The act of painting transcends mere strokes of colour on canvas. This activity allows you to communicate emotions, tell stories, and capture the beauty of the world around you. Painting offers a range of benefits beyond mere expression. It ignites passion, cultivates boundless imagination, and promotes self-discovery.
Amidst the variety of mediums available for painting, acrylic paint is a versatile and vibrant choice. Its quick-drying nature, rich pigmentation, and adaptability make it a beloved companion for both novice hobbyists and professionals. But before you embark on your next artistic endeavour, you should ensure that the paints you select align with your creative vision.
Customer Reviews
To separate the gems from the disappointments when shopping online, look for an acrylic paint artist set with customer reviews. Do you want to know if the bold cerulean blue lives up to its description? Curious if the paint’s consistency is smooth as silk or lumpy as mashed potatoes? Customer reviews can provide you with the valuable information you seek. Who better to trust than your fellow artists who have already dipped their brushes into the paints you’re eyeing? They’re sharing their triumphs, struggles, and everything in between so that you can make an informed decision.
Quality
There are two categories of acrylics available for purchase: student and artists’ quality. Although student colours are less expensive, they come with a restricted variety, lesser pigment concentrations, and often contain fillers which might lessen the colour’s intensity. Paints of an artists’ quality (also called “professional”) have excellent durability ratings, a larger pigment concentration, and a wide colour selection. Many professional painters use these colours since they’re smoother and easier to mix and layer.
Students’ quality acrylic paint sets are suitable for those who are just starting out and on a tight budget, but once you start making artwork that you want to save, I’d suggest moving up to artists’ colours (particularly if you want to sell your artwork). If you don’t want to spend a lot of money, you can get the earthy hues from student paints, which are usually good quality, and pay extra for the pure bright colours in artists’ quality. Some painters also cut costs by underpainting with student colours and finishing with high-end paint.
Colours
When purchasing an artists’ quality acrylic painting set, you’ll note that certain colours are far more costly than others. This is due to the difficulty of obtaining certain pigments. Certain manufacturers classify their paints into “series,” where “1” denotes the least pricey paint and “7” is the priceiest. The earth tones are usually the least expensive and cadmium-based colours are usually the most expensive. Certain manufacturers provide less expensive solutions by using synthetic pigments instead of natural ones, but this usually results in an inferior permanence rating as well as less vivid colours. To identify this, look for the term “hue” following the pigment name on the package.
Lightfastness
Lightfastness or permanence describes a pigment’s capacity to withstand slow fading in the presence of light. Pigments that gradually lose their vibrancy are called fugitive colours. One reason why I enjoy using acrylics is that they have far greater durability ratings than oils or watercolours. ASTM International uses a test to replicate 20 years of gallery exposure when classifying artists’ colours. The tubes are usually marked with ASTM I-III, where the “I” denotes superior lightfastness, while the “III” is the least lightfast. As for the other paints, they contain letters such as AA, A, B and C, where AA signifies excellent lightfastness and C stands for fugitive colours.
Consistency
A heavy-body acrylic paint artist set has thick and buttery colours, allowing for easy colour mixing while retaining brushstrokes. On the other hand, fluid acrylics are perfect for dry brushwork, watercolour methods, detail work, and staining. They’re thinner but still have the same pigment concentration. You can also add a variety of mediums to achieve the precise consistency you need if you’re searching for anything in between. The kind you choose will rely on your own choice and your painting style. If you’re just getting started, go with the more popular heavy-body acrylics, which you can still dilute with medium or water if necessary.
Jar vs Tube
So, which is better – acrylic paint tube or jar? You can find heavy-body acrylic painting sets in both tubes and jars. While tubes are convenient and compact, with jars you can purchase more paint and save money. These often have different consistencies – paint in tubes has a paste-like consistency, whereas jar paints are thicker but will flatten on a palette. If you’re debating whether you should get tubes or jars, I’d recommend starting with tubes. Then, once you get familiar with the brands and colours you use frequently, you can get a couple of jars. When purchasing your first acrylic painting set, go for the smaller 2 fl. oz. tubes. This way you can leave your options open and be able to experiment with different brands. Usually, fluid acrylics are available in bottles which include drippers or screw lids that make it simple to transfer the paint to a palette.
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