Choosing a brand of acrylic paints

Reader Question: Are Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics good for a beginner or should I go for artist quality paints of some other brands like Galeria, Golden or Grumbacher?

I am new to the brands and painting mediums in the US so I'm unable to decide what to buy. I have worked with oils, watercolors and some student quality acrylics earlier using brands not available in US. Couple you please suggest what to buy?

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The Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics that you mention are a very good brand, so yes, I can definitely recommend them for both beginners and professionals. Liquitex is one of my favorite brands of acrylics and I use them often to create my acrylic paintings.

My other favorite brand of acrylics is Golden, which is one of the brands that you mentioned. I use Golden brand and Liquitex brand acrylic paints almost exclusively. Both brands of acrylics have excellent consistency and coverage.

Winsor & Newton also makes good, artist quality acrylic paints. I have a tube or two of the Winsor & Newton Artists' Acrylics and I've found them to be of good, reliable quality as well.

Winsor & Newton also creates a more fluid Galeria line of acrylics, as you mentioned. I haven't tried this range myself, because they are thinner and I generally prefer thicker acrylics. They are listed as professional quality paints, however, so you might consider trying them.

Grumbacher is a student quality paint, which typically contain less pigment and more binder. To be honest I once bought a tube of Grumbacher Academy Acrylic Paint in Alizarin Crimson at the university art store when I was a student and needed crimson for a class, and it doesn't compare to Liquitex or Golden. However, it gets great reviews on Blick, which probably makes it a good option for beginners on a budget.

If you want to use Artists' Quality paint, but can't afford Golden or Liquitex, I'd recommend Blick Artists' Acrylics which has some colors as cheap as $3.25 a tube.

If that's still above your budget or, as a beginner, you think you'll be fine with Students' Quality paint, you can try Liquitex Basics Acrylic Colors or the aforementioned Grumbacher Academy Acrylics, both of which get great reviews on Blick.

For a more in-depth look at the different types of acrylic paint, check out the Acrylic Paint page in my Guide to Buying Art Supplies.

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