Acrylic Painting Supplies: Top Art Supplies To Start With

Hopefully, your acrylic painting spreads vibrant colors to anyone who sees it. But do you know all the essential acrylic painting supplies you need to create such an artwork?

If you don’t, now is the time to learn about them. After all, an acrylic painting of professional quality will always find its target audience of admiring potential buyers.

Acrylic paints have a smooth consistency and fast drying time. As a result, thousands of artists prefer to use them when creating products to sell.

Today, I’ll show you what materials you need to begin your first acrylic painting. In addition, the supplies I’ll cover are materials you can get without spending much:

Artists on a budget should go for acrylic supplies that come with free shipping (or none whatsoever if you buy them locally).

Essential Acrylic Painting Supplies

1) Acrylic Paint

As you can guess, no other acrylic supply is more essential than the paint. Professional artists worldwide use acrylic paint in most of their artworks for many reasons.

How can you decide what type of acrylic paint to get? It would help if you learned all about acrylic mediums to make the right decision.

Types Of Acrylic Paints:

Student Grade: Student quality paints are more affordable with less pigment concentration, suitable for beginners or large projects.
Artist Grade: Professional-grade acrylics have a higher pigment load, offering better color strength and permanence, ideal for serious artists and detailed work.

Heavy Body Vs. Soft Body Acrylic Paint:

Heavy Body: Thick, buttery texture that retains brushstrokes; ideal for impasto techniques.
Soft Body: Smoother, more fluid consistency, great for detailed work or covering large areas.

So, how do you decide which will work best for your acrylic painting? Generally, it depends on the type of artwork you want to make and the effects you wish to implement.

For instance, high-quality fluid acrylics should be your top choice when you aim for fine details. Meanwhile, the heavy-body acrylics will serve you well when creating thick textures.

Buying an acrylic painting set is an excellent idea, especially if you’re on a budget. It will allow you to get great value for money since it will reduce the cost per tube.

What Artists Should Know About Acrylic Paint Brands

Aspiring artists ready to create their first artwork must understand the importance of working with acrylic painting supplies of high quality. Does this mean they must invest only in the most popular brands of acrylic paints?

Yes, it does – professional paint costs more but offers more. A superior quality acrylic paint doesn’t come at an affordable price, considering it provides vibrant colors and its content pigment is higher.

What acrylic paint set should you get if you can’t handle the extra cost? Buying great paint with fewer colors is a good idea – it will allow you to study the relationship between colors while learning advanced techniques.

Is there anything else to consider when choosing a color set of acrylic paint? How about drying time? Generally, most acrylic paints require between 25-40 minutes to dry.

So, here is my take on top brands of acrylic paint – get Winsor & Newton if money is an issue and Golden Open Acrylics if you want to prolong the drying time.

Acrylic Paint Colors To Start With

Assuming that most readers are beginners researching affordable acrylic painting supplies, you’ll be glad to find out you can begin with around ten acrylic colors.

Such colors are Titanium White, Phthalo Green/Blue, Cadmium Orange/Red, Ivory Black, etc.

Of course, you can mix these primary colors to create new ones and make specific shades. Getting the hang of the true acrylic paint colors will take a while – you might want to keep the Color Theory Wheel in mind!

2) Brushes

Do I have to explain what brush strokes are? Hopefully, I don’t – using your favorite brushes to the fullest matters when you’re a professional artist.

As you probably know, combining synthetic brushes and higher-quality paints is the best-case scenario when you start to paint for the first time.

And what brush sets should you get? I suggest using a variety of brushes – purchasing large to medium-sized flat brushes is an excellent choice.

Also, pencil in the brush shape when getting these acrylic painting supplies – working with different ones will help you master the craft behind painting faster.

3) Painting Surfaces

Should we go straight to the most popular surface for any acrylic painting? Quite frankly, using a specific color of acrylic (and even oil paint) can happen on almost any surface.

Let’s take a look at the surfaces you can use when applying acrylic flexible paint:

Acrylic Paper (even very thick paper will do)
Canvas Surfaces (canvas paper/canvas panels)
Wooden Panel (I like circular wood panels the most)

An Important Info:

Pay attention when buying your painting surfaces. It doesn’t matter if you purchase these physical products online or from the local art store – they must come primed.

4) Other Essential Acrylic Painting Supplies

Good quality, professional grade craft paint, and brushes of different sizes are not enough to start your first painting – you need other supplies, too.

Such as:

Artist palette (some artists use a paper plate)
Palette knife (you’ll need one when working with thick paints)
Paper towels
An old rag (feel free to use an old shirt)
A water cup

5) Additional Acrylic Painting Supplies

Sometimes, using different palette knives on a piece of cardboard can make all the difference, especially when making abstract paintings.

Why am I telling you all that? There is a reason:

By all means, the list of essential acrylic art supplies will look different for anyone – different painters are fond of different craft supplies.

Maybe you want to use an easel – doing that is a great choice for beginner artists. Do you see yourself in an apron?

I don’t see a problem with that – an apron can be the only thing separating your clothes from shiny surfaces and your favorite golden paints!

Acrylic Painting Supplies FAQs

What Do You Need For Acrylic Painting?

Essential Supplies For Acrylic Painting:

Acrylic paints
Brushes
Color palette
Painting surface
Paper towels or rag
A cup of water
Varnish

How To Start Acrylic Painting For Beginners?

Choose a subject to paint
Do the drawing
Create the background
Apply your chosen colors
Add all the details

Will Any Brush Work In Acrylic?

Generally, you can use any brush when creating an acrylic painting. However, synthetic brushes work best for acrylic artwork.

Final Say

Equipping yourself with the right acrylic painting supplies is the first step toward unlocking your creative potential.

Whether you’re captivated by the rich textures of heavy-body acrylics or the delicate washes achievable with fluid paints, understanding the role of each tool and material in your artistic toolkit allows you to experiment and innovate freely.

As you grow in your practice, you’ll discover which supplies best complement your style and techniques, paving the way for endless artistic exploration.

What questions do you have about this topic? Is there something you want to ask me about the supplies you see above?

My comments section will welcome all your thoughts and opinions – don’t hesitate to use it!

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