Art Supplies: Craft Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Paint

Have you ever wandered down the aisle of your local craft store and wondered where to start? 

What to use for which part of your painting?

I've done the same.....

In this post I am going to run through some basics when using acrylics

***This post contains affiliate links. There are links on this post that when clicked lead to other websites that will open in a separate tab in your browser. When you purchase through the affiliate link I earn a small commission from that sale at no additional cost to you! I only use affiliated products that I have personally used and recommend!

Soft Body

Daler Rowney System 3 Acrylic is my favorite softer body but yet smooth acrylic that spreads easily. After the first coat dries a second layer is definately needed. Very easy to mix with other colors either on the palette or on the painting itself and smoothly blends! This is actually considered a student grade medium body however, I believe this is more higher quality and a softer body for a much better price than others!

Heavy Body

 *Featured in upcoming post! Keep reading until then!

Matte

Matte acrylic paint dries very flat and is not shiny or glossy. I usually use a matte paint for my first base layer sometimes mixed with medium. Ideal for painting impressionism or a landscape portraying realism. Also, a great option when painting rocks with an expressionism style or for using on wallpaper when remodeling a house or for interior designs!

Metallic

Metallic acrylic paint is really fun to work with. Becareful though as lots of light or natural lighting in your studio is imperative when using this! The reflection of the paint can be misleading if your studio is darker or if its a rainy day. I've used metallic paint for some of my shadows in artworks which worked out great but when the painting was viewed in a dimly lit area the shadows didn't show up as well as I thought.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Satin

Satin acrylic paints do not have as much of a light reflection as the gloss paints do. Sometimes these are called semi-gloss and definatly have more of a shine than a matte paint. When used on a canvas with a dark matte paint in the foreground and a satin paint for highlights it brings out the best in those dark colors!

 

Gloss

Gloss acrylic paint is super light reflective (as I didn't really want to say glossy but that's what it is). Meaning that even in a dimly lit area you will be able to tell that a gloss was used. This may be important to remember when creating your masterpiece of where its going to be hanging after its finished and what kind of lighting is in the area where its viewed. When this type of paint dries I believe it looks completely different as compared to the other types of acrylic paints which are also darker when they dry. This paint since its super light reflective, dries darker and picks up other colors reflections around it as well.

Continue reading more about this topic with Types of Acrylic Paint: Part II! Feel free to leave a comment if you enjoyed this post and check out my original canvas paintings for sale on my website.