Anyone who’s ever picked up a paintbrush or gone to a hardware store knows there’s more than one kind of paint. Artists use paints like tempera, watercolor, oils, and acrylics to create beautiful works of art. Homeowners and contractors use oil and water-based latex paint to protect and decorate walls.
Paint by numbers kits, like the excellent kits you can find here, often include acrylic paint (also known as propylene paint). What exactly is acrylic paint and why is it such a popular medium to work with? Let’s find out!
Why Use Acrylic Paint?
Acrylic paint is very different from paints like oils and watercolors. When it’s wet, it’s water-soluble, meaning that it dissolves in water. So, you can make your acrylics as thin or as thick as you like, depending on how much water you use.
Add more water to get a watercolor look. Using little to no water will make the paints thick, allowing you to create textures and even sculpture out of them. When acrylic paint dries, it’s water-resistant.
Because it’s water-soluble, you don’t need toxic solvents to clean it up. Either wipe it away or peel it off when dry. Most acrylics are also non-toxic, making them the safer choice for children’s crafts.
What is Acrylic Paint Made From?
Acrylic paint doesn’t have the long history that oil paints have because plastic wasn’t invented until 1907. Plastic is the main ingredient in acrylic paint. Acrylics also contain pigment, plasticizers, water, stabilizers, defoamers, and sometimes metal soaps.
Pigment is what gives the paint its color. Plasticizers keep it from becoming brittle. Stabilizers keep the paint from separating. Defoamers stop it from forming bubbles when it’s mixed. Metal soaps are chemicals that make the paint water-resistant when it dries.
Acrylic Paint Mediums
Another wonderful feature of acrylic paint is its ability to take on different qualities depending on what it’s mixed with. Mediums have acrylic binders that help them mix well with the paint. It’s important to note that mediums designed for oil paints will not work with acrylics. Here are a few examples.
Slow Drying
Painters like acrylic paint because it dries quickly. It’s great for paint by numbers because you don’t have to wait long before applying paints next to each other on the canvas. But it can sometimes dry too fast. This medium will slow down the drying process, letting you blend colors more easily.
Gel
Gel will make your paints translucent. It’s a lot like school glue or paste in that it starts white but dries clear. You can use a lot of gel medium with just a tiny bit of paint to give it a nice colored glass quality.
Fabric
Acrylic paints can be applied to fabric. But if you paint directly on the fabric with acrylic paint, you’ll end up with a very rigid fabric. If you’re going to wear the fabric later, mix the paint with a fabric medium that helps it adhere to the fabric and makes it softer.