15 Texture Techniques Every Kiwi Painter Should Try

Flat paint is fine. Textured paint is unforgettable. The difference between a painting that gets a polite nod and one that stops people in galleries is often texture — the way the paint catches light, holds shadow, and invites you to lean in. Here are 15 texture techniques you can try with supplies we stock, ordered roughly from "easiest" to "wow that's advanced".

A note from the shop floor — crackle paste was the texture technique I came to last, and now it's one of the most asked-about products in store. I've stopped recommending it for first-time painters; the timing is unforgiving. Build up to it through the easier techniques first.

1. Palette knife impasto

Apply paint thickly with a palette knife instead of a brush. Each stroke leaves a ridge. Use it for skies, foreground textures, expressive abstract work. Mont Marte's range of palette knives (we stock several shapes) is the easiest entry point.

2. Sponge dabbing

Cut a kitchen sponge into chunks. Dip in slightly diluted paint. Dab. Instant cloud, foliage, or stone texture. Works in seconds. Best with acrylic.

3. Dry brush

Wipe most of the paint off your brush before applying. Drag across the canvas. The brush leaves only the high points of texture, creating "broken" colour. Excellent for wood grain, fur, weathered surfaces.

4. Splatter

Load a stiff brush with watery paint. Tap it over the canvas (or flick with your finger). Random small dots — perfect for stars, sand grains, urban grit. Mask off areas you don't want hit.

5. Bubble wrap stamping

Press paint-coated bubble wrap onto the canvas. Lift. You've got a perfect grid of round dots. Looks like beads, water droplets, or alien skin depending on context.

6. Plastic wrap (cling film) texture

Apply wet paint, lay cling film over it, scrunch lightly. Wait until the paint starts to dry. Lift the film. The crinkles pull paint into organic, geode-like patterns. Magic for backgrounds.

7. Salt sprinkle (watercolour)

Apply wet watercolour. Sprinkle table salt onto wet pigment. Wait until dry. Brush off salt. Each salt crystal absorbs pigment and leaves a star-shaped lighter spot. Creates a "snowfall" effect.

8. Fork combing

Apply thick paint, drag a kitchen fork through it. Parallel grooves like wood grain or wheat fields. Free, immediate, surprisingly effective.

9. Glazing (transparent layers)

Mix paint with glazing medium (or extra pouring medium) to make it translucent. Layer over dry paint. Each glaze deepens colour without obscuring what's underneath. The look in old master oil paintings — but works in acrylic too.

10. Sgraffito (scratching)

Apply thick paint, then scratch lines into it with the back of your brush, a stick, or a palette knife. The scratches reveal the underlayer. Italian for "scratched" — used in Renaissance frescoes, now a staple of mixed-media art.

11. Stamping (everyday objects)

Anything with texture can stamp. Coins, leaves, old keys, the bottom of a corrugated cup. Press into wet paint, lift onto canvas. Each object leaves a unique fingerprint.

12. Acrylic pouring

Already covered in detail in our Acrylic Pouring Starter Guide. The technique creates organic flow patterns with cells and lacing — completely different from brush work.

13. Modelling paste / heavy gel

Apply with a knife to build true 3D ridges. Once dry, paint over the top. Mont Marte's gesso premium and crackle paste live in our mediums collection. Lets you sculpt, then paint.

14. Crackle paste

Specifically designed to crack as it dries. Apply between two paint layers. Reveals the under-colour through cracks. Aged-leather effect, weathered wall, ancient parchment.

15. Mixed media collage with paint

Glue down paper, fabric, sand, or photographs, then paint over and around them. The texture of the underlying material shows through. Endless variation; great for personal storytelling pieces.

What you'll need to try them all

• Acrylic paints (Mont Marte Signature works for everything)
• 2 palette knives (small & large)
• Pouring/glazing medium
• Heavy gel and/or crackle paste
• An old kitchen sponge, fork, bubble wrap, cling film, table salt
• Canvas pads or boards (cheap surfaces for experiments)

Total starter kit: under $80 if you raid your kitchen for the household items. Browse acrylic paints and mediums to start.

The best way to learn

Don't try all 15 in one session. Pick three. Spend an afternoon. Make small swatches on a single canvas — like a sampler. Label what you did. Six weekends from now, you'll have a full reference book of techniques that are yours, not just things you read about.

Share what you make

Tag @handy_mandy_stores_ on Instagram. We're always after good close-up texture shots for our feed.

About the author — Namra Shah is the owner of Handy Mandy Craft Store in Morningside, Auckland. We stock Mont Marte across NZ with same-day dispatch before 11am NZT and free shipping over $75. Questions? Email info@handymandy.co.nz or DM us on Instagram @handy_mandy_stores_.