Liquitex Professional Acrylic Heavy Body Set of 12 x 59 ml Classic Colours

Product Information

While these paints fall under ‘artists’ grade, there are slight variations in their quality. Spectracryl are the lowest of the artist grade. Winsor & Newton and Liquitex are on par with each other. Ther very best quality acrylics are Golden. Student Quality Acrylic Paints The 75ml-size tubes are also that bit bigger than other brands, which will be good for newbies – trust us, you’ll get through far more paint than you might expect. Highly versatile, dries to a low gloss surface on high impasto areas and a soft satin finish on thinner applications. There aren’t many hard and fast rules when it comes to acrylic painting. Sometimes the best approach is to experiment and see where your work takes you. Other artists prefer to do some preliminary sketches or paintings to help keep their focus. Once you’re settled on your composition, your sketches can be scaled up onto canvas. This can be done using a grid transfer method, with scaling dividers, pantographs, tracing paper, tracedown or even a projector. Use Liquitex Soft Body Acrylic Paint with Liquitex String Gel for some interesting effects Artist grade typically contain a high ratio of single pigment colours and fewer additives or extenders. The more pigments you put into your mixes, the more likely they are to become flat, muddy and lifeless. Single pigment colours are much sought after to make colour mixes clean and clear. Artist paints also tend to let the unique characteristics of each pigment shine through. This means you will find that some colours dry to a different finish, are a slightly different texture and have varying degrees of opacity. What is a Series Number?

Once you have settled on the paint you are buying, it will be time to consider the range of colours in your palette. If you are starting out then it may be advisable to buy a set. Generally these contain a good selection of mixing colours that will be enough to get you going – some even have a few accessories. Newbies, beware: there are many so-called ‘beginner’s sets’ that contain as many as 24 different colours. While this range of colour might look enticing, the choice is likely to be a little bit overwhelming. Far better you rely on a limited range and develop your colour-mixing skills. How much should I expect to spend on acrylic paint? Meanwhile, some acrylic paints have a longer working time – how long it takes for the paint to dry – than others, making blending and mixing colours easier, but slowing down layered approaches. Consider what you need your paint for, what kind of look you are going for, and choose what is best for your needs. Is there a difference between cheap and expensive acrylic paint?Professional paints contain more pigment and tend to have extra ingredients to improve consistency and surface quality. Better quality paints usually cover a surface more thoroughly, while poorer quality paints may be too see-through, which can be an issue depending on what you're looking for. The chemical properties of acrylic are much of a muchness from brand to brand. Where they differ is in their consistency and the levels of pigment they contain. We’ll go into pigment in the following section. When it comes to starting your painting it’s important to set up in an area with enough open space and good lighting. The scale you work on will mostly be down to personal preference. If you’re a beginner a large, empty canvas can be daunting, so starting on a small scale may be better. Conversely working on a large scale can feel freeing if you have the space available. We’d all love a big studio space with high vaulted ceilings but many of us can only work as large as our spare rooms will allow! Choosing Your Painting Surface There are many brands of acrylic paints – but not all paints are alike! Before settling on a particular make it is important to know the differences between the type of acrylics available. Student Quality vs Artist Quality Acrylics

Setting yourself up with some basic materials for acrylic painting can seem overwhelming, but there are only a few essentials that you will need to get started. Depending on the intent you have with your art, each paint type will have advantages and disadvantages. Fluid acrylics: These paints have the consistency similar to oil or even water, and are often used for pouring and other fluid techniques. These acrylics are great creating smooth, even washes of color or very fine detail.The pigment load will affect the vibrancy of the colors,” Clare says. For the best pigment load, Clare recommends choosing professional quality paints—like many of the brands listed above, including Golden, Liquitex, and Windsor & Newton—to achieve optimum vibrancy. Student grade paints keep their prices economical by replacing costly pigments with less expensive alternatives. They also contain higher levels of additives and extenders. For example higher series pigments – like Cadmium and Cobalt – command a high price in artist grade paints. In student ranges you will see them replaced with ‘hues’ – like Cadmium Red Hue and Cobalt Blue Hue. These substitutions offer similar properties and colour to the genuine pigments, but without the associated price tag. Cobalt Blue is made using a single pigment, whereas Cobalt Blue Hue is made from three pigments.

Winsor & Newton: Winsor & Newton's Professional Acrylics are considered to be one of the best in terms of color intensity and permanence. They offer a wide variety of colors and is suitable for artists of all skill levels. As with any acrylic from the Liquitex lab, Heavy Body is at the forefront of acrylic innovation. The formula represents the latest in acrylic resin technology. Its low-odor acrylic resin base gives an increased open time and colors of great clarity and vibrancy, with minimal wet-to-dry shift. The paint film is highly flexible, durable, non-yellowing, UV-resistant and water-resistant when dry. Most student ranges also contain additives so that all colours dry to a uniform finish and texture. This can be beneficial to beginners as there is no need to worry about any variations in sheen or handling. The following brands fall into the student quality category: Standard acrylic paints have a consistency that’s just a little runnier than toothpaste. It can be thinned easily with water – although only to an approximate 50/50 mix, after which the polymers break down and it starts to bead on whatever substrate you’re using. There are heavy-body acrylics which are more butter-like, which are well-suited for textured paintings; fluid acrylics, on the other hand, have a cream-like consistency that doesn’t retain any brushwork. We’ve included all three types in our round-up. If you’re unsure whether acrylic is the right medium for you, we suggest you invest in some student-grade paints. These cheaper colours won’t be as bright and lightfast as with higher-end options, but you’ll get a feel for the application, consistency and texture of acrylic paint. If you’re a committed artist with a mind to selling or exhibiting work, you probably already know it’s worth spending what you can: you’ll see the results in the vibrancy of the colours, and they’ll better stand up to the test of time.

The first acrylic colors offered by GOLDEN, Heavy Body paints are known for their exceptionally smooth, buttery consistency. The Heavy Body palette includes the largest assortment of unique pure pigments in a 100% acrylic emulsion available to professional artists. These colors offer excellent permanency and lightfastness. There are no fillers, extenders, opacifiers, toners, or dyes added. Many acrylic artists like to work with stay wet palettes that keep their paints fresher for longer. These types of palettes have an airtight seal, which prevents your colours from drying out. Usually they will come with a sponge layer which when wet increases the humidity in the palette. Liquitex Palette Wetting Spray can be used if you don’t have one of these palettes but need something to keep your paints fresh. This makes it an ideal medium to use with stiff bristle brushes like hog hair or palette knives, to get big fat marks of colour or wispy curling peaks on brush strokes. You may find a full size palette too cumbersome for painting when you are out and about – whether it be plein air or in the classroom. In these conditions, some artists prefer to use a disposable tear off palette. These one use palettes are made of an impervious parchment film which can be discarded at the end of each session. READ NEXT: The best graphics tablets for design The best acrylic paint to buy 1. Winsor & Newton Galeria: Best all-round acrylic paint