How to Use Acrylic Paint on Canvas Bag?

The popularity of acrylic paint is no secret. It dries quickly, doesn’t require a lot of preparation, and the colors are vibrant and true to hue.

This makes it an ideal medium for painting on a wide variety of surfaces, including canvas bags.

Here we will explore some tips on how to use acrylic paint on canvas bags so that you can create beautiful pieces of art that you can use every day.

1. Collect Materials Needed

To make your painting work easier, gather up all the necessary materials. You don’t have to purchase expensive materials but I recommend high-quality materials and products. The needed materials include:

The canvas Bag
Preferred acrylic paints
Gesso
Suitable paintbrushes
Palette
Palette Knife
A cup of water
A pair of gloves
Apron (optional)

2. Prepare Your Canvas Bag

Preparing your canvas bag for acrylic painting involves some important steps, which include:

Dry-Cleaning the Canvas Bag

This step is only necessary if the canvas bag you wish to use is dirty or stained. Wash the canvas bag with mild laundry soap to remove any dirt and stains. Rinse it afterward in clean water and hang it in a safe place to dry it.

If you’re washing the bag in a washing machine, then spin it dry.

Smoothen Out the Canvas Bag

You need to ensure that your canvas bag doesn’t have any wrinkles or folds as this can mar the painting. Therefore, smoothen out the bag with a pressing iron to create a wrinkle-free, easy-to-work surface.

Set the Canvas Bag for Painting

You also need to stretch your canvas bag slightly tightly so it doesn’t fold or crease when painting on it. Place the canvas bag on a flat surface that’s slightly elevated. Stretch and pin down the bag on its four edges.

Pinning down the bag also gives it better stability. Then, insert a plastic/wooden board or thick cardboard that’s the size of the canvas bag into the bag.

Treat the Canvas Bag with a Coat of Gesso

Finally, with the canvas bag smoothly spread out, treat the surface with a coat of gesso. Coating the surface with gesso enables the acrylic paint to stay longer on the bag. Coat the surface of the canvas bag once with the gesso.

Mind you, gesso dries quickly, so be careful with handling.

3. Paint your Canvas Bag

Now is the time you want to get creative and make some stunning designs on your bag with acrylic paint.

As you will be painting with acrylic, you should make use of high-quality acrylic paints suitable for canvas fabric.

They tend to give you a long-lasting and pleasing outcome. Come on and let’s start to paint.

Apply the Background Tone

It’s fine to set a background tone for your painting but that’s if you wish to. This background tone sets the mood for your entire painting and should also be acrylic paint.

A light gray background is suitable for expressive painting while a faded pink background is perfect for abstract art.

If you prefer landscape designs on your canvas bag, set a vibrant green color as the background tone.

Don’t forget to put on your apron and pair of gloves before painting.

Apply the Acrylic Paint to The Canvas Bag

There are two main styles for applying acrylic paint to a canvas bag. You can choose to apply the acrylic paint either by numbers or by freestyling. Both styles make an excellent design on a canvas bag but depend largely on your level of experience.

Before applying acrylic paint, you may add glitter to it to enhance the beauty of your painting, especially the shapes and lines.

When painting, apply the paint in a vertical position and not an angled position.

Applying the Acrylic Paint by Numbers

Creating designs on your canvas bag can be much easier than you think. If you’re a beginner and have not yet mastered the art of freestyle drawing, I’ll recommend that you apply the acrylic paint by number.

This method is pretty simple because it uses a reference picture and also allows you to use a stencil to guide your hand.

Making use of a picture as a reference will do just great. Simply place your reference picture on the bag and trace it out thinly with a pen or pencil. Make sure that your pencil is well sharpened to make a clear thin mark.

If you want to use a stencil instead, cut the stencil on thick cardboard. The stencil is perfect for letters, shapes, and words. Simply place the stencil on the canvas bag and fill the empty spaces with your preferred colors.

Acrylic painting using stencil will enable you to paint designs with sharp contours and shapes with sharp lines. However, this painting method is not suitable for abstract painting or painting landscapes.

Once you’re done with the stencil, rinse it and brush immediately but leave the painting for about 24 hours to dry.

Applying the Acrylic Paint by Freestyling

If you’re a professional painter or have some great painting skills, you can choose this method. This method doesn’t use a stencil or pre-made design. It allows you to experiment with your desired design and paint it out on the canvas bag.

If you’re drawing directly on the canvas bag, measure out with a ruler the specific area you want your design to stay.

Draw out your patterns carefully and avoid making mistakes as they might not be able to be corrected.

Once you’re done painting, rinse your brush immediately and leave the painting for about 24 hours to dry.

Seal the Acrylic Paint on The Canvas Bag

This depends on your choice and the type of acrylic paint you used for painting. If you used a permanent acrylic paint meant for fabric, it will stay permanent on the bag and won’t wash off.

This means that you don’t have to seal the acrylic paint on the bag, just leave it to dry properly.

You may also iron the acrylic paint once it’s completely dry to set the paint on the bag. However, if you painted the bag using regular acrylic paint, which is not permanent but washable, you will need to seal the paint.

Sealing the acrylic paint on the canvas bag is simple. Simply apply a thin coat of satin sealer over the painted surface to seal it.

You can also use a flat polyacrylic sealer (non-oil-based) as a sealant over the acrylic paint.

Is it Safe to Use Acrylic Paint on Canvas Bag?

Yes, acrylic paint is safe to use on canvas bags. However, you need to make sure that the paint you’re using is meant for fabric and is also permanent. You can choose to either hand wash or machine wash the bag but do not iron it.

How to Remove Acrylic Paint from Canvas Bag?

If you want to remove the acrylic paint from your canvas bag, simply soak the bag in a tub of warm water mixed with dishwashing liquid. Leave it to soak for about 30 minutes before washing it off with clean water. Repeat this process if necessary.

You can also use rubbing alcohol to remove the paint. Simply soak a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and rub it over the painted surface. Wash off with clean water afterward.