Portrait Painting in Acrylics

A Portrait of Robert Burns

'A Portrait of Robert Burns'
(acrylic on canvas, 16"x24")
Collection of Edward Thomson Meek

Our acrylic portrait of Robert Burns is used to demonstrate some of the skills and techniques involved in painting with acrylics.

Each stage of the portrait, from its commission to its completion, is carefully explained and clearly illustrated to help you understand this approach to painting in acrylics.

Please click on the links at the bottom of the page to view a step by step account of the techniques used to paint our Burns portrait.

Robert Burns - 250th Anniversary - 25th January 2009

Robert Burns (1759-1796) is Scotland’s national poet and an icon of Scottish culture. Although he lived in the 18th century and wrote in the Scots dialect, his poems and songs have a universal appeal and timeless relevance. His voice against the poverty and inequality of his own time continues to resonate and inspire a spirit of common humanity today. Every year on the 25th January, his life, work and social spirit are commemorated at Burns Suppers around the world.

'Then let us pray that come what may
(as it will for a' that),
That sense and Worth o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree an a' that,
For a' that, an a' that,
It's comin yet for a' that,
That man to man, the world, o'er
Shall brithers be for a' that.'

From the song 'A Man's A Man For A' That' by Robert Burns, 1795.

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