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Acrylic paint is very finely milled organic, inorganic, synthetic or natural pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer binder.
Because of acrylic paints versatility and flexibility you can apply it to traditional art substrates and also to a variety of craft surfaces.
Acrylic paints come in many different guises;depending on the kind of project you are undertaking, you will be able to choose from;
Acrylic paints come in many different colours, including metallics, pearlescence, and pastel colours. However if you are a beginner you might try using a limited primary colour palette until you are more confident. Too many colours can become confusing.
Suggested colours would be; Alizarin Crimson,Cadmium Red,Cadmium Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Prussian Blue, Burnt Sienna or Burnt Umber or Raw Umber, Titanium White and Mars or Ivory black.
These warm and cool primary colours will provide you with a good range of secondary and tertiary colour schemes and palettes. Adding white will give you a variety of tinted pastel colours whilst adding grey will tone them down and adding black will darken their value. To desaturate and mute your colours you can also add small amounts of complementary colours to each other i.e blue to orange, red to green or purple to yellow. You would only add very small amounts of pigments to each other to adjust your colour.
Alternatively if you are really stuck there are many beginners acrylic sets out there you can try.
System 3 Original Acrylic Studio Set - 10 x 37ml Tubes FREE BRUSH
System 3 Original Jumbo Selection Set (8 x 150ml tubes)
System 3 Acrylic Introductory Set
System 3 Acrylic Mixing Set (Formerly Process Set) - 6 x 59ml
Acrylic Paint Set for Artists - 10 x 22mls Tubes
Daler Rowney Graduate Acrylic Colour Selection Set - 24 x 22ml Tubes
Daler Rowney Graduate Acrylic Selection Set - 10 x 38ml Tubes
Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic 12 Tube set
Daler-Rowney System 3 Selection Acrylic Paint Set - 8 x 59ml
Amsterdam Acrylic Paint Standard series Study Set - 72 x 20ml
Sennelier Abstract Acrylic Paint Pouches - 5 x 120ml - Primary/Introductory
Liquitex Professional Heavy Body Acrylic - Classic 12 Set
Royal & Langnickel Essentials Mixed Media Brush/Paint Set
Galeria 10 Tube set Small - 20ml
Galeria 10 Tube Set - 60ml
Artists grade acrylics often contain pure pigments and depending on their availability, manufacturers group colours into various price bands called series A or series B or number the colours 1 to 9. (series 9 being the highest price, series 1 the cheapest price) The higher the letter or number, the more expensive the colour is to produce: leading to greater colour intensity meaning there’s less change in the colour once the paint is dry. They are also formulated to last longer than their student counterpart being made to resist reactions with water, UV light and exposure to the elements. The artist’s quality paints intermix well and are more vibrant due to the strength and purity of the pigments; if mixed with mediums they should also maintain their intensity of colour.
Student grade acrylics can be made from the same pigments but dispersed in more binder and filler. Also some of the more expensive pigments may have been replaced by a combination of alternative colour mixes to simulate the pure pigment, these synthetic pigment alternatives are called “hues”. The less expensive formulas don’t tend to mix cleanly but make up for it in handling very similarly to artist quality. Being more economically produced also means they are great for when quantity is required. Student quality paints are great for covering large areas, as a base coat and to use when you are just starting out as an acrylic painter. Student quality paints only come in series 1 and series 2.
Firstly you should never dilute your acrylic paint with more than 25% water. Instead you should use a wetting agent, glazing agent or a flow improver. This will ensure you don’t under-bind your painting. This simply means if you use too much water, once dried your paint could flake or peel or crack. This happens because the binding agent which holds the pigment together has become too diluted and can’t form a solid film over the painted area.
Mixing acrylic colours to create new and exciting hues could not be easier! There is only one rule to stop you creating muddy colours, and that is to never mix more than three colours together.
Always add very small amounts of colour at a time to shift your value high or low. Use very strong or dark colours sparingly. Some Acrylic paint colours can be translucent or opaque or semi opaque. A good tip would be to create some colour charts to help you get to know your colours before embarking on a final painting.
There are many ways to create texture using acrylic paint, either with or without adding a medium. Heavy Body acrylic paint will be the most effective as it retains brush and knife marks. Its heavy consistency allows you to scrape into the paint or press interesting textures into it such as rope or hessian etc. However there are many mediums and gels on the market which you can add to change the consistency and viscosity of your paint, some may change the colour slightly. You can build your paint up with a modelling paste or create a sand like quality using a fine pumice gel. There are many different brands out there to choose from; Golden, Liquitex and Winsor & Newton Galeria. Below is just a small example of what we sell.
There are many other additives on the market which change the characteristic of the paint once out of the tube or bottle and onto your palette. You can use flow improvers to keep the paint open (stops it from drying too fast) and to make it more diluted without compromising on the vibrancy of the colour or underbinding your pigment. You can change the lustre of the finish to a gloss, matte or satin. Galleria, Winsor & Newton, Liquitex and Golden all provide a plethora of mediums that can be used with all acrylic paint. They also provide sealers, gesso, ground and acrylic varnishes to use on your surfaces/substrates before or after painting.
Some student quality acrylic paints will dry slightly darker than others, but it is very slight. Also if you use a lot of modelling medium, this will lighten your colour slightly. You can however apply modelling paste onto the canvas first, leave to dry then paint over with your desired colour.
Tinting strength simply means the amount of paint it takes to create a pastel colour. To make a pastel colour you simply add any paint colour to white acrylic paint. So if you only use a very small amount of pigment this means the paint you are using will have a high tinting strength. You will use less for darker colours and more for lighter colours.
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This year we created the 12 Days of Christmas on our mini canvas which would make an ideal gift or to keep for yourself on display.
