What is Acrylic Paint?

Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint consisting of pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. A polymer emulsion is necessary since the pigments would float and clump together once water is added. The suspension further helps to disperse the pigments and makes the paint more consistent.

While the majority of acrylic paints are water-based, they become water-resistant once they have fully dried. Depending on how much the paint is modified with mediums, acrylic gels, pastes, or diluted with water, the result can resemble a watercolour, gouache, or oil painting, or it can feature its very unique characteristics, unlike any other media. Good acrylic paint includes various additives which make conservation in tubes and jars possible as we can purchase them in stores. Common additives are preservatives to improve durability, surfactants and initiators which influence the process of drying, as well as thickeners and stabilizers to control the flow qualities.

Acrylic compounds were first synthesized in the mid 19th century. But it was German chemist Otto Röhm who made the practical potential of the new materials public. In 1915, he secured a German patent for polyacrylic ester as a binder for drying oils in industrial lacquers. At this time, acrylic resins were primarily intended for industrial use.

Water-based acrylics became widely available in the 1950s and were sold as latex house paints. Soon artists and companies alike discovered the potential of the new medium, and the first acrylic emulsion artist paints were developed, with modern high-viscosity paints becoming available in the early 1960s. Many well-known artists of the time experimented with the new medium, including Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Barrett Newman, and Roy Lichtenstein.

Factors to consider when buying acrylic paint

When trying to find the best acrylic paint brand for your needs, there are numerous factors to be considered. Product labels can be confusing, from quality descriptions to viscosity and consistency – How do you know, which terms are relevant for your choice? Here is a quick rundown on what you need to consider.

QUALITY

The best acrylic paints are available in two different grades: artists’ grade and students’ grade.

Artists’ quality paints are also referred to as professional-grade quality paints.

PROFESSIONAL ACRYLIC PAINT

High-quality acrylic paint, known as artist-quality acrylic paint, contains superior pigments in a high concentration. The amount of binder is limited, which provides for strong and vivid colours, boasting the best permanence ratings. Highly pigmented acrylic paint comes in a large variety of colours, shades, and hues. Drying times, consistency, and viscosity can differ between the colours of different brands, which makes working with the best professional acrylic paint more challenging.

STUDENT GRADE ACRYLIC PAINT

Student grade acrylic paint has a lower pigment saturation, which implies that less pigment is used when combined in the acrylic polymer emulsion. Instead, fillers are used which makes even the best cheap acrylic paint appear chalkier. Therefore, student grade acrylic paints are less expensive than the high concentration artists’ grade paints. Student quality paints are only available in smaller selections. Comparing the two grades, you can see that artists’ colour will have a much smoother consistency and the end results will be much more vibrant. Notwithstanding, student paints are ideal for practising and experimenting. As a beginner on a budget, it makes sense to start with the cheaper students’ quality paint. We recommend upgrading to the good acrylic paint brands of professional quality once you are sure you love acrylics. You will see that investing in a top-notch acrylic paint set makes a difference.

CONSISTENCY

The best acrylic paints come in many different consistencies, also referred to as “viscosity”. Therefore, consistency is not necessarily a reflection of product quality. Which consistency you choose is much more a question of how you want to apply the paint, what painting technique, what brushes you wish to use, and what surface you are going to apply the paints on. Watch out for the following terms on the tube label when picking your colours, since this will also tell you which are the best acrylic paint brushes and the best canvas for acrylic painting according to your artistic project.

Heavy Body acrylics are formulated to have a thick, buttery smooth consistency, providing for a good surface drag for easy handling. Similar to oil paints, heavy body acrylic paint retains brushstrokes, facilitates blending and mixing methods and has an increased open working time. High-quality heavy body acrylics are ideal for thick and impasto applications and techniques since it retains crisp marks that remain flexible after the paint has dried. This means that even thick films will remain free of cracks and chips over time. If you plan to apply traditional techniques emulating oil paintings or if you want to get experimental with mixed media, collages, or printmaking, the best heavy body acrylics available are the right choice.

Soft body acrylic paints in comparison are smoother than heavy body acrylics and are better suited for mixing in different mediums. Since they have a runnier consistency, they can much more easily be spread. Soft body acrylic paint is ideal for many different art projects, including all kinds of decorative arts, traditional painting, murals, printmaking, and fabric painting. More liquid variants are the best paint for acrylic pouring. You can use them on a variety of surfaces such as on canvas, wood, fabric, ceramics, and even porous surfaces.

Fluid acrylics, also called acrylic ink, are even thinner while containing the same pigment concentration so that they produce vibrant compositions. After drying, the finish will have a smooth gloss. Ink products are most versatile, since they cannot only be used traditionally with good acrylic brushes but also with an airbrush or in a pen. They are best suited for projects that require detail work, watercolour techniques, staining, or dry-brush work.

If your artistic projects require a viscosity somewhere in between heavy body, soft body, or fluid, you can use many different acrylic mediums such as gel medium for acrylic paint, texture gels, modelling paste, glazing medium, and matte/gloss medium. Blend these acrylic mediums into the paint to achieve the particular consistency you need. Accordingly, you can thin or thicken the paint, add some texture, alter drying times, or achieve an extra matte or gloss finish.

PERMANENCE

Permanence, or “lightfastness”, refers to how the acrylic paint reacts when exposed to light. The ability of a pigment to resist gradual fading is measured against a time period of 20 years of gallery exposure. Products with pigments that tend to fade quickly over time are called “fugitive colours”. However, the large majority of acrylic colours has much better permanence ratings than other materials such as watercolours or oil paint, which is a great advantage.

Look out for lightfastness standards on the label of the paint product when buying acrylics. ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, classifies acrylic colours according to the following standards:

ATSM I = Excellent Lightfastness

ATSM II = Very Good Lightfastness

ATSM III = Not Sufficiently Lightfast

You will either find the ATSM standards on the tube or jar label or the following manufacturer classifications:

**** or AA = Extremely permanent colours

*** or A = Durable colours.

** or B = Moderately durable colours.

* or C = Fugitive Colours

We recommend always opting for excellent or very good lightfastness unless you just want to experiment and practice. Fugitive colours are also suitable for children’s craft projects.

DRYING TIMES

How long does acrylic paint take to dry? Generally, acrylic paints dry quickly which means that you have to work fast if you want to make changes to the first brush stroke. Most artists appreciate the fast-drying quality since this is good for layering or projects such as painting on top of acrylic pour.

Although the average drying time is 20-30 minutes, there are a few factors that can have an impact on the drying time of acrylic paints such as what brand and what quality of paint you are using, and how wet the paint is. Other factors which influence the drying time of acrylic paint include room temperature, humidity, and air circulation. Cool, damp areas will slow down the drying time, while painting in a dry, warm room, windy conditions, and low outdoor humidity will speed up the process. Furthermore, there are brands of fast-drying acrylic paints that can be purchased, such as the product Galeria by Winsor & Newton, which take approximately 10 minutes to touch dry. These properties are considered the best craft paint for wood and glass by many hobbyists.

Some techniques will require wet paint, for example when applying wet-into-wet, emulating the usage of oil paints. High-quality acrylic paint known as “formulated open paints” possess these slow-drying properties and are very similar to the application of oil paints.

So-called “interactive paints” dry just as fast as ordinary acrylic paints, however, you can apply a liquid “unlocking formula”. With this formula you are able to wet the already dried interactive paint again, allowing for further alterations to your brush strokes. In order to finally lock the paint, a medium fixer will be necessary.

VIBRANCY

Colour vibrancy is largely dependent on the pigment source, the purity of the pigments, and the concentration of pigments within the tube of acrylic paint. You will find that some pigments are not naturally sourced but synthetically produced, usually those which end in “hue”. Most professional or artist quality acrylic paint, in contrast to student grade paint, will generally have a higher concentration of natural pigment, ultimately leading to brighter end results. Therefore, it is worth it to invest in a good brand of acrylic paint.

COLOUR SELECTION

Countless colour options are available for acrylic painting. If you aren’t an experienced artist, this abundance can be overwhelming. Which colours should you buy when first starting to paint with acrylics? We all know that it is possible to mix a rainbow of shades and hues using just the three primary colours red, green, and yellow. Yet many artists prefer the ease of applying the desired colour directly from the tube. Furthermore, particular ready-made colours have simply a higher intensity than anything you would be able to mix yourself. Especially as a beginner, it is good to know how to limit your colour palette while still being able to come up with the colours you want to use in your painting. We recommend getting a tube of each of the following colours for a start:

• titanium white
• mars black
• cadmium red medium
• phthalo blue
• cadmium yellow medium
• burnt umber
• phthalo green
• dioxazine purple
• cadmium orange

Alternatively start with an acrylic paint set, which will not only save you money per tube but will also solve the problem of picking the colours yourself. Using the best beginner acrylic paint set recommended below will help you not to stress too much about the materials in the beginning and to just pick up the brush and get going.

Among the best acrylic paint for artists, you will find out that some colours are much more expensive. While earth colours are usually the least expensive, other colours that derive from cadmium can cost three times as much. The reason is that some natural pigments such as cadmium are hard to attain. When buying colours, look out for series numbers with 7 being the most expensive and 1 having the lowest prices. As mentioned above, some companies offer cheaper colours in which pigments are substituted synthetically, at the expense of permanence and colour intensity.

BRANDS

What is the best brand of acrylic paint? With the wide range of acrylic paints available on the market, it is hard to decide which brand to pick. Many experts recommend buying several products of different brands and performing your own experiments to eventually decide on your own favourite. However, we are aware that trial and error can be both time-consuming and expensive. After all, you want to focus more on the process of painting than on experimentation.

What are the best acrylic paint brands? While some brands are definitely better than others, when it comes to the top companies it is really only a matter of individual preferences. The products we recommend in this post are all offered by high-quality brands so that you cannot go wrong. While buying jars will give you more paint for your money, starting off with a smaller, less expensive tube will provide the possibility of testing the brand first. As we will explain, the best acrylic paint brand for beginners will not necessarily be the best acrylic paint for professionals. Once you have particular brands that you are happy with you can still buy a few jars. We have used all the following brands with great satisfaction:

Golden Artist Colors

Blick Studio

Sennelier

Liquitex

Chroma Atelier

Winsor & Newton

Daler-Rowney

Grumbacher Academy

Old Holland

In the following, we will look at individual products to help you find the best acrylic paint for your needs. Our review is split up into two sections, starting with student grade acrylics before recommending a number of professional quality paints including the best acrylic paint set. Please keep in mind that a “pro” of a brand might be a “con” for you, or vice versa, depending on individual styles of painting and skill levels. The order in which the brands are presented does not indicate any kind of rating system.

Acrylic Painting for Beginners: The 6 best student acrylic paints

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Set

This set of 48 tubes (each 22ml) is ideal for artists who are just starting to explore the world of acrylics. Even if the pigments are not as intense as in professional-grade paints, the large range of colours of this high-quality acrylic paint set will still make your artwork shine. The texture of these good acrylic paint set colours is buttery, but thinner than the heavy body artists’ paints, making them ideal for layering up your artwork. In case you need more texture in your painting, simply mix in an impasto gel of your preference. Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colours dry to a satin finish while eliminating surface glare. Once fully dried up, the paints are permanent, flexible, and water-resistant.

While these colours are among the best acrylic paints for canvas on the beginner level, you can use them for a variety of further projects, including watercolour, airbrush, printmaking, and mixed media techniques. The paints are very versatile when combined with Liquitex Basics Acrylic Mediums.

One big advantage is that Liquitex sells these paints not only as a set but also individually so that you can stock up easily once you have run out of your favourite paints.

Pros:

• Available as set and individually
• Good price
• Wide range of colours for a student set
• Good lightfastness
• Versatile
• Dry to a satin finish without surface glare

Cons:

• Tubes are a bit small for larger projects
• Colours not as intense as artists’ grade version

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Winsor & Newton Galeria Flow Acrylics

Acrylic painting for beginners can start with this set of 10 colours (each 20 ml), which deliver professional results at an affordable price. The paints are ideal for students and hobbyists, decorative painters, and fine artists alike due to their versatility in usage. Their consistency is smooth, similar to oil paint for quick and easy coverage and strong brushstroke retention. The free-flowing consistency makes them easy to blend for beginners.

These colours also count among the best acrylic paint for canvas; however, they are also suitable for other surfaces such as canvas, paper, leather, fabric, wood, and brick. Once the colours are fully dry, they are water- and weather-resistant, which makes them a good choice for murals and other outdoor projects. Although considered as student grade, the high pigment levels of Winsor & Newton Galeria Flow Acrylics deliver outstanding results.

Pros:

• Good quality for reasonable price
• Weather resistant
• Versatile
• Straight from the tube workability
• Vibrant colours
• Open time is longer than average acrylic paint which is good for blending

Cons:

• Can only be shipped inside USA
• Colour selection of set is not ideal

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Blick Studio Acrylic Paints

 

The student-grade Blick Studio Acrylics set of 36 colours (each tube 21 ml) offers great value for beginners. The wide range of hues are highly pigmented compared to other non-professional grade paints, providing for good coverage and colour intensity. The buttery, oil-like texture perfectly holds impasto brush marks after drying. Blick Studio Acrylics dry to a non-yellowing paint film that has proven good lightfastness and flexibility without cracking. You can dilute your colours with Gloss Medium for washes on sealed surfaces and with water for washes on absorbent surfaces such as paper.

Pros:

• Brilliant colour pigments
• Good for mixing colour
• Good variety for understanding colour theory
• Easy to clean from brushes
• Smooth and easy to spread
• Can be purchased individually

Cons:

• Full colour range not always available

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Golden Fluid Acrylic Paint

  

Golden Fluid Acrylic Paints provide great colour brilliance due to lightfast pigments. With a consistency similar to heavy cream, they are more liquid than the paints reviewed above, not containing any fillers or extenders. Due to the fluid texture, they are ideal for spraying, staining, and brushing. They are furthermore widely considered to be among the best acrylic paints for pouring art projects. Unlike heavy-body paints, Golden Fluid Acrylic offers fine dispersion and high tinting strength as well as durability and flexibility.

If you want to create heavier brush strokes, you can blend Fluid Acrylics with Golden Gel Medium to thicken the paint as desired. Thanks to the thin consistency, it is very easy to incorporate Gel Mediums into the pigment.

Pros:

• Paints retain excellent flexibility after drying
• Easy to mix with gel medium
• Versatile due to liquid quality
• Good adhesion on non-oily surfaces

Cons:

• Without medium, does not hold brushstrokes when drying

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Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylic Paints

Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylics offer an affordable range of water-based colours. The paints are ideal for students and hobbyists looking for good performance and reliability. With a smooth application, they are easy to use and to mix with different colours of the same quality. Due to their fast-drying quality, Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylics are good for layering and for covering large surfaces. Once dried, the paints are durable, they stay flexible and the strong colours assure that the paintings last a long time. The paints can withstand rough treatment and won’t crack even if the canvas or the paper support is rolled.

Since Daler-Rowney Graduate Acrylics do not contain any solvents, they are even suitable for children to use. A unique valve mechanism on the squeezable tubes minimizes waste and special stay-clean technology minimizes mess.

Pros:

• Non-toxic
• No cracking after drying
• High pigment load

Cons:

• Texture feels like plastic after drying

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Grumbacher Academy Acrylics

Grumbacher Academy Acrylics is a line of 48 process colours as well as metallic and iridescent colours at a very affordable student price. Due to good-quality pigments in high concentration, all colours have an ASTM lightfast rating of 1 and superior tinting strength. The paints come in 90 ml metal tubes as well as in 75 ml and 200 ml plastic tubes. However, there are only two small sets available, a colour mixing set of 5 colours for learning colour theory, and an introductory set of 6 colours.

Unlike other budget brands, Grumbacher uses genuine pigments such as pure cadmium for Academy Acrylics and the hues including the best metallic acrylic paint are carefully formulated. They underlie the same quality standards as Grumbacher’s professional paints, which means that colours of different series can easily be mixed together.

Since the drying times are very fast, the products should not be considered the best acrylic paints for beginners but are more suitable for the intermediate-level painter. The paint’s texture is quite thin so that it needs an additional thickening medium if an impasto technique is to be applied.

Pros:

• Applies well to support
• No colour shift after drying