Painting a room can be a long weekend project. It helps to have your favorite tunes blasting in the background to pass the time.
Acrylic Painting Supplies
Gathering the right acrylic painting art supplies is the first step in learning how to paint with acrylics. This page provides a list of essential acrylic art supplies that you’ll need to get started painting with acrylics. I’ve also included a list of some extra artist supplies you may want to have on hand.
If you’re a total beginner who is just getting started with acrylics, be sure to look through the list of artist supplies for acrylic painting that are listed below. You can also read an overview of these basic art supplies for acrylic painting.
The 3 most important artist supplies you will need are acrylic paint, paintbrushes, and a painting surface such as canvas or wood panels. But if you’ve never used them before, how do you know what to get? Read through the descriptions below to learn more about what to look acrylic paints. You can also consult my detailed Guide to Buying Acrylic Painting Supplies.
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Essential acrylic painting supplies
- acrylic paints
- paintbrushes
- painting surface – canvas, wood, paper
- artist palette
- rag/paper towels
- cup or jar of water
- soap for clean-up
- varnish
Extra acrylic painting supplies
- gesso
- easel
- apron
- palette knife
- scraping tools, sponge, toothpick, etc
- masking tape
- pencil/charcoal
- acrylic mediums
Acrylic Paint
There are many brands of acrylic paints available. Not all are created equal, however. I personally use Golden, Liquitex, and Winsor-Newton. Lascaux is also another good (but expensive!) brand. The good thing about acrylic paint is that you can mix the paint from any brand. So if you’re unsure of which brand to get, buy a tube from every brand to give them a try.
How do I know what kind of paint to get?
Most brands offer two different versions: Student Quality and Artist Quality. What’s the difference? Price and quality. Artist Quality paints have better coverage and more punch, therefore it’s more expensive than Student Quality paints. Yep, it’s tempting to go for the Student Quality paints, because they are cheaper. however, I would generally suggest that you avoid the Student paints. They contain more filler and less pigment, so the results will be less satisfactory than the more superior Artist Quality paints. With that said, if budget is an issue, then go with what you can afford. But if you can, buy a tube or two of the Artist Quality paints as well, so that you can see and feel the difference for yourself.
Acrylic paints come in tubes, bottles and jars. They also come in a range of sizes, from 2oz to 32oz. If you’re just starting out, stick with the 2oz size. That way you can decide if you like the brand before investing in more. Those 2oz tubes can last a loooong time, depending on whether you paint large or small. I have had many of my 2oz tubes for years. Therefore, if you’re a total beginner trying out acrylics, go for the smaller tubes or jars!
You can also buy acrylic paints in sets, which might reduce the price per tube. Because of this, buying an acrylic paint set might be a good buy for beginners, since you’ll be starting from scratch with your collection of paint colors.
What acrylic colors should I get to start with?
You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need a while lot of colors to get started with acrylic painting. I would recommend that you have these 10 basic colors to start out with:
You can freely mix these 10 basic colors to create many of the other colors you will need. In fact, you can even start off with as few as 6 colors, as evidenced by the Acrylic sets below.
Most brands of acrylic paint offer dozens of different colors to choose from. This can be overwhelming at first, as you might feel that you need every single color in order to paint what you want! This isn’t true, however. For instance, Golden makes 8 different shades of grey. But all you need to do is mix white and black, and voila! Who needs to buy grey paint?
If you need to mix a specific color, always try to make it using the paints that you have on hand. If you try and the resulting colors aren’t up to snuff, then go out and buy the color that most closely matches what you need. This tactic will save you money in the long run.
To learn about acrylic paints and other acrylic painting supplies, such as canvas, paintbrushes and accessories, check out my In-Depth Guide to Acrylic Painting Supplies
Acrylic Painting Sets
If you’re a bit overwhelmed at this point, don’t be! There are a few different acrylic painting sets that come with pretty much everything you need to get started with acrylics. The best thing is that they are quite affordable and contain all the acrylic painting supplies that you need in one compact set. They also make great gifts for budding artists who would like to explore acrylics!
The only downside is that most acrylic paint sets will contain Student Quality paint rather than Artist Quality. These sets will be helpful in getting your feet wet, but if you want to get serious with acrylics, you’ll need to get good quality acrylic paint. If you want to buy an acrylic paint set, be sure to check whether the paint is Student Quality or Artist Quality, and get the one you feel would suit you best.
Paint Brushes/Rollers
- An angled brush for painting straight lines around the ceiling, doors, windows and woodwork. I do not use painter’s tape unless I’m doing stripes. I find that using the angled brush and a quick, steady hand gives me a better line than tape. This is called cutting in. I tend to buy the best quality brushes I can because they really do make a difference.
- A roller cover and handle. (3/8” nap is best for smooth walls)
- A small craft brush. I buy inexpensive short bristled craft brushes (the kind you might use for an arts & craft projects) in bulk at a craft store. Those little brushes really come in handy for evening out paint lines around doors and window trim. They also work great for around doorknobs, light fixtures and small hard-to-reach areas.
I’ve used all sorts of trays and containers for painting. I’m not a professional painter, but I prefer the metal trays without liners for use with rollers. For painting trim or areas with smaller brushes, I use plastic cups or disposable plastic containers that I can easily carry up on ladders with me!
Painting Trays
I’ve used all sorts of trays and containers for painting. I’m not a professional painter, but I prefer the metal trays without liners for use with rollers. For painting trim or areas with smaller brushes, I use plastic cups or disposable plastic containers that I can easily carry up on ladders with me!
I’m a notoriously messy painter. If there is furniture or carpet anywhere in the vicinity of my paint job, I’ll probably get paint on it. If I’m concerned about splatters, I use some tarps or plastic garbage bags to help protect the area. For floors I prefer cloth tarps as they absorb paint better and are not as slippery as plastic ones.
Tarps & Plastic
I’m a notoriously messy painter. If there is furniture or carpet anywhere in the vicinity of my paint job, I’ll probably get paint on it. If I’m concerned about splatters, I use some tarps or plastic garbage bags to help protect the area. For floors I prefer cloth tarps as they absorb paint better and are not as slippery as plastic ones.
As I mentioned, I don’t generally use painter’s tape for painting edges unless I’m doing a special project like painting stripes. However, it can come in handy for taping off light fixtures or other areas that are difficult to paint around.
