A lot of you have used acrylic paint and have found it a very versatile medium to use. I have put together a few ideas here that you might like to consider when creating your own masterpieces.

• If you want to create straight edges in your painting you can use masking tape, but you can also used the masking fluid designed for watercolour for more elaborate masking. One problem – it is advisable to remove the masking fluid as soon as possible, if it is left for more than about 12 hours it can be difficult to remove.

• If you want to create some great texture effects try loading the brush with two colours. Using a flat or filbert brush carefully dip one side of the brush in one colour, then the other side in another colour. Dragging the brush over the painting surface will produce a stripped effect, stippling the brush produces wonderful effects that can be adapted for painting such things as trees for example. Remember acrylic paint can be applied with lots of items to create special effects.

• Tie a knot in a piece of string, paint the string in green and put a blob of yellow on the knot. Flick the string at the canvas, instant daffodils or grasses.

• Imagine taking a piece of material with a very frayed edge, lay this on your painting and paint from the material over the frayed edge onto your work. The result is a wonderfully textured effect that could be grass, hair or whatever.

• A good tip for acrylic/oil painting is to make highlights very thick and shadows very thin. This helps to create a 3d effect. To create a long thick highlight fully load your brush with paint and as you apply the paint rotate the brush so a thick ridge of paint is left along one edge.

• Finally, it is possible to mix various inert substances with acrylic paint to create textures. Sand, talcum powder, fine sawdust can all be mixed with the paint to create rough sections. I would recommend using an old brush.