Back-to-school season is often synonymous with creative projects! What better way to bring your inspirations to life than with acrylic paint and its infinite artistic possibilities? To help you discover the vast world of acrylics, we've compiled the basic knowledge and tools available at DeSerres for a colourful back-to-school season.
Happy exploring!
Different types of acrylic paint
Primary colours
Primary colors are essential in acrylic painting, as they form the basis of most colour mixtures. They cannot be created by mixing other colours, but they can be combined to create a wide range of secondary and tertiary colours. For beginners, we recommend starting with a basic palette comprising the primary colours and a few other useful hues:
- Red: shades such as Cadmium Red or Quinacridone Magenta
- Blue: shades such as Ultramarine or Phthalo Blue (Green Tint)
- Yellow: shades such as Cadmium Yellow or Hansa Yellow
- White: like Titanium white
- Others: Burnt umber, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Ivory Black
Our trusted brands
At DeSerres, we offer several trusted acrylic brands: Golden, Liquitex, Amsterdam, Pébéo and Winsor & Newton. If you're new to acrylics, or looking for a great value acrylic paint, our house brand Dacryl is definitely worth a try. Now, let's explore the features of these popular brands!
Golden
Golden is often considered the ultimate in professional-quality acrylic paint:
- thick, creamy consistency
- excellent colour fastness after drying
- high pigment concentration
Liquitex
Liquitex offers a wide range of acrylic paints, suitable for students and professionals alike:
- wide choice of colours and finishes
- slight colour variation after drying
- good flexibility
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is less well-known, but much appreciated by artists of all levels:
- medium-thick consistency
- good colour opacity
- economical large-size tubes
Pébéo
Like Liquitex, Pébéo offers a wide range of acrylic paints, suitable for students and professionals alike:
- excellent opacity
- ideal for mixed media techniques
- unique colour choices such as iridescent or metallic shades
Winsor & Newton
Winsor & Newton stands out for its choice of traditional and modern colours:
- a professional range (Artists') and a student range (Galeria)
- good colour stability after drying
- a slightly more fluid consistency
Dacryl
Offering a choice of acrylic paints for all levels, our in-house brand Dacryl was created for local creatives:
- several ranges available: student quality, studio, liquid professional, glitter, UV, acrylic gouache
- several viscosities available
- several sizes available
Acrylic mediums
Invaluable tools for artists, acrylic mediums allow you to modify the properties of acrylic paint to achieve a whole range of interesting effects. To help you in choosing the right medium, here's an overview of the most popular ones and their uses:
- thinning mediums: lengthen acrylic paint
- gel mediums: add volume and dimension to paint; they can also thicken it
- glazing mediums: add transparent layers to your artwork
- pouring mediums: create fluid, marbled effects; used for the acrylic pouring technique
- special-effect mediums: add special textures and interesting visual effects to paint (e.g., crackle paste, pumice gel, sand texture gel, etc.)
At DeSerres, you'll find several popular brand-name acrylic mediums for a wide range of effects and textures: Liquitex, Golden, Tri-Art, Pébéo and Winsor & Newton.
DeSerres joins the offer with an innovative medium: Dacryl Medium Varnish! This 100% acrylic polymer medium not only extends acrylics, increasing their transparency and making them more fluid, but also acts as a varnish to protect paint from harsh elements. Give it a try!
Paintbrushes
And now, paintbrushes! Essential tools for creation, brushes come in a variety of shapes, sizes and bristles, each having unique uses for acrylic painting. Synthetic bristles like nylon or taklon are recommended for acrylic painting because they better withstand wear and the sometimes-chemical components of acrylics. Natural bristles can certainly be used, but they may wear out more quickly and be damaged by acrylics.
For a complete acrylic kit, we recommend having a variety of shapes and sizes of brushes:
- flat: for broad brushstrokes, washes and filling large areas such as backgrounds
- round: for small details, fine lines and precision work
- fan: for texture effects and subtle blending; particularly useful for painting trees or clouds
- angular: bevelled tip for creating clean lines
- filbert: rounded tip that combines the advantages of round and flat brushes; for contours and soft blending
Colour mixing tools
To create colour mixtures that perfectly reflect your creative vision, it's important to have the right tools! You might be wondering: Why can't I use my paintbrush for mixing? Well, when you use a brush, paint gets stored in its bristles, which can lead to paint waste and colour contamination.
Here are the best tools to facilitate the creation and reproduction of acrylic tints:
- mixing palettes: made of wood, plastic or disposable paper; wet palettes keep paint fresh longer
- painting knives: commonly used for mixing acrylic colours; allow precise control of quantities and quick mixing
- spatulas: allow mixing of large quantities of paint
- sponges: can create unique texture effects; ideal for less uniform blends
- cups: very useful for mixing colours when using the acrylic pouring technique
With all these basic elements, you have everything you need to explore acrylic painting! Experimenting with different acrylics, as well as various mediums, brushes and tools will certainly lead to interesting and unexpected results in your practice. This year, for back-to-school season, dive into exploring acrylic in all its forms!
