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“Which Acrylic Paints Should I Buy?” was a post I wrote for this blog years ago. Having revisited it, I decided that there was room for improvement, so here goes:

Artist or Student grade?

Firstly, like most Paint types, there are two grades of acrylics: student or artist quality. Most manufacturers offer both ranges. Some make it obvious, such as Talens’ Expert or Standard ranges or Winsor & Newton’s Professional vs Galeria. Others it’s harder to tell, though price is often a guide, and checking the manufacturer or retailer’s website can be helpful.

Artist quality acrylic paint is made up of a pigment, a binder (polymer resin in the case of acrylics), and other additives such as matting agents, preservatives or thickeners. Student grade paint will use a cheaper pigment, or replace some of the pigment with a filler.

So I’d always recommend buying a better quality paint because, with more pigment, you’ll get stronger colours and  better covering power.

Which to buy if you’re on a budget.

Maybe budget is an issue? Firstly, you don’t need to start with a lot of colours. Buy a few and add to them as you feel the need. You can mix anything from two reds, two blues and two yellows (choosing a warm and a cool version of each), plus Titanium White.

If you’re starting from scratch, I recommend Sennelier Abstract range. (No, you don’t have to paint abstracts with it; it’s good for any subject or style.) It’s a top quality manufacturer, and though this range is their entry level, I think they are excellent paints. Lots of pigment, consistent quality, good range of colours and funky packaging. They retail at about £4 per 120ml pouch, which is about twice as much paint for half the price of artist quality paint. The only downside is that occasionally I’ve had a tube split, though that’s nothing a piece of strategically placed masking tape can’t solve.

Maybe you’ve already bought or been gifted a set of lower grade acrylics? No problem. Keep using the set, but when a colour runs out, replace with something better. Then you don’t have to replace the whole set at once. Or keep the less impressive paints for practice, and buy better for more considered paintings.

The only time I’d insist on having top quality is when buying Titanium White, of which I find Liquitex to be the best, as it’s bright white with good covering power. Lower quality means the paint is too thin, so doesn’t have the brightness or coverage you need.

So which acrylic paints should you choose, from the numerous brands available?

Anyone who has come to my acrylics classes will have no doubt that I’m a fan of Liquitex paints. I’ve tried a few other makes but I find that their Heavy Body range suits me best. I love the soft buttery consistency of the paint and the drying time seems slower than some of the other makes. There’s a good range of colours and I’m impressed at the covering power of the paint, whilst it can also be thinned easily for glazes.

I particularly like the way that the paint holds its shape when applied, so you can see any ridges or furrows left by painting knife or brush.

That said, I’ve been trying out some of their Soft Body range lately, and I must admit I’m impressed. Soft Body paint is a runnier version of Heavy Body. Same manufacturing quality, same colours, but when you put colour on the palette, Soft Body leaves a pool whereas Heavy Body leaves a blob. Think thick cream rather than soft butter.

There are other types of acrylics (I’ll write a post about those another time), but those two are the ones you’re most likely to start with.

I salute Liquitex too for printing whether the paint is opaque, transparent or translucent on the back of each tube instead of only on a colour chart. Who can be bothered to search out a paint chart whilst in the flurry of creativity?

There are plenty of other good makes to choose. Golden has a wide range of excellent artist acrylics; top quality, intense colours. Sennelier artist quality acrylics are fabulous, but that’s reflected in their top prices. Other makes with good reputations are Schminke, Lascaux, Old Holland and Winsor & Newton, though I haven’t personally experienced their acrylics.   

Which Acrylic Paints should you avoid?

Anything that’s very, very cheap, because the quality is certain to be poor. You probably know the adage, “Buy cheap, buy twice”, and it’s certainly true of most budget acrylics. So if the set is full of tiny tubes (too small to be useful), at a very low price – avoid. Especially if you’re just starting out, as they’ll be horrible and will put you off a wonderful medium.

I’m also going to say don’t buy Pebeo, only because one of my students had a tube of Titanium White and it was too thin and weak. Maybe a bit unfair to diss an entire range based on one tube, so if you’ve experienced that brand or any of the brands I’ve mentioned, do let me know what you think in the comments below.

I hope that’s given you a good overview of which acrylics to choose. Let me know any questions in the comments, and I’ll answer there, or in a future blog post if it’s a more complicated answer.