Best acrylic paint for professional artists

To pinpoint the best acrylic paint for professional artists, think of it less as a single “best” and more about matching the right tools to your specific creative needs and budget. Just like a master chef selects ingredients for a precise dish, a professional artist chooses paints based on pigment load, binder quality, viscosity, and lightfastness. For those serious about their craft, top-tier brands consistently deliver superior performance. Golden Heavy Body Acrylics are a perennial favorite due to their high pigment concentration, smooth application, and excellent lightfastness, making them ideal for impasto work or bold brushstrokes. If you’re after a more fluid consistency suitable for glazing or staining, Golden Fluid Acrylics or Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylics offer intense color saturation without the need for excessive thinning. For artists who value extended working time, Golden Open Acrylics are a must, delaying the drying process significantly. When considering your artistic toolkit, remember that investing in quality supplies is investing in your artistic output. And while you’re leveling up your physical art supplies, consider enhancing your digital art skills too. Tools like Corel Painter can be a powerful complement to traditional media, offering incredible versatility for concept art, illustration, and digital painting. You can explore its capabilities and even get a head start with a special offer: 👉 Corel Painter 15% OFF Coupon Limited Time FREE TRIAL Included. Ultimately, the best acrylic paint for professional artists, whether in the UK, India, Australia, or anywhere else, comes down to a blend of performance, versatility, and how well it integrates into your unique artistic workflow. For beginners looking to elevate their game, starting with professional-grade paints on canvas can make a significant difference in understanding color mixing and handling, demonstrating what acrylic paint do professionals use and what is the best brand of acrylic paint for professional artists.

Understanding Professional-Grade Acrylics: What Acrylic Paint Do Professionals Use?

When you’re looking to find the best acrylic paint for professional artists, it’s not just about picking a color.

It’s about understanding the core components that elevate a student-grade paint to a professional one.

Professional acrylics are formulated with a commitment to quality that impacts every aspect of your painting experience, from initial application to the longevity of your artwork.

Pigment Load and Purity

The pigment load is arguably the most critical factor distinguishing professional acrylics. These paints are packed with a high concentration of pure pigments, which translates directly to vibrant, intense colors that offer superior coverage.

• Student vs. Professional: Student-grade paints often use fillers and extenders to bulk up the paint, reducing the pigment concentration. This results in duller colors, less opacity, and a need for more layers to achieve desired vibrancy. Professional paints, on the other hand, deliver rich, true-to-hue colors with fewer layers, making your workflow more efficient and your results more impactful.
• Single-Pigment Colors: Many professional lines, such as those from Golden and Liquitex, offer single-pigment colors. This means the hue is derived from a single pigment, not a mix of several. Why does this matter? Single-pigment paints offer cleaner, more predictable color mixing. When you mix two single-pigment colors, the resulting hue is purer and less likely to become muddy. This is a must for professional artists who rely on precise color theory.
• Transparency and Opacity: The pigment itself dictates the inherent transparency or opacity of a color. Professional paints accurately reflect these properties, allowing artists to intentionally choose transparent colors for glazing and opaque colors for solid coverage. This level of control is essential for nuanced work on canvas.

Binder Quality and Durability

The binder in acrylic paint is typically an acrylic polymer emulsion.

The quality of this binder directly affects the paint’s adhesion, flexibility, and longevity.

• Flexibility and Crack Resistance: High-quality binders in professional acrylics ensure that the paint film remains flexible after drying. This is crucial for paintings that might experience temperature fluctuations or slight movement. A flexible film is less prone to cracking, especially when painted in thick impasto layers. Cheaper paints often use inferior binders that can become brittle over time, leading to cracking and degradation of the artwork.
• Adhesion and Longevity: A superior binder provides excellent adhesion to various surfaces, including canvas, wood, paper, and even some metals. This strong bond ensures the paint won’t flake or peel over time. For professional artists, creating archival work is paramount, and a durable binder is a cornerstone of that.
• UV Resistance: While not solely dependent on the binder, a high-quality binder contributes to the overall stability of the paint, particularly its resistance to UV light. Combined with lightfast pigments, this ensures your artwork retains its color integrity for decades.

Lightfastness: The Archival Standard

Lightfastness refers to how well a pigment resists fading when exposed to light over time.

This is a critical consideration for any artist creating work intended for display or sale.

• ASTM Ratings: Professional paint brands universally use the ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials D4302 standard for lightfastness ratings.
  • ASTM I Excellent Lightfastness: Indicates no appreciable change in color over 100+ years under museum conditions. This is the gold standard for professional work.
  • ASTM II Very Good Lightfastness: Indicates slight change in color over 50-100 years. Still acceptable for many professional applications.
  • ASTM III Fair Lightfastness: Not recommended for permanent artwork.
• Why It Matters: For professional artists, ensuring the longevity of their work is a fundamental ethical responsibility. Artwork painted with fugitive non-lightfast pigments will fade, yellow, or shift in color over time, diminishing its value and disappointing collectors. Always check the lightfastness rating on the paint tube or manufacturer’s website.

Top Brands: What is the Best Brand of Acrylic Paint for Professional Artists?

When the question is what is the best brand of acrylic paint for professional artists, several names consistently rise to the top.

These brands have built their reputation on rigorous quality control, innovative formulations, and a deep understanding of artists’ needs. Video background remover with sound

They are the go-to choices for professionals whether you’re in the UK, India, Australia, or anywhere seeking the best acrylic paint for professional artists on canvas.

Golden Artist Colors

Golden is often cited as the benchmark for professional acrylics, and for good reason.

Based in New York, their commitment to research and development has led to an extensive range of innovative products.

• Golden Heavy Body Acrylics: These paints are known for their thick, buttery consistency, making them ideal for impasto work, retaining brushstrokes, and achieving textured effects. Their exceptionally high pigment load ensures incredible vibrancy and opacity. Many professional artists on Reddit and other forums consistently recommend Golden Heavy Body for their reliability.
• Golden Fluid Acrylics: Offering the same pigment load as the Heavy Body line but in a lower viscosity, Fluid Acrylics are perfect for staining, glazing, pouring, and fine detail work. They maintain excellent color intensity even when thinned.
• Golden Open Acrylics: A revolutionary product designed to extend the open working time of acrylics, allowing for blending, layering, and wet-into-wet techniques that mimic oil paints. This addresses one of the primary challenges of traditional acrylics – their fast drying time. This is a particularly valuable asset for artists in areas with dry climates or those who prefer a more leisurely painting pace.
• Golden High Flow Acrylics: These are ink-like paints with an even lower viscosity than fluids, suitable for airbrushing, calligraphy, staining, and watercolor effects.
• Key Features: All Golden paints boast excellent lightfastness ASTM I or II, minimal binder shrinkage, and archival quality. They are known for their superior pigment dispersion and rich, consistent color.

Liquitex Professional Acrylics

Liquitex is another powerhouse in the professional acrylic market, offering a comprehensive range of products catering to diverse artistic styles.

They were pioneers in introducing acrylics to the art world.

• Liquitex Professional Heavy Body Acrylics: Similar to Golden Heavy Body, these paints have a thick, creamy consistency that holds peaks and brushstrokes. They are rich in pigment and provide excellent coverage.
• Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylics: Formerly known as Medium Viscosity, these paints offer a smooth, flowing consistency, ideal for even color application, glazes, and detailed work. They are often a top recommendation for artists looking for the best acrylic paint for professional artists for beginners who want to step up their game.
• Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink: Highly fluid, pigment-rich inks perfect for pouring, dripping, airbrushing, and watercolor effects.
• Liquitex Professional Spray Paint: A unique offering that provides professional-grade acrylic in an aerosol format, excellent for large-scale work, murals, and mixed media.
• Key Features: Liquitex focuses on providing a wide spectrum of colors and mediums, ensuring versatility. Their paints are highly pigmented, lightfast, and durable, offering strong adhesion and flexibility.

Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylics

Winsor & Newton, a brand with a long history in art materials, also offers a professional acrylic line that stands out for its clarity and depth of color.

• Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylics: These paints feature a unique binder that remains clear, ensuring that the pigment’s full intensity shines through, without any yellowing or cloudiness over time. They offer vibrant, rich colors and excellent working properties.
• Consistency: They have a smooth, medium-to-heavy consistency that holds brushstrokes well but can also be thinned easily for glazes.
• Key Features: Known for exceptional pigment concentration and brilliance. Their unique binder technology is a major selling point, promising true color representation and archival stability. Lightfastness ratings are consistently high.

Exploring Different Consistencies and Viscosities

One of the beautiful aspects of acrylics is their versatility, largely due to the range of consistencies available.

Professional artists often use a combination of different viscosities to achieve diverse effects on their canvas.

Understanding these differences is key to selecting the best acrylic paint for professional artists.

Heavy Body Acrylics: For Texture and Impasto

Heavy body acrylics are the equivalent of oil paints in terms of their consistency. Wordperfect for mac free download

They are thick, buttery, and hold their shape exceptionally well, making them perfect for expressive and textural work.

• Characteristics:
  • Thick, paste-like consistency: Similar to soft butter or toothpaste.
  • Retains brushstrokes and palette knife marks: Ideal for impasto techniques where you want to build up significant texture.
  • Excellent coverage: High pigment load means strong, opaque color even in thick applications.
  • Longer open time relatively: While still faster drying than oils, their thickness allows for a slightly longer working time compared to fluid acrylics.
• Best Uses:
  • Impasto painting: Creating thick, textured surfaces that add dimension to your artwork.
  • Sculptural effects: Using palette knives to build up paint like a relief.
  • Bold, expressive brushwork: Where the mark of the brush is an integral part of the composition.
  • Layering without blending: Allowing distinct layers of color to sit on top of each other.
• Examples: Golden Heavy Body, Liquitex Professional Heavy Body, Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic.

Fluid Acrylics: For Glazes and Details

Fluid acrylics are thinner than heavy body paints but still highly pigmented.

They have a consistency similar to heavy cream, making them excellent for smooth applications, washes, and detailed work.
* Smooth, flowing consistency: Easy to spread evenly.
* High pigment load: Despite their fluidity, they offer intense, saturated colors.
* Less visible brushstrokes: Ideal for smooth, blended effects or flat areas of color.
* Excellent for glazing and staining: Can be thinned further with water or medium for transparent layers.
* Glazing: Applying thin, transparent layers of color to create depth and luminosity.
* Staining: Allowing the color to soak into absorbent surfaces.
* Fine detail and line work: Using small brushes for precise lines and intricate designs.
* Pouring techniques: While often requiring additional pouring mediums, fluid acrylics are the base.
* Underpaintings and washes: Creating initial layers of color quickly.

• Examples: Golden Fluid Acrylics, Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylics.

High Flow Acrylics and Acrylic Inks: For Liquid Applications

At the extreme end of fluidity are high flow acrylics and acrylic inks.

These are formulated to be as thin as water or ink, yet still deliver professional-grade pigment intensity.
* Ink-like consistency: Very thin, free-flowing.
* Extremely high pigment concentration: Even in their diluted state, they offer powerful color.
* Minimal or no brushstrokes: The paint flows almost effortlessly.
* Fast drying: Even faster than other acrylics due to their thinness.
* Airbrushing: Ideal for smooth gradients and fine atomization.
* Watercolor effects: Can be used like watercolors on absorbent surfaces.
* Calligraphy and pen work: Excellent for dip pens or technical pens.
* Staining and washes: For very thin, transparent color applications.
* Mixed media: Integrating with other liquid media.

• Examples: Golden High Flow Acrylics, Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink.

The Role of Mediums in Professional Acrylic Painting

Mediums are the unsung heroes of acrylic painting, acting as versatile tools that extend the possibilities of your professional acrylic paints.

They allow artists to manipulate the paint’s consistency, drying time, sheen, and transparency without compromising pigment integrity.

Mastering mediums is a hallmark of a professional artist, enabling them to achieve specific effects on canvas and tailor the best acrylic paint for professional artists to their exact needs.

Modifying Consistency: Thickeners and Thinners

Mediums can dramatically alter the feel and flow of your paint, opening up a world of textural and visual effects.

Gel Mediums and Heavy Gel Mediums

• Purpose: These mediums add body and transparency to acrylics, making thin paints thicker without reducing their color intensity. They can also extend paint volume, making your expensive professional paints go further.
• Effects:
  • Impasto effects: When mixed with fluid acrylics, heavy gel mediums can create thick, sculptural textures that hold peaks and brushstrokes.
  • Transparency: They increase the transparency of paint, ideal for glazing techniques where you want to build up subtle layers of color.
  • Adhesion: They can also act as powerful adhesives for collage and mixed media work.
• Types: Available in various consistencies soft gel, regular gel, heavy gel, extra heavy gel and finishes gloss, semi-gloss, matte.
• Application: Start with a small amount and gradually add more to your paint until you achieve the desired consistency.

Flow Improvers and Airbrush Mediums

• Purpose: These mediums reduce the viscosity of acrylic paints, allowing them to flow more smoothly and uniformly. They are crucial for applications like airbrushing, staining, and creating seamless washes.
  • Eliminates brushstrokes: Promotes an even, level film of paint.
  • Enhances flow: Makes paint glide effortlessly off the brush.
  • Prevents clogging: Especially important for airbrushing, as they break surface tension.
  • Staining effects: Allows paint to penetrate absorbent surfaces more easily.
• Caution: Use flow improvers sparingly. Too much can significantly reduce the paint’s binding strength. Airbrush mediums are specifically formulated to maintain paint integrity for spray applications.

Controlling Drying Time: Retarders and Extenders

One of the main characteristics of acrylics is their fast drying time. Wall art for sale

While often an advantage, it can be a limitation for artists who prefer to blend colors wet-into-wet or work slowly.

Acrylic Retarders

• Purpose: Retarders slow down the evaporation rate of water from the acrylic binder, significantly extending the paint’s open time. This allows for more blending and manipulation directly on the canvas.
• Mechanism: They don’t contain a binder, so they should be used in small quantities typically no more than 10-15% by volume to avoid compromising the paint film’s integrity.
• Example: Golden Retarder, Liquitex Slow-Dri Blending Medium.

Open Acrylic Mediums

• Purpose: These are a more sophisticated approach to extending drying time, often formulated as part of a specialized acrylic line like Golden Open Acrylics. They contain a specific type of binder that naturally slows drying without needing to be used in small ratios like traditional retarders.
• Benefits: Offer a much longer working time, similar to oil paints, allowing for extensive wet-into-wet blending, scumbling, and glazing over extended periods.
• Application: Can be mixed with standard acrylics to extend their working time, or used exclusively with an Open Acrylic system.

Adjusting Sheen and Transparency: Gels and Varnishes

The final look of your painting—its luminosity and how light interacts with its surface—can be fine-tuned with specific mediums.

Gloss, Matte, and Satin Mediums

• Purpose: These mediums can alter the finish of your dried paint. Mixing them directly with your paint will make the paint itself dry to that specific sheen.
  • Gloss Mediums: Increase luminosity, transparency, and depth of color. They dry to a shiny finish.
  • Matte Mediums: Create a flat, non-reflective surface. They also increase transparency but can slightly lighten or dull colors due to the matting agents.
  • Satin Mediums: Provide a balanced finish between gloss and matte, offering a subtle sheen.
• Application: Mix directly into the paint. They can also be used as a final varnish non-removable for protection and to unify the sheen of the painting.

Varnishes

• Purpose: Varnishes are applied as a final, removable protective layer over a finished, completely dry acrylic painting. They protect the artwork from dust, dirt, UV radiation, and environmental pollutants.
• Removability: Professional varnishes are designed to be removable with appropriate solvents, allowing for cleaning or restoration without damaging the paint layers beneath.
• Sheen Control: Available in gloss, satin, and matte finishes, allowing the artist to control the final reflective quality of the painting.
• Application: Apply in thin, even coats after the paint has fully cured which can take several weeks or months for thick applications.

Choosing the Right Set or Colors: Best Acrylic Paint for Professional Artists for Beginners and Beyond

For both aspiring and established artists, selecting the right palette of colors is a foundational step.

While professional artists eventually gravitate towards individual tubes based on their unique needs, starting with a well-curated set can be an excellent way to dive into the best acrylic paint for professional artists.

Starting with a Primary Set For Beginners Elevating Their Game

If you’re a beginner looking for the best acrylic paint for professional artists for beginners, a primary set is your best bet.

It provides the essential building blocks for mixing a vast array of hues.

• Contents: A typical primary set includes:
  • Cool Red e.g., Quinacridone Red, Alizarin Crimson Hue: A bluish-red, good for mixing purples and cool oranges.
  • Warm Red e.g., Cadmium Red Light, Naphthol Red Light: An orangish-red, excellent for mixing vibrant oranges and warm browns.
  • Cool Blue e.g., Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Prussian Blue Hue: A greenish-blue, strong for mixing greens and cooler purples.
  • Warm Blue e.g., Ultramarine Blue: A reddish-blue, perfect for mixing rich purples and muted greens.
  • Cool Yellow e.g., Lemon Yellow, Hansa Yellow Light: A greenish-yellow, good for mixing bright greens.
  • Warm Yellow e.g., Cadmium Yellow Medium, Indian Yellow Hue: An orangish-yellow, ideal for mixing warm oranges and earthy tones.
  • Titanium White: The essential opaque white for lightening and creating pastels.
  • Carbon Black or Mars Black: For darkening and mixing grays though many professionals prefer to mix their blacks.
• Benefits:
  • Teaches Color Theory: Forces you to learn how to mix colors effectively, which is an invaluable skill.
  • Cost-Effective: Often more economical than buying individual large tubes of every color.
  • Versatile: With just these few colors, you can achieve an incredibly wide spectrum.

Expanding Your Palette: Individual Tubes for Specific Needs

Once you’ve mastered the basics of color mixing, you’ll naturally identify “go-to” colors that you use frequently or specific pigments that achieve effects you desire.

This is when buying individual tubes of professional-grade acrylics becomes essential.

• Earth Tones:
  • Raw Umber, Burnt Umber: Essential for creating natural shadows, deep browns, and modifying other colors.
  • Yellow Ochre: A muted, stable yellow that works well in a variety of contexts.
• Convenience Colors: While you can mix these, having them pre-made can save time and ensure consistency.
  • Dioxazine Purple: A very strong, deep purple.
  • Phthalo Green Blue Shade: A powerful, cool green.
  • Turquoise/Cerulean Blue: For skies and water.
  • Naples Yellow Hue: A muted, creamy yellow.
• Metallic and Iridescent Colors: For specific artistic effects where you want a shimmer or shine. Golden and Liquitex both offer excellent ranges.
• Fluorescent Colors: For vibrant, eye-catching hues, though often less lightfast than traditional pigments. Use with caution for archival work.

Considerations for Specific Regions UK, India, Australia

While the top global brands like Golden, Liquitex, and Winsor & Newton are widely available, local availability and pricing can influence your choices.

• UK: Professional artists in the UK have excellent access to all major brands through art supply retailers like Jackson’s Art Supplies www.jacksonsart.com and Cass Art www.cassart.co.uk. Pricing can be competitive, especially during sales.
• India: The professional art supply market in India is growing. While global brands are available often imported, local alternatives might exist. Artists often find professional-grade paints through specialized art stores in major cities or online retailers like Art Lounge www.artlounge.in. Awareness of quality is increasing among artists looking for the best acrylic paint for professional artists India.
• Australia: Australian artists can readily find top brands through national retailers like Eckersley’s Art & Craft www.eckersleys.com.au and online stores. Shipping costs can be a factor for smaller purchases, so buying in bulk or during promotions is advisable for the best acrylic paint for professional artists Australia.

Surfaces and Preparation: Best Acrylic Paint for Professional Artists on Canvas

The best acrylic paint for professional artists, regardless of its quality, performs optimally when applied to a properly prepared surface. Free online photo editing tools

The surface you choose – be it canvas, wood panel, or paper – and its preparation directly impact the paint’s adhesion, durability, and the overall longevity of your artwork.

For professional artists, this attention to detail is non-negotiable, especially when painting on canvas.

Canvas: Stretched vs. Panels

Canvas is the most popular surface for acrylic painting, offering a distinctive texture and feel.

Stretched Canvas

• Description: Fabric usually cotton or linen stretched tautly over a wooden frame stretcher bars.
• Advantages:
  • Resilience: The tension allows for some give, which can be beneficial for impasto work and makes the surface less prone to denting than panels.
  • Lightweight: Easier to transport and hang, especially in larger sizes.
  • Traditional Feel: Many artists prefer the slight spring and texture of a stretched canvas.
  • Depth: The frame provides depth, allowing for painting on the sides or presenting without a frame.
• Disadvantages:
  • Vulnerability: Can be punctured or torn more easily than panels.
  • Warping: Less common with professional-grade canvases but can occur with cheaper ones or in humid conditions.
  • Storage: Can take up more space than panels.
• Considerations: Look for archival-quality canvas that is properly primed with acrylic gesso. Linen is generally considered superior to cotton for its strength, smooth weave, and archival properties, though it is more expensive.

Canvas Panels Boards

• Description: Canvas fabric adhered to a rigid backing, such as cardboard or MDF.
  • Durability: Less prone to punctures or tears due to the solid backing.
  • Portability: Flat and easy to store and transport, especially for plein air painting.
  • Affordability: Generally less expensive than stretched canvases, making them good for studies or practice.
  • Stability: Less likely to warp if properly constructed.
  • Weight: Can be heavier than stretched canvases, particularly larger sizes.
  • Lack of Depth: They are flat and usually require framing for presentation.
• Considerations: Ensure the canvas is securely glued to the backing and the backing itself is acid-free and rigid.

Wood Panels and Other Rigid Surfaces

Wood panels offer a completely different painting experience:
* Extreme Rigidity: Provides a perfectly flat, unyielding surface, ideal for detailed work, sharp lines, or when you want no flexibility.
* Durability: Highly resistant to punctures, tears, and warping if properly braced.
* Unique Aesthetic: Some artists prefer the solid feel and unique edge presentation of wood.

• Types:
  • MDF Medium-Density Fiberboard: Economical, smooth, and stable. Requires sealing on all sides.
  • Birch Plywood: Strong, stable, and attractive, often used for cradled panels.
  • Hardboard Masonite: Smooth, dense, and durable.
• Preparation: All wood surfaces must be properly sealed and primed on all sides to prevent warping and ensure good adhesion for acrylics.

Paper: For Studies and Mixed Media

While less common for finished professional acrylic paintings meant for display, paper is excellent for studies, sketches, and mixed media.

• Requirements: Use heavy, acid-free paper designed for wet media, such as watercolor paper 140 lb/300 gsm or heavier or acrylic paper pads. Lighter papers will buckle and warp.
• Benefits: Affordable, easily accessible, and good for experimentation.

Priming and Gesso

Proper surface preparation, especially priming with gesso, is crucial for professional acrylic painting.

• What is Gesso? Gesso pronounced “jess-oh” is a primer, traditionally white, composed of an acrylic polymer emulsion, calcium carbonate or gypsum, and pigment. It creates a stable, slightly absorbent, and toothy surface for paint to adhere to.
• Why Prime with Gesso?
  • Adhesion: Provides a surface that acrylic paint can grip onto effectively. Without it, paint may flake or peel over time.
  • Absorbency Control: Controls how much paint soaks into the surface. Too absorbent, and your paint will look dull. too slick, and it won’t adhere.
  • Protection: Acts as a barrier between the paint and the support e.g., canvas or wood, protecting the support from acidic components in some paints though less of an issue with acrylics than oils and preventing paint bleed-through.
  • Brightness: A white gesso provides a bright, uniform ground that makes colors appear more vibrant.
  • Smoothness/Texture: You can apply gesso to achieve your desired smoothness or add texture.
• Application:
  • Pre-primed Surfaces: Most commercially available canvases and panels come pre-primed. However, for professional work, it’s often advisable to apply at least one or two additional coats of professional-grade gesso like Golden Gesso or Liquitex Professional Gesso for optimal tooth and coverage.
  • Raw Surfaces: If starting with raw canvas, wood, or paper, you must apply multiple layers of gesso. Sand lightly between coats for a smoother finish.
  • Colored Grounds: Gesso can be tinted with acrylic paint to create a colored ground, which can influence the overall mood and color harmony of a painting.

Care and Storage of Acrylic Paintings: Ensuring Longevity

Creating art with the best acrylic paint for professional artists is only half the battle. ensuring its longevity is equally important.

Proper care and storage protect your work from environmental damage, preserving its vibrancy and integrity for decades to come, fulfilling the archival promise of professional-grade materials.

Curing Time: The Patient Wait

Unlike oils, acrylics dry to the touch very quickly, often within minutes or hours.

However, “drying” to the touch is not the same as “curing.” Convert a pdf to doc

• What is Curing? Curing refers to the process where the acrylic polymer emulsion fully cross-links and hardens, achieving its maximum film strength, flexibility, and resistance to environmental factors. Water molecules slowly evaporate from the film, and the polymer chains organize themselves.
• Duration: While light applications may cure within a few days, thick impasto layers can take significantly longer – weeks, months, or even up to a year to fully cure, depending on the thickness and humidity.
• Importance: Applying a final varnish or framing too soon can trap moisture within the paint film, leading to cloudiness, tackiness, or even fungal growth. This is why patience is key for professional artists.

Varnishing: The Final Protective Layer

Varnishing is a crucial step for professional artists to protect their finished acrylic paintings.

• Purpose:
  • Protection: Creates a clear, durable barrier against dust, dirt, pollutants, moisture, and UV radiation if a UV-resistant varnish is used.
  • Uniform Sheen: Unifies the varying sheens of different paint layers and colors, providing a consistent finish gloss, satin, or matte.
  • Depth and Saturation: A gloss varnish can deepen colors and increase their saturation, bringing out the vibrancy of the pigments.
• Types of Varnish:
  • Removable Varnishes: These are the professional standard. They can be removed with appropriate solvents e.g., mineral spirits for Golden MSA Varnish, or ammonia-based cleaners for water-based varnishes without damaging the underlying paint film. This allows for cleaning or restoration of the artwork in the future.
  • Non-Removable Varnishes e.g., some gel mediums or acrylic varnishes not labeled removable: While they offer protection, they cannot be removed without damaging the paint, which is undesirable for archival work.
  1. Ensure Full Cure: Wait until the painting is completely cured at least 1-2 weeks for thin paintings, much longer for thick ones.
  2. Clean Surface: Gently dust the surface with a soft, lint-free cloth.
  3. Apply Isolation Coat Optional but Recommended: For removable varnishes, an isolation coat a thin layer of gloss medium or gloss varnish is often applied first. This creates a non-porous barrier between the paint and the removable varnish, protecting the paint layers during varnish removal.
  4. Apply Varnish: Apply in thin, even coats using a soft, wide brush or a spray varnish. Multiple thin coats are better than one thick coat, as thick coats can bubble or streak.
  5. Environment: Apply varnish in a clean, dust-free environment with good ventilation.

Environmental Controls: Temperature and Humidity

The environment where your paintings are stored and displayed significantly impacts their longevity.

• Temperature: Avoid extreme temperature fluctuations. Consistent room temperature around 68-72°F or 20-22°C is ideal. High temperatures can cause paints to soften and become tacky. low temperatures can make them brittle.
• Humidity: This is crucial.
  • Too High: Excessive humidity can lead to moisture absorption, causing the paint film to swell, become tacky, or encourage mold and mildew growth. Aim for relative humidity between 40-60%.
  • Too Low: Very dry conditions can cause paints to become brittle or even crack, especially if the support itself is flexing.
• Light Exposure:
  • Direct Sunlight: The biggest enemy of any artwork. Even lightfast pigments will eventually fade or undergo subtle color shifts if exposed to prolonged, direct UV radiation.
  • Indirect Light: Display paintings in areas with indirect or diffused light. Use UV-filtering glass for framed works if displayed in brighter areas.
  • LED Lighting: Modern LED lights are generally safe as they emit very little UV.

Storage: Protecting Unframed Artwork

Proper storage is vital for unframed paintings or those in transit.

• Vertical Storage: Always store canvases and panels vertically, preferably on their sides, not stacked flat. Stacking flat can lead to pressure marks, dust accumulation, or even adhesion between paintings if they are not fully cured or varnished.
• Protection:
  • Glassine Paper: Use archival, acid-free glassine paper to separate paintings. It’s smooth, non-abrasive, and prevents sticking.
  • Cardboard Corners/Padding: Protect corners from dings and damage.
  • Breathable Wrapping: If wrapping for long-term storage or transport, use breathable materials like unbleached cotton or Tyvek. Avoid sealing in plastic for extended periods, as this can trap moisture and promote mildew.
• Climate-Controlled Space: Store artwork in a stable, climate-controlled environment, away from basements high humidity, attics extreme temperature swings, or exterior walls that fluctuate in temperature.

Common Pitfalls and How Professionals Avoid Them

Even with the best acrylic paint for professional artists, certain challenges can arise.

Understanding these common pitfalls and learning how to avoid them is a mark of true professionalism.

This foresight saves time, materials, and ensures the archival quality of your artwork.

Muddy Colors: The Mixing Trap

A common complaint, especially among those transitioning from other mediums, is getting muddy or dull colors with acrylics.

• The Pitfall: Over-mixing colors, mixing too many pigments together, or using student-grade paints with fillers.
• How Professionals Avoid It:
  • Limit Pigments: Stick to fewer pigments in a mix. As a general rule, try not to mix more than 3-4 colors together for a given hue.
  • Use Single-Pigment Colors: Professional-grade single-pigment colors e.g., Cadmium Yellow, Ultramarine Blue, Quinacridone Red result in cleaner, more vibrant mixes. When you mix multiple pigments that already contain multiple pigments, you increase the chances of the mixture becoming dull.
  • Mix on the Palette, Not the Canvas: While some blending can happen on the canvas, pre-mixing your desired color on a palette gives you more control and prevents overworking the paint on your surface.
  • Clean Brushes: Ensure your brushes are clean between color changes, especially when moving between complementary colors.
  • Understand Color Theory: A solid grasp of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, and how complementary colors neutralize each other, is fundamental. If you want a vibrant green, mix a clean yellow and a clean blue. If you want a duller green, add a tiny touch of red its complement.

Fast Drying Time: The Blending Challenge

Acrylics’ rapid drying can be a blessing for layering and a curse for blending.

• The Pitfall: Paint drying before you can blend, leading to harsh lines and unworkable layers.
  • Use Retarders or Open Acrylics: As discussed earlier, these mediums extend the open time significantly, allowing for wet-into-wet blending.
  • Work in Sections: Instead of trying to blend across a large area, work on smaller, manageable sections that you can blend before the paint dries.
  • Keep Your Palette Wet: Use a stay-wet palette or regularly mist your palette with water to keep your paint workable.
  • Work Faster: With practice, you’ll develop speed and efficiency in your brushwork.
  • Work on a “Wet” Surface: Lightly mist your canvas or the area you’re working on with water before applying paint. This can provide a little extra slip and delay drying.

Cracking and Delamination: Long-Term Integrity

Cracking and delamination flaking off the surface are serious issues that compromise the archival quality of an artwork.

• The Pitfall: Applying paint too thinly over absorbent surfaces, not properly priming, applying brittle paint layers over flexible ones, or extreme temperature/humidity fluctuations.
  • Proper Priming: Always prime your canvas or rigid surface with a high-quality acrylic gesso at least 2-3 coats for bare surfaces. This ensures proper adhesion.
  • Fat Over Lean Principle Modified for Acrylics: While not as strict as oils, it’s generally good practice to avoid applying very thick, rigid paint over very thin, flexible layers if the painting is intended for a highly flexible support. However, acrylics are inherently flexible, so this is less of an issue than with oils, unless an excessive amount of a brittle medium like marble dust is used.
  • Don’t Over-Thin with Water: While water can be used to thin acrylics, using too much more than 30% can dilute the binder, reducing its adhesion and flexibility, leading to a weak, brittle paint film prone to cracking or rubbing off. Use proper mediums fluid medium, flow improver for thinning instead.
  • Allow Layers to Cure: Especially with thick impasto, allow underlying layers to cure sufficiently before applying subsequent layers or varnishing.
  • Control Environment: Store and display paintings in stable temperature and humidity conditions to prevent stress on the paint film.

Yellowing or Fading: The Archival Imperative

Seeing a painting yellow or colors fade over time is heartbreaking for any artist, especially professional ones. Jpeg raw format

• The Pitfall: Using student-grade paints with fillers that yellow, using fugitive non-lightfast pigments, or excessive exposure to UV light.
  • Use Professional-Grade Paints: As highlighted in the introduction, professional acrylics use high-quality binders that resist yellowing and pure, lightfast pigments.
  • Check Lightfastness Ratings: Always verify the ASTM lightfastness rating ASTM I or II on every tube of paint you use for permanent work. Avoid ASTM III pigments.
  • Varnish with UV Protection: Apply a final, removable varnish that contains UV stabilizers. This acts as a protective barrier against harmful ultraviolet radiation.
  • Mindful Display: Advise collectors to display artworks away from direct sunlight, fluorescent lights, or other intense light sources. Use museum-grade UV-filtering glass for framed works.

Beyond the Canvas: Acrylics in Mixed Media and Digital Art Integration

While the best acrylic paint for professional artists is often associated with traditional canvas painting, their versatility extends far beyond.

Acrylics are incredibly adaptable, making them a cornerstone of mixed media practices.

Furthermore, understanding the nuances of traditional acrylics can even inform and enhance your digital art, creating a symbiotic relationship between physical and virtual creation.

Acrylics in Mixed Media Art

Mixed media art combines various art materials and techniques in a single artwork.

Acrylics, with their fast drying time, strong adhesion, and compatibility with numerous surfaces, are often the primary binder and color source in such works.

Collage and Assemblage

• Adhesive Qualities: Acrylic mediums, particularly gel mediums gloss, matte, or heavy gel, serve as excellent adhesives for bonding papers, fabrics, found objects, and other materials to your canvas or support. They dry clear and are flexible, ensuring the integrity of the collage.
• Transparent Layers: Fluid or high flow acrylics can be used to create transparent washes over collage elements, integrating them visually into the painting while allowing underlying textures to show through.
• Textural Effects: Heavy body acrylics and textured gels e.g., pumice gel, glass bead gel can be used to build up surfaces, providing a ground for other materials or creating three-dimensional elements.

Combining with Drawing Media

• Layering: Acrylics can be layered over or under drawing media like charcoal, pastels, colored pencils, and inks.
  • Underpainting: Acrylic washes or thin layers provide a vibrant underpainting that can be worked over with drawing media for detail or texture.
  • Fixative: A thin coat of clear acrylic medium can seal in drawing media, preventing smudging, and allowing further acrylic layers to be applied without disturbing the drawing beneath.
• Water-Soluble Pencils and Crayons: Many water-soluble art materials can be activated with water, and then integrated with acrylics. Fluid acrylics can be used to enhance these effects.

Integration with Other Paints

• Watercolor: Acrylics especially fluid or high flow can be used alongside watercolors, particularly to lay down opaque areas or add strong, permanent details that won’t reactivate.
• Oil Pastels and Oil Sticks: Acrylics can form the base layers, and once fully dry, oil pastels or oil sticks can be applied on top for rich, buttery textures. The oil layers will prevent further acrylic adhesion, so consider the order of application.
• Encaustic: Some artists even use acrylics as an underpainting for encaustic wax-based work, though proper preparation and layering are crucial.

Digital Art Integration: The Corel Painter Example

• Mimicking Acrylic Textures and Blending:

  • Brush Libraries: Corel Painter boasts an unparalleled brush engine with brushes designed to emulate real-world acrylics. You can find brushes that mimic the thick impasto of heavy body acrylics, the smooth flow of fluids, and even the dry brush effects of acrylics.
  • Blending Modes: Digital tools offer incredible flexibility in blending, allowing you to achieve effects similar to wet-into-wet blending with Open Acrylics, or transparent glazes without waiting for layers to dry.
  • Surface Textures: Painter allows you to apply paper or canvas textures digitally, giving your digital work the tactile feel of traditional art, something crucial for replicating the feel of the best acrylic paint for professional artists on canvas.

• Complementing Your Workflow:

  • Concept Development: Many artists use digital tools for initial concept sketches, color studies, and compositional planning. This allows for rapid iteration and experimentation before committing to physical paint.
  • Reference and Inspiration: Digital art software can be used to manipulate reference photos, create mood boards, or even generate custom brushes inspired by your favorite acrylic techniques.
  • Post-Processing: After a physical painting is complete, it can be photographed or scanned and then enhanced digitally for reproduction, archival purposes, or even to create variations.
  • Learning and Experimentation: Digital platforms offer a risk-free environment to experiment with new color palettes, techniques, or even different “paint” consistencies, without wasting expensive physical materials. This is particularly beneficial for artists who are always seeking to refine what acrylic paint do professionals use in new ways.

• Why Integrate? The goal isn’t to replace traditional art but to augment it. Digital tools can:

  • Speed Up Workflow: Iterating on ideas digitally is often faster.
  • Reduce Material Costs: Experiment extensively without consuming physical paint.
  • Expand Possibilities: Achieve effects difficult or impossible with physical media alone.
  • Provide Archival Digital Files: A high-resolution digital copy of your work.

By understanding the principles of physical acrylics – from pigment load to drying time – you can leverage digital tools to extend your creative output, whether you’re a seasoned professional or a beginner looking to understand what is the best brand of acrylic paint for professional artists.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best brand of acrylic paint for professional artists?

The best brands for professional artists are consistently Golden Artist Colors, Liquitex Professional, and Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylics, known for their high pigment load, excellent lightfastness, and superior binder quality. Make one pdf from many

What acrylic paint do professionals use?

Professionals primarily use heavy body and fluid acrylics from top-tier brands like Golden and Liquitex, often supplemented with specialized mediums like retarders or pouring mediums, depending on their desired techniques.

Is Golden acrylic paint better than Liquitex?

Both Golden and Liquitex are top-tier professional brands.

Golden is often lauded for its slightly higher pigment concentration and innovative mediums, while Liquitex offers a very wide range of products, including sprays and inks, making the choice often a matter of personal preference and specific consistency needs.

What is the difference between heavy body and fluid acrylics?

Heavy body acrylics have a thick, buttery consistency that holds brushstrokes and creates texture impasto, while fluid acrylics are thinner, like heavy cream, ideal for smooth applications, glazes, and fine details, both retaining high pigment loads.

What is lightfastness and why is it important for professional artists?

Lightfastness is a measure of how resistant a pigment is to fading or changing color when exposed to light over time.

It’s crucial for professional artists to ensure their artwork retains its original color and integrity for decades, making it archival.

Can I mix water with professional acrylic paint?

Yes, you can mix water with professional acrylic paint to thin it for washes or glazes.

However, avoid using more than 30% water by volume, as excessive thinning can weaken the binder and compromise the paint film’s adhesion and durability over time. Use acrylic mediums for more substantial thinning.

Do I need to gesso a canvas for acrylics?

Yes, it is highly recommended to gesso a canvas, even if it comes pre-primed.

Gesso creates a stable, slightly absorbent surface that allows the acrylic paint to adhere properly, enhances color vibrancy, and protects the canvas itself. Convert into microsoft word

How do I slow down the drying time of acrylic paint?

You can slow down the drying time of acrylic paint by using an acrylic retarder medium sparingly, no more than 10-15% or by using specialized paints like Golden Open Acrylics, which are formulated for an extended working time.

What mediums are essential for professional acrylic painting?

Essential mediums include gel mediums for texture and transparency, flow improvers for smooth applications, and possibly a retarder or open medium to extend drying time.

A final removable varnish is also crucial for protection.

How long does it take for acrylic paint to fully cure?

While acrylic paint dries to the touch quickly minutes to hours, it can take weeks, months, or even up to a year for thick applications to fully cure, meaning the polymer chains have completely cross-linked and hardened to their maximum durability.

Can acrylic paint crack over time?

Yes, acrylic paint can crack over time if applied improperly e.g., too thinly over an unprimed, highly absorbent surface, or excessively thinned with water, or if the artwork is subjected to extreme temperature and humidity fluctuations.

High-quality paints and proper technique minimize this risk.

What is an isolation coat and do I need it?

An isolation coat is a non-removable clear layer of acrylic medium usually gloss applied over a finished, cured acrylic painting before the final removable varnish.

It protects the paint layers during future varnish removal and provides a uniform, non-porous surface for the varnish.

It’s highly recommended for professional, archival work.

How should I store finished acrylic paintings?

Store finished acrylic paintings vertically, separated by archival glassine paper, in a stable, climate-controlled environment with consistent temperature and humidity 40-60% RH. Avoid direct sunlight or extreme temperature fluctuations. Corel draw x8

Can I paint acrylics on wood panels?

Yes, wood panels are an excellent surface for acrylics. They provide a rigid, stable support.

However, they must be properly sealed on all sides and primed with multiple coats of gesso to prevent warping and ensure optimal paint adhesion.

Is it okay to use student-grade acrylics for practice?

While student-grade acrylics are more affordable for practice, be aware that their lower pigment load and higher filler content mean colors will be less vibrant and harder to mix accurately.

For serious practice or to understand how professional paints handle, investing in professional-grade paints, even in smaller tubes, is beneficial.

What makes professional acrylic paint expensive?

Professional acrylic paints are more expensive due to their high concentration of pure, finely ground pigments which are costly raw materials, superior quality binders, and rigorous manufacturing and quality control processes that ensure lightfastness and archival properties.

What is the best acrylic paint for professional artists on canvas?

For canvas, Golden Heavy Body Acrylics and Liquitex Professional Heavy Body Acrylics are excellent choices for their ability to hold texture and deliver vibrant, opaque color.

Golden Fluid Acrylics are ideal for smoother applications and glazing.

Can I use acrylic paint for airbrushing?

Yes, high flow acrylics or acrylic inks are specifically formulated for airbrushing.

They have a very low viscosity and high pigment load, ensuring smooth atomization without clogging the airbrush.

What does “hue” mean in acrylic paint names e.g., Cadmium Yellow Hue?

“Hue” indicates that the paint approximates the color of a specific, often expensive or toxic, pigment like Cadmium but is made from a combination of other, more economical or safer pigments. Best software for sony raw files

While they mimic the color, their mixing properties and opacity might differ from the actual pigment.

Where can I find the best acrylic paint for professional artists UK, India, or Australia?

For the UK, check Jackson’s Art Supplies and Cass Art.

In India, look for specialized art stores in major cities or online retailers like Art Lounge.

For Australia, Eckersley’s Art & Craft and similar online suppliers are good sources.

Global brands are generally available in all these regions through established art supply channels.