What Acrylic Paint is Best? - Comparing 50 Acrylic Paints - The Ultimate Acrylic Paint Guide

[@RichardPhippsArt]

I've tested quite a lot of different student and artist grades paints in terms of opacity over black strips and also tinting strength. I used miligram scales for this to make sure the amount was the same for both tests, and I tested single pigment colours from all around the colour wheel that were common to all paint brands (only lightfast pigments, PB29, PB15, PG7, etc..). What I found was there are large differences between pigments *within* each brand. So for example one company might have weak yellows, but strong blues.. and another the opposite. I guess this is how they save money on the student grade single price point. What this means is if you mix and match between brands depending on the specific pigment you can find *good* levels of pigmentation at student grade prices..

[@BrianSloanArtist]

This is a great comment for this video. Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge. I completely agree that different colours within a brand can vary as well. Great advice on mixing and matching! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@Bentrta]

Thanks for the advice; it’s much appreciated.

[@julienfauvaux2055]

If you want to be sure the pigmentation is one of the highest in entier line of color try golden artist colors overall unbeatable in term of quality

[@lilacmollymoo]

@@RichardPhippsArt thank you

[@ghostapi874]

@@RichardPhippsArt you do not by any chance have a reference guide you can share with colors-good brands for that color?

[@triartmfg]

Hi Brian, Thanks for taking the time to test these products, sharing your thoughts and including some products that we manufacture. There are a few thoughts that I have to add that you might may want to consider for future videos. Our low viscosity probably has to just be shaken up here, I think it has settled over time but there is a shaker ball inside to reconstitute the product. As well, opacity and tinting strength should probably be tested in conjunction with flexibility and adhesion, like as you noted at around 33:00, where another brand cracked relatively easily, although being very opaque. The best way to think of this is that sand would be very opaque but it is not very good paint. For an acrylic painting to last years and years it must have some flexibility to prevent cracking from developing over time, over the years we have tested and compared many very strong products that are also incredibly brittle so would probably not qualify at least to us as very good archival paint. You can test flexibility by pouring or using a palette knife to place a small dot of colour onto a non-stick surface, then removing it and twisting or stretching the product until it breaks. The more flexibility the better. I also recommend to get a milligram scale, these are not too expensive purchase but they will ensure accurate measurements when comparing tinting strength. It can be really surprising the difference between using the accurate scale and measuring by eye. I definitely recommend testing a colour like Phthalo Blue, just make sure you test the same kind red shade or green shade between brands, you may want to look at overall glossiness as well, as this can be an indicator of how finely pigment is ground and if there are any fillers in the product.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Hey thanks for watching and commenting. I really appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I’m sure everyone watching appreciates it as well. I know my tests aren’t perfect. I have admired your products for quite a few years so I was surprised with the low viscosity. I had shaken it but maybe not enough! I have some pthalo blues of a few paints and will gather some others to continue my tests. I like your flexibility test idea. I will use that in future comparison tests.

[@elgajoh]

Can you please explain the glossiness part in detail? I've seen some paints more glossy, actually more plasticky if I may say and it looks cheap. Does it mean, it has more binder?

[@syrinx9196]

@@elgajoh Matting fillers can be added to reduce gloss. That can, if enough is used, make a paint "cheaper" in terms of pigment load. Golden once sold a very high pigmentation line that had a matte surface due to less binder per pigment level but the surface was delicate. The binder in acrylic can improve the toughness of the paint film. Some people like a matte appearance and some like glossy.

[@Alexandra0916_a]

So underrated! Great great review!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

It’s not a perfect test but hopefully is useful for people!

[@Matbart]

Awesome video Brian. Proud of you and how far you've come in the world of art. You're awesome (:

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thanks man! I appreciate it.

[@gp3256]

@@Matbart perfect 👍

[@sonja11.11]

Thanks for this fabulous post. I use Atelier interactive acrylics which I love. I can rewet them hours after they have dried and rework them. They blend well and can be kept active for considerably longer than normal acrylics.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thank you for sharing! I've heard good things about those as well so I'm glad to have that confirmed here!

[@jayxchangg]

This video deserves millions views

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I appreciate the sentiment! Share it with those you know who would need it!

[@jeffcrossley4757]

I just want to thank u.. as a newbie to acrylic painting I really found this informative… u deserve triple thumbs up for the time and info u put into making this. ❤

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I appreciate it. It took a lot of work but I wanted to share a lot of info that would have helped me when I was starting out! I always thought heavy body was the best of the best. But over time I’ve realized it really depends what you want the paint to do! Yes, some are better than others but each need to be compared in their own respective grade and line. Anyways, I’m glad you found it useful!

[@PemaDrolma]

Thank you for the time, the effort, and the money you spent to do this testing. As a newby to acrylic pour I found the information good and helpful.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I'm glad you found it useful!

[@renayeriggin5293]

Hi Brian. I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video. I have been looking to upgrade my paints and honestly it has been a little overwhelming trying to make a choice that works for me and my artwork. This has really helped me narrow down my options and help me make a good choice going forward.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Glad it was helpful! Best of luck to you!

[@Bentrta]

This is super, super informative. I once fell victim to buying paints that didn’t work for me at all, so I’m trying to make sure that I now know the paints I buy from here on out. Thank you so much for taking the time to make this video!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I'm glad this could be useful for you!

[@KaioFialho]

that is a really great video! it is what i ve been searching for! i always feel intimidated or afraid of buying a new brand of paint, and it helped me make a decision! thanks mate!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Glad it was helpful!

[@madmink]

This was super informative, thank you for taking your time to do this!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I'm glad you found it useful. Thanks for watching!

[@jamfjord]

Thank you for the time you spent putting this together and your dedication to the cause of creativity 😁👍

[@BrianSloanArtist]

You're welcome. Hope you found it useful!

[@jamfjord]

@@BrianSloanArtist very useful indeed, thanks!

[@brycenew]

Liked and subbed immediately, because this looks really good and is long format, but mostly, because you put the hard yards in, for us, who you’ll mostly never meet; amazing!! Thank you Brian!! 🙏🏻🔥

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thanks for the sub! I hope you find it all useful!

[@SocialAlligator]

Good Video I've been looking to get acrylic paints for my sister

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Glad I could help!

[@VicSmithHome]

I want to thank you for your extraordinary work done to complete this comparison!!!!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

You're welcome. I'm glad you found it useful!

[@sergio_j_art]

This comparison is an incredible work. It is a great help for all artists. I am glad I found it. I subscribe :)

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I appreciate the comment. I hope it can help out many people! I had no idea about so much of this information when I started so I hope this helps some artists out!

[@alexc.c.4025]

Great upload. I’m a big fan of Winsor & Newton Galería colors. Never tried the pro option though. I live in Spain so different brands are available here. Amsterdam and Acrylic can be found in most art stores. Thank for sharing

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thanks for the comment. It was my first time trying the professional winsor & newton and I was not disappointed.

[@BevHarrison-g5o]

Thank you Brian I'm new at this and it really helps 😀 🙏 😊 🎉🎉🎉❤

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Glad you found it useful!

[@lindseys3708]

Its really neat seeing the low viscosity ones, its apparent the test was not their intended use case.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

For sure! Still interesting to see how they performed!

[@steinway3792]

any recommendations of paint for pour painting ?

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Sorry, I'm not much of a pour painter. However, Artist's Loft and Liquitex have ready made paint for pouring. But you can also just purchase an additive that you can use with regular acrylic paint.

[@ElisabethHeinemann]

What a stunning video, thank you very much for this great comparison. In fact, it's almost always GOLDEN, that wins 😉 Two more paints to consider: Lukas Cryl and System3.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

You're welcome. Thanks for the addition of paints to try! I'll check them out!

[@julienfauvaux2055]

Golden is the overall the highest quality brand for acrylics, for airbrush/ink consistency paint concidere schminke aero pro witch i place in the first place with golden, I have many brands tested here and the difference in brand you will see, it with other colors especialy transparent color like phtalo green, quinaqridon pigments, it is with these color that you will see the real superiority of golden and with the line of pigments choose for their colors, Windsor et Newton professionnal is impressive too for colors that i have buy, but i have no phtalo or quinacridon in this brand

[@BrianSloanArtist]

@@julienfauvaux2055 Thanks for the input!

[@syrinx9196]

How about the odor and the ease of use in terms of the caps?

[@BrianSloanArtist]

None of them actually had a bad odour which surprised me. But it is acrylic paint so they shouldn't really have a bad smell. The caps are something I definitely could have talked about as I do like some designs more than others!

[@UndercoverDog-j5t]

I find DecoArt to be exceptionally suitable for children's craft projects, such as stone painting. Although Arteza offers a high caliber of paint, its pricing is relatively steep. In my acrylic work, I predominantly utilize Windsor & Newton Professional. I employ Pebo white paint, as I integrate it with other hues for rendering foliage and seascapes. For those seeking economical yet reliable options, I highly recommend Shuttle Art as a versatile and effective choice. Conversely, the paint from Ink Lab has proven to be the least satisfactory in my experience. Given my location in the UK, the availability of brands may differ from those accessible in other regions. Thank you for the insightful video!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thank you for sharing your experience for everyone to learn from as well! Much appreciated!

[@Bloomkyaaa]

I could have saved money going for artist loft over liquitex as a beginner lol... I do have a large bottle of apple barrel paint from Walmart and it does perfectly fine! Excellent white for tinting.

[@jlm517rocks]

wowzers!!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

No kidding...haha. I hope people will find it useful. I learned a lot through the process!

[@kellybrisco880]

I'm fairly new at painting on canvas. I use Liquitex Basics right now but was wondering if it's okay to mix different brand paints together? I've been thinking of trying Golden or Winsor & Newton and might like to continue using up my Liquitex paint along with it. Also, if a paint is heavy body but you want it to go on smoother, can you mix water with it?

[@BrianSloanArtist]

You can definitely mix brands together. I do it all of the time! Sometimes I have a favourite colour in a certain brand but another colour in another brand. You can mix a little with water. I don't recommend too much water though as it can separate the binder from the paint. I usually just add in a retarder medium (which makes the acrylic stay wet so much longer than normal) or other types of mediums. The mediums are good as they don't break the integrity of the paint as using too much water can.

[@kellybrisco880]

@@BrianSloanArtist thank you

[@dhyanafilzen7858]

I love Atelier as it is the most versatile paint you can get. Slower drying to reopening, just not matched be any other. Golden open is great and the open mediums mix with golden heavy body to slow it when you need it. Best combination ever. Abstract is my favorite to play with as the quality supersedes the price by lot. Holbien that i want to try as i just love tgeir aqua duo oil paint and watercolor.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I really appreciate you taking the time to leave your experience for the rest of us to learn from!

[@JessBarwickArtist]

Do you ever use masterstouch?

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I haven't even heard of it! I knew I would miss some brands..haha. Do you use them? How are they?

[@stephaniecoan9703]

It's Hobby Lobby brand

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Makes sense. We don't have Hobby Lobby in Canada.

[@JessBarwickArtist]

@@BrianSloanArtist pretty good I like the heavy body the best in liquedex and masters touch I do like both fluid and heavy body in masters touch. I find there are some colors I don’t like though pigment wise there isn’t any coverage. Thank you for this video it was great!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thank you for sharing this!@@JessBarwickArtist

[@syrinx9196]

You forgot that the Apple Barrel paint cracks when you praised it later in the video.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I didn't forget. I talk about that at 1:56:40 in the "Paints to Stay Away From" section. If you're talking about the "Most Surprising" part. Yes, it still surprised me with the opacity. I didn't ever say to use it though and I said that I would be talking about it again later in the video.

[@VeMoli-i1l]

I appreciate this video but one thing you didn’t point out was that as the paint dries the paint of the lesser priced ones are quite thin and will need second coats.

[@VeMoli-i1l]

Sorry I see at the end you talk about this.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

All good. I was pretty sure I mentioned it at some point! It is a super long video though so easily missed. It was hard to know when to talk about certain things.

[@robfrydryck127]

The lack of measured mixing effected the red/pink tone more than the brand of paint.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thanks for the comment. I think it's pretty apparent though the difference between the low and high quality paints. Within each range my testing is definitely not perfect but does how each type of paint comes out of the tube and how it reacts to mixing.

[@syrinx9196]

It's fine to compare white but it's not a good idea to talk about which is the best paint line and the best brand based on white alone. Many brands will have non-lightfast pigments and their ratings can't always be trusted. They need to show the pigment code and, ideally, what type of pigment it is. For instance, PY 83 comes in a transparent form and an opaque form. The opaque form is more lightfast.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I understand that. That's why at the beginning of the video I said that choosing the "best" doesn't really mean just choosing one paint or line of paint. It really depends what your goal is and what you need to use the paint for. I do talk about best overall brands in my opinion and I choose the ones that give you the most options while still having a quality pigment. And again, just using white is definitely not an all-inclusive test, but this should give some idea to quality of paint for each brand. I appreciate the comments and criticisms. It'll make the next comparison even better.

[@bbarror]

I heard Nova is good.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Thanks for sharing!

[@sandorkocso1798]

thank you a lot!!!

[@BrianSloanArtist]

You're welcome!

[@conniepratt2843]

I appreciate your comparison of paints but I feel you didn't do DecoArt justice. You picked there lower quality paint of there line. Next time test the DecoArt Americana, and there highest pigmented quality in their line is their DecoArt Traditons line and their Extender to thin it. They have a "big" line of different types of paints which do different things. Please give them an opportunity to prove themselves. Dollar Store DecoArt Craft paint was lowest quality of their line.

[@BrianSloanArtist]

I really appreciate this comment! I'm sure many will read it and find it useful as well. I didn't know that they had higher pigmented paints. I will definitely check them out for a future video!

[@SDBXLS1]

Sorry , you talk too much !

[@BrianSloanArtist]

Haha, too much info to share!