Art Supplies Painting

What to Know Before Choosing an Acrylic Paint

Are you a person who Is looking to choose an acrylic paint and want to make an informed decision? Here is what to know before choosing an acrylic paint.

Painting is a serene experience. It allows you to put your creative energy onto canvas. It is meditative, introspective, and just downright fun.

When you reach a certain point in your painting activities, you’ll have to decide what paint to use. The age-old debate is between oil and acrylic paints. While you can use both for different purposes, acrylic paint is a great place to start since it is easy to work with while drying quickly.

Knowing how to choose the right acrylic paint is the next challenge. This article will show you what to know so can pick the right acrylic paints for your purposes.

What To Know About Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is one of the most popular paints to work with since it is easier to use for many beginners. Even experienced artists sometimes prefer this paint over oil-based because it dries quickly and resists fading over time. It’s important to have an idea of what to know about acrylics to pick the right one.

Quality

In order to find a good acrylic paint, you need to start with the quality of the paint. It can be tempting to go with the cheap stuff if this is your first foray into the acrylic world.

Unfortunately, many colors of the cheaper options aren’t as vibrant as their quality counterparts. These colors also tend to have a smoother consistency which helps with blending and layering different colors together on the canvas.

Colors

The color itself rarely matters since acrylic paints come in a large variety of options. When you’re thinking about the piece you’re working on, it’s important to choose the best colors you feel will complement and create the final product.

With this, you can use specialty colors like fluorescence and iridescence that create a unique effect using different pigments. These are great for creating different stylistic effects when you want to add some contrast in your technique.

Permanence

Another important thing to think about is the permanence of the paint. While acrylic paints tend to resist gradual fading over time, some brands do this better than others.

There are certain standards that you can look for known as ASTM international standards that will simulate gradual fading and exposure over a 20 year period. The lower the number, the better.

Drying Time

Acrylic paints are known for drying quickly. For many artists, this is a preferable thing since they don’t have to wait up to weeks on end for their artwork to dry. Most acrylic brands will dry within a few days after you have finished painting.

Quick drying times might not always be preferable, though! Some artists like to work with the canvas over a period of several weeks, which requires a slower drying time. Some brands make special acrylic paints that will remain wet longer.

Get Painting

There’s no time like the present to start painting. Whatever your experience level, style, and budget, there are paints out there that will work for you. A little bit of trial and error maybe in order to find the right ones.

For more tips or information, check out some more tutorials, or contact us.