photo credit: Cameraman Phil
Acrylic paint is a permanent water-media paint.
It typically contains pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paint dries when the water evaporates.
Acrylic paint cleans up easily with water, but becomes permanent when dry.
The terms acrylic paint and acrylic pigment are interchangeable among artists.
Acrylic paint for artwork is manufactured in different grades:
- Professional Artists Paint contains a high amount of pigment without fillers that dilute the intensity of the color. (hue) Usually far more expensive than other grades of paint. Manufactured in different forms, from thick, heavy body paint sold in tubes to very thin acrylic inks. This website focuses on professional artist paint, although we do occasionally review other grades of paint.
- Student Grade Artist Paint contains less pure pigment and fillers are added to extend the paint in order to offer more volume of paint for a lesser price. Still intended for fine art purposes.
- Acrylic Craft Paint is inexpensive paint sold in hundreds of pre-mixed bottles. It is best used straight from the bottle as mixing colors with craft paint can be unpredictable. Craft paint is often used by decorative painters. Manufactured for crafting projects, craft paint is inexpensive and suitable where pigment strength, color mixing, and longevity are not important. See 3 Reasons Hobby Painters should use Professional Artist Acrylic Paint.
- Acrylic Scholastic Paint is intended for elementary or high school students. Priced for sale in large quantities, it is useful for temporary projects where longevity is not an issue.
Acrylic paint dries fast:
The most notorious characteristic of artist acrylic paint is the drying time. While oil paintings can take up to 50 years to cure completely, acrylic is dries to the touch in a few minutes, and completely cures within in a few weeks.
See How long does it take for Acrylic Paint to Dry?
Acrylic paint is “real” paint:
Acrylic is sometimes perceived by the general public as less professional then oil or used only by hobbyists.
Professional Grade Acrylic Artist Paint is archival, fine art paint manufactured to last hundreds of years.
Technical Resources
It is that it is more resistant to cracking and yellowing than oil paint.
The Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute conducts numerous archival testing on acrylic paint. Another useful source is the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. (AIC)
Paint manufacturers often provide lots of technical information about their products. Golden, Liquitex, and Winsor & Newton all have comprehensive websites.
Acrylic is versatile
- Acrylic paint lends itself to a variety of techniques.
- Artists use acrylic paint to mimic watercolor, oil, batik.
- Acrylic paint can by layered randomly, without concern about thick or think, fat or lean.
- Acrylic paint can be painted on almost any surface, if properly prepped first.
Key points for Acrylic Paint Beginners
- Cleans up easily with water.
- Permanent when dry. Doesn’t clean up so easily after it dries in your brush.
- Dries quickly. To extend drying time, use mediums.
More reading for beginners in our section called Acrylic 101.
