My 5 Favorite Acrylic Paints To Use to Create Beautiful Abstracts

There are so many art supplies out in the world to choose from, which makes starting out in abstract art so daunting.  Each class you takes asks you to buy different supplies, and before you know it, you’ve spent a fortune and you have art supplies on every flat surface of your home.  Since it was so helpful for me in the beginning to hear from more seasoned painters what their favorite supplies were, I thought I’d share them with you.

1. Gorgeous Paint Colors -   I have always hear my mentor Theresa Girard’s voice when I think about paint.  She said to always, “paint like a millionaire”.  The idea with that is to not skimp on the paint.  You want to use enough to do the job.  Tiny piles won’t work.  So, the best thing to do is use the best paint that you can afford and paint like a millionaire.  I really like Liquitex Basics for a student grade paint, because they have beautiful pigments and you can find them at your local craft store.  

2. My next cheaper option is a company called Nova Paint that you get from the company directly, and it is shipped to you from California. They send you a color chart with hand done color swatches so you can really see the paint colors in person. The paints come in jars which I like to use silicone spatulas to put the paint onto my palette. They are somewhere between a heavy body and a fluid paint in viscosity. They have gorgeous colors and definitely my favorite reds of all. I still use them in all my work. They also have metallics and different acrylic mediums at affordable prices too. This is the hyperlink to their website for your convenience.

3. Lukas Cryl Paints is my next favorite. I love that they are in squeeze bottles, I love the prices, and I love the pigmented color. They are a little thicker than the Nova paints. They have great colors to choose from and work well with other paints. I usually buy the Lukas from Jerry’s Artarama when they have a great sale.

I use a lot of white paint in my work to get a good range of values within each piece.  There are so many white paints to choose from, but my favorite white is to actually use Gesso.  I love the Utrecht Artists’ Acrylic Gesso.  It’s like butta’’!!  Haha!!  Seriously though, I can’t tell you how much I love the smooth, thick texture of this product.  It is more affordable than a regular white paint, and I order it by the bucketsful!!  Here’s the link for that.

5. Lastly, my all-time favorite paint, but the most expensive by far, is the Golden Fluid Acrylic.  It is super pigmented with gorgeous colors to choose from.  Someday, I will do a blog post on my favorite colors and why.  The fluid acrylics are very transparent and make excellent washes, or mix so well with the gesso to make beautifully rich, saturated color, without feeling watered down.  Their fluid nature makes them perfect for mark making.  You can pick a few favorites and build on your collection as you paint.  I love that they are in bottles to squeeze out, and I love that a little goes a long way.  Here is a hyperlink for that product as well.

I hope that you have found this helpful.  As a painter, I could go on and on for days about this subject.  Just know that this is a quick rundown of my favorites, and that I will regularly be sharing this type of information in the blogs to come.  Also, if you really want to see all my favorite supplies, sign up for my email list to receive my free downloadable Supplies PDF.  I would love to have you along for the ride!!