furthest reach
- Establishing a consistent workflow through workspace layout
- Insufficient water causes the brush to drag and skip
- Dry paint creates a 'broken' texture rather than a fluid stroke
- Acrylic paint relies on a polymer binder to stick to surfaces
- Excessive water (over 30%) dilutes the binder until it can no longer hold the pigment to the canvas
- Recognizing the visual and tactile signs of paint that is too dry
- Understanding the structural consequences of over-dilution
- Predicting the physical behavior of paint based on water content
- Paint should be worked deep into the bristles, not just the tip
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
Picture yourself painting a delicate detail, but your own hand blocks the light. Why is the light source usually placed on your non-dominant side?
Get it right to open this lesson and 29 more in the app.
Where Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics takes you
Skip the messy cleanup and long wait times of oil paint. Learn how to use versatile acrylics to create vibrant art that dries fast and looks amazing on any surface.
- 1
Get Your First Masterpiece on Canvas
- Setting up your workspace
- How much water to use
- The secret to smooth brushstrokes
- Fixing mistakes while the paint is wet
- Cleaning your brushes before they ruin
- 2
Master Color and Texture
- Mixing colors without making mud
- Building layers for depth
- Using sponges and knives for texture
- Blending colors on the canvas
- 3
Choose the Right Tools for Your Style
- Heavy body vs. fluid paints
- Picking the right brush shape
- What makes a good canvas
- How acrylic paint is actually made
- Using mediums to change the finish
- Protecting your art with varnish
3 sections · 15 units · 30 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics is taught in the The Storyteller style: every lesson is a story. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
More Arts on Tomo
The Smartphone Documentarian
Transform your phone into a cinematic powerhouse. Master the art of first-person storytelling and capture professional-grade documentary footage without a Hollywood budget.
The Architecture of Silence: Advanced Abstract Poetics
Master the art of the unsaid and the non-linear. From the minimalist voids of late Beckett to the rhythmic cubism of Gertrude Stein, learn to deconstruct language and rebuild it as pure abstraction.
The Art of the Deep Reader
Transform from a passive consumer into a literary athlete. Master the high-level strategies of analytical reading, emotional resonance, and the architectural habits of a lifelong bibliophile.
Haiku: Painting with Moments
Move beyond the 5-7-5 syllable count to capture the fleeting essence of the natural world. Learn to use 'cutting words' and seasonal imagery to create poems that breathe and resonate.
Dress Like You Mean It
Stop staring at your closet and start building outfits that make you feel unstoppable. Learn the secrets of fit, color, and personal style to express who you are without saying a word.
The Master Ink: A Global History and Artistry of Tattooing
Go beyond the surface of skin art to master the technical evolution, cultural symbolism, and historical narratives that define the modern tattoo industry. From ancient rituals to contemporary fine-art movements, explore the profound impact of ink on human identity.
Start Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics today.
Download Tomo, search Paint Like a Pro with Acrylics, and play your first lesson in under a minute.