How to Choose Acrylic Paints for Your Project (Inexpensive to High-End) Pros & Cons

MY PAINT OF CHOICE IS ACRYLICS:

-EASY TO USE

-LOTS OF COLORS & MEDIUMS

-DRIES QUICKLY

BEGINNER ACRYLIC PAINTING: HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT ACYLIC PAINT

If you have never picked up a paintbrush or painted before or haven’t painted for a long time, it can be quite hard to know where to start.

But now that you have decided you want to start painting, it’s just a matter of having the right tools and a lot of inspiration and determination to get you started.

Which brushes, palettes, paints, and surfaces are just some of the choices you’ll have to make before you can even begin, and so it can quickly become a bit overwhelming.

There are literally loads of painting materials on the market, and yet with a bit of research and advice, it won’t take you long to decide which materials you want to start with.

Benefits of Acrylic Paint

Choosing acrylic paints: Where to start? Paint is obviously one of the most important materials you’ll need!  Choosing can be overwhelming.

• OILS
• WATERCOLORS
• ACRYLICS

But with its ease of use, acrylic paint is a must-try medium for beginners and returning painters.

They are a quick-drying, water-based form of paint that becomes water-resistant when dry.

Acrylic paints are more comfortable to manipulate than oils because they are water-soluble and have a faster drying time making them quick and easy to use.

They are available in a diverse range of colours and consistencies. Whatever your chosen preference, choosing a good quality acrylic paint made of pure pigment is a sure way of creating lasting colour on your painting masterpiece.

• AMATEURS – STUDENTS
• PROFESSIONALS

Acylics can be supplied in numerous forms of paint sets and palettes for both the amateur and the professional – see below for our personal acrylic recommendations.

There is an abundance of acrylic paint brands used by artists worldwide that are extremely popular because of how versatile they are.

As with any craft, learning to paint with acrylics will take a little while to get the hang of, but they are highly recommended as the paint most favoured by those just starting out as these paints are extremely easy to use and don’t require any special extras.

So, what’s unique about them?

Types of Acrylic Paint

Acrylics are available in different forms, including spray paint, ink markers, and tubes, and tubs of paint.

Acrylics can be thinned to create the same effect as watercolour or can be coated on in layers to achieve the appearance of oil paint with thick, impasto layers.

ACRYLICS

• QUICK & EASY
• DRY FAST
• INEXPENSIVE
• EASY TO FIND/BUY
• LOTS OF COLORS
• NUMEROUS MEDIUMS TO USE

Quick and easy – a major benefit of the acrylic is its quick drying time.  You can complete a painting that may consist of several layers in one sitting as the thin applications of the paint will be touch-dry in roughly 20-30 minutes.

The tools, techniques, and processes of coming up with visual ideas to create art with this particular medium will then just fall into place as you gain in painting confidence.  

You can choose to paint on a variety of supports, too, including canvas, metal, paper, and even wood!

The style in which you want to work will obviously have an impact on which type of acrylic you choose – a thick paint is excellent for being expressive and for textual work where you want the brush works to be seen.

A smoother consistency is required for more refined or more detailed brush work, particularly if you are working on a large or flat surface.

HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD BRAND OF ACYLICS – BASED ON TYPE OF PROJECT

There are lots of different acrylic brands which you can either use trial and error to establish the one(s) you feel most comfortable with, but this can be time-consuming, not to mention costly, so we’ve decided to take the hard work out of the research and to help with what we think are the best acrylics out there, for you.

Remember, this is obviously going to be subjective – some people feel happy with one brand, whereas others won’t think it works for them – just keep an open mind.

BEGINNER ACRYLIC PAINTING

So, when you’re looking to buy acrylic paints, you’ll find that there are two product grades you’ll come across – the artist/professional quality and beginner/student quality and prices will reflect the level of pure pigment, which is balanced with the binder – the purer the pigment, the more expensive the paint.

Artist-quality acrylic paints usually have a higher concentration of pigment, a smoother consistency, and are better lightfastness (which is a measure of how well they resist fading), but they’re also relatively more expensive.

You’ll probably also want to consider the consistency of the acrylic paint you need because heavy body acrylics have a thick, creamy consistency that retains brushstrokes (very similar to oil paint). In contrast, fluid acrylics are thinner and suitable for detail work and watercolour techniques.

Although there seems a lot to take in when just buying the paint, just remember we’re here to help!

So, if you are a beginner at painting with acrylics, you might like to check out these acrylic brands.

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Tube – Piece Set

PROS: Water-based acrylic colours, lots of color selection, thick creamy (satin-like) finish, mixes well, good value, applies well to a variety of surfaces, easy to clean-up with water, if wet.

CONS: Packaging issues, very low pigment load (best for students or lower-end), can quickly become dried out and rubber-like.  May dry somewhat “chalky.”

Liquitex Basics is generally seen as “beginner’s” acrylics brand.  It has a heavy body acrylic paint that will keep its shape and strokes as you paint. 

Customers are impressed with the wide range of colours supplied.  However, this product is viewed as relatively thin, and many customers reported issues with opacity. There were also some concerns about the poor-quality packaging.

Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylics Boxed 120ml tubes

PROS: Non-toxic, easy to mix/bland, thins easily, does not crack, high-pigment load.  Excellent value.

CONS: Standard colours-limited palette.  Somewhat “plastic” feel/finish.

Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylics is a non-toxic product that makes it good for all ages and abilities.  It claims quite a high pigment loading for a beginners’ grade acrylic. They are excellently priced.

It is not susceptible to cracking even if the support is rolled and is intended to cover large areas and everyday use. This brand was reported to be very much like plastic to the touch, which is fine for beginners but not more advanced painters.  Water-resistant once dry.

Blick Studios Acrylics – tube set

PROS: Many highly-pigmented colours, smooth, creamy oil-like texture, good flow, good value, mixes well, heavier texture can be suitable for impasto effects.

CONS: Some colours reported as too translucent, resulting in the need for multiple coats; some colours don’t have the same hue as others, e.g., Titanium White and Cadmium Red.

Blick’s brand seems to be of the highest quality with a great variety of high-quality acrylic paints. A favourite with art teachers. It does dry faster and in matte than many beginner grade brands, which makes it popular.  Colours retain their vibrancy even when on the canvas.  Good value, and very affordable. 

Winsor & Newton Galeria Flow Formula

PROS: Blends/mixes well with a good flow, various sizes available, highly-rich colours, paintsexceptionally well on the canvas, vegan.

CONS: Very thick, packaging issues, dries semi-transparent unless you add water while painting, and low pigment load.  It can be tough to get off your brush.

Winsor & Newton’s Galeria’s Flow line is great for students looking to explore mixing their own colours. It is 100% vegan, which makes it popular.  It flows nice and thick from the tube and is smooth enough to give clean lines and works even better if you add water to it as it becomes more opaque and matte when mixed with water.  Great to mix and blend.  Quick-drying.  A reasonable price even though the tubes are a little on the small side.

Arteza Acrylic Paint – newer brand

PROS:  Highly pigmented, non-fading, non-toxic, and easy to use.  Good packaging. Affordable.

CONS:  Can dry out quickly even when stored correctly. 

These sets have a wide range of colours and shades to work with.  Perfect for beginners and children.  It can be used on any medium.  Tubes slightly on the small side but a good selection.  It can be somewhat streaky on the application as the paint is thin.

INTERMEDIATE TO ADVANCED ARTISTS:

HIGHER END PAINTINGS & PROJECTS

Better Paints…

As you grow in confidence, you’ll find you want acrylic mediums that are used to create a diverse range of techniques and effects which will prevent over thinning.

They can help you extend your colours and keep them brilliant and bring transparency and depth to the film.

Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics

PROS: Slow drying time, an excellent alternative to oil while still an acrylic

CONS: Relatively expensive, some colour shift, insufficient packaging (smaller than expected bottle).

This is a brand that is recommended for the artist to change from oil to acrylic. Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylics are unusual because they can be unlocked by spraying the paint with water or alcohol, which allows the artist to go back in and re-work certain sections of the painting. Great if you prefer to have the option of choosing between a slow and fast drying time.

Golden Artist Colours Heavy Body Acrylics 

PROS: Extremely versatile, decent packaging, accurate colour matching, good permanency, purely pigmented.

CONS: Relatively expensive, incredibly thick smooth buttery texture, tubes small for price.

As a heavy body acrylic, some artists complained that the consistency was too buttery, and if you prefer to paint with a thinner acrylic, this isn’t the paint for you.

There are other options from Golden’s line of acrylics for artists who prefer thicker consistencies – check out their different impressive product line-up.

Winsor and Newton Galeria Medium Acrylic

PROS:  High pigment strength, opacity, and performance, a tremendous mixed assortment of colour

CONS: Dries slowly, few sizes available, some colour movement.

Often comes in a metal tube, which is criticised by some for corroding and having a small and challenging lid to keep on and to remove but praised by others for containing a good amount of paint and for not clogging.

Golden Acrylics Products for All Artists 

All of the different products from Golden Artist Acrylics, which range from Heavy Body to High Flow, are for the more experienced artist and are viewed as high-end products. Though they one of the more expensive brands available, feedback from reviewers is that they are able to stretch the paint much further than they can with other brands.

There’s also good feedback about the company’s team of Materials and Applications Specialists who are always there to reply to any questions you might have.  There are positive reports about the packaging as each tube has an actual paint stripe on to show the colour inside as well as providing a chart for each item’s characteristics and performance in regard to their opacity, viscosity, glossing, and tinting.

Golden Artist Colours Heavy Body Acrylics 

PROS: Extremely versatile with solid packaging, accurate colour matching, and good customer service.

CONS: Expensive, extremely buttery texture and dry to a matte finish only.  No gold colour is included in the range.  Small bottles.

Very popular high-end products with experienced painters.  Thought of as expensive but can be thinned to go further.  Colours are rich, dense, and thought of as overall as a pleasure to work with.  Consistency is praised as being good for painting sufficient detail.  Great as transitional acrylics from beginners’ products.

Liquitex Professional Acrylics 

PROS: Can be bought as individual pots or in sets, reasonably priced, pure pigments, long shelf-life, a wide range of colours, easy clean-up.

CONS: Weak coverage, slow drying time, strong odour.

A wide range of colours as well as different sized bottles to choose from.  Extremely versatile – great for painting, pouring, glazing, or printing, whether for sufficient detail or large-scale wall art.  Negatives are that some of the bottle sizes are too small and have to be squeezed very hard.

JUST GET STARTED!

There are so many fabulous brands out there; it’s hard to mention them all. However, if you go for inexpensive cheap paint sets when you start out, you’ll soon be going for the medium to high-end brands in no time with practice and determination.

Beginner paint prices are more economical than high-end professional acrylics because the costly pigments are replaced with less expensive alternatives.

Experts will use top quality paints with brushes, palettes, and other professional tools to complement their craft that for the beginner will be too expensive and high-tech as, for a beginner, some acrylic colours dry to a different finish, are a slightly different texture, and have varying degrees of opacity.

Enjoy!

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