Painting can be a great pass time as well as a fun hobby. There are many types of paint and ways to paint; one is acrylic painting, which is considered difficult. But why?
The reason acrylic painting is so hard is that acrylic paint dries quickly and looks different when dry. It gets even more difficult if you’re not using the correct type of brush or the quality of your brush is low.
In this article, I’ll outline the reasons acrylic painting is so hard and some ways to help cope. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
4 Reasons Why Acrylic Painting Is So Hard
One – High-Quality Paint Is Crucial for Good Results
Acrylic painting can be hard when using poor-quality acrylic paint. The low-quality acrylic paint is much cheaper than high-quality paint and the lower price is usually sought after.
But in the end, the lower price isn’t worth it because the quality is so bad. Let’s discuss the different types of acrylic paint and which ones are the best quality.
- Professional-grade acrylic paint is considered top quality because it’s heavy-bodied. According to Draw and Paint for fun, it has a thick buttery texture
, the pigment is the best you can get, and it has the best coverage. This is the type you’ll want for a better outcome when painting. - Student-grade will be cheaper than professional-grade, and it may take more than one coat because it’s not as pigmented. When someone starts painting more seriously and moves past the beginner level, this kind of acrylic paint is more transitional.
- Soft body/fluid acrylic paint is more of a specialty type of paint. Instead of attempting to draw a precise image on a canvas, it works best for splattering or drip painting. It’s thinner than other acrylic paints, making it a bit watery, but it still has high-quality pigment.
- Craft acrylic paint is the lowest quality. It’s great for arts and crafts for beginners who don’t want to spend much money on paint when starting out. This paint will have a thin or liquid consistency and doesn’t have great pigment at all. It is unsuitable for serious paintings.
According to The Spruce Crafts, these are some of the best high-quality acrylic paints brands you can choose from:
- Liquitex (vegan paint)
- FolkArt
- Golden (vegan paint)
- Blick Studio (vegan paint)
These brands are recommended because of their outstanding quality in pigment, texture, and workability. It’s also a huge plus that there are vegan acrylic paints for those who wish to use cruelty-free paints.
You’ll want to avoid incredibly cheap acrylic paints such as Apple Barrel because these will significantly lack pigment.
In addition to affecting the quality of your painting directly, low-quality acrylic paints come with another problem: They change color upon drying, which makes it difficult for the artist to achieve their aim.
The lower the quality of acrylic paint, the more noticeable the difference before and after it dries.
As a result, cheaper acrylic paint may end up being more expensive because it makes it significantly more difficult to achieve quality.
Two – Acrylic Paint Dries Quickly
Acrylic paint is known to dry relatively quickly, which makes it challenging to use because you need to accomplish the desired look in a short time. Once it dries, you can’t spread it out further or change its shape.
Fast-drying paint can also cause cracking, which affects your entire painting. Instead of smooth strokes, cracks and unevenness within your painting make it appear older or worn.
It will also be hard to have smooth, even strokes if your paint is drying out because it’ll become harder to spread and won’t glide across your canvas as it should.
Acrylic paint will dry faster in warmer temperatures. So, if you want to prolong the drying period, keep the paint and your painting in a cool room, preferably one that’s not very dry. Try using a humidifier in the room to keep the air from being so dry.
You can also mist your paints with water once you put them out on the palette or mist your palette with water before putting any paint on it. Just be careful not to use too much water as it might affect the texture of the acrylic paint.
It’s also a good idea to use a small amount of paint as you go instead of pouring it all out at once, leaving it to dry out quicker.
Aside from using the tips above to reduce the rate at which your acrylic paintings dry, experience comes in handy. The more you use acrylic paint, the more you’re able to produce the results you wanted despite the high drying rate.
Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you’re just beginning!
Three – Acrylic Paint Looks Different When Dry
Another reason acrylic painting is hard is that it can dry a darker color. Unfortunately, a lot of acrylic paints do this. It will look like one color at first, but as it dries, it gets a shade or two darker, which could mess up your painting depending on the subject and color scheme in the painting.
When you have to account for how it will dry, it can be hard to match colors and get the desired look you want.
According to Blended Canvas, acrylic paint is water-based, so when the water within the paint dries, it changes the shade of the paint slightly. There’s really no great way to fix this.
However, higher-quality acrylic paints don’t change as much upon drying, chiefly because they don’t have unnecessary amounts of water as a filler.
Four – Acrylic Painting Requires Specific Brushes
Another reason that acrylic painting is difficult is that it requires certain types of brushes.
The acidic acrylic paint can eat away at the brush if it’s not made from a suitable material. Then the brush will make awful choppy strokes and be a huge pain to deal with.
Acrylic paints need synthetic brushes because they are more tolerant of acidity than natural paint brushes. These brushes are made from real animal hair, and although some artists prefer them, they’re not well suited for acrylic paints.
Brands such as Soucolor, Monte Mart, and Da Vinci have high-quality synthetic brushes that are perfect for acrylic painting.