Five of the best things about working with acrylic paint

Here are five of the things I love most about acrylics.

1. First and foremost, acrylic paint is fabulously versatile. It can be used on almost any surface: canvas, wood, paper, fabric or even metal. With extenders – substances that can modify characteristics such as opacity, gloss and drying time, e.g. calcium carbonate, silica and mica – it is perfect for screen printing and can be very successful when creating lino prints. It is perfect for using in mixed media products and is really flexible if you are experimenting or looking to expand your creativity.
2. Unlike oil paints, the drying time for acrylic paint is fast, sometimes too fast (see tips in my previous blogs about how to keep your paints wet for longer INSERT LINK HERE). This does mean that it is easy to go over previous layers and add detail or, alternatively, scrape back without waiting for days, like you would have to with oil paintings. If you like to work quickly and make spontaneous decisions when working, acrylics are ideal for you.
3. Acrylic paints are known for their vibrant colours. They are bold, opaque and stay true after drying. They are perfect for creating eye-catching and dynamic artwork.
4. Being water based, acrylics are easy to clean up, so long as you don’t let the brushes dry out. I keep a large pot of water on one side to put my brushes in between use so that they don’t dry out. That said, you don’t need chemicals to clean up and acrylics are beginner friendly.
5. Last but not least, acrylics are much more budget friendly when compared to oils, making them far more accessible to artists of all levels. The affordability of acrylics means that you can create stunning artworks without breaking the bank.

As a caveat to point 5 above, it is always a good idea to buy the best paints, paper, brushes etc. you want to work with when creating art. Firstly because you will get better results with better products but also because you need to spend time working with a product to really know what effects you can achieve with it.

If you start with student grade paint you will not only probably struggle getting intense colour (student paints generally have fewer pigments in them) but as your work improves and you want to use better quality paints, you will have to start the learning curve all over again.

My advice is to just buy black, white, cool blue, warm blue, cool red, warm red, cool yellow and warm yellow and see what you can achieve. Once you know what you are doing with those foundation colours you can start to add in others but as and when you feel you can afford them.

NB I do not get paid to endorse any people or brands mentioned in my blogs.
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