Here's a list of links to various acrylic manufacturers so that people can locate them all in one place. A number of these links are to PDF documents so you will need to have a copy of Adobe's Acrobat Reader. Some of these are quite large so if you have a dial-up connection be prepared to be patient.
If you spot a manufacturer's website that is missing please contact one of the forum's moderators or guides and we'll be happy to add it.
Golden Paints
I have to start with Golden because their website is the most professional of all the major acrylic manufacturers. Most of us are familiar with their products, especially their unbeatable range of mediums and other additives, but the amount of information their site contains is unparalleled and is an invaluable source of free information to the serious acrylic user. This includes the
Just Paint articles which cover such topics as safe transportation, cleaning of acrylic paintings, making custom paint for the film
Pollock, changing artists' palettes and "Taming the foam monster in acrylic paint!"
There are too many pages within the site to list them all but the
Technical Data page is a good place to start navigating around the site and includes links to their
Glossary and a comprehensive
FAQ page, among others.
The basic colour chart for the heavy-body colours is
here, with the name of each colour, the Golden product code and series number. There is also a
Lightfastness/Permanency/Opacity & Transparency Chart and a
Pigment Identification Chart. Clicking on a colour swatch on any of these three pages will open a new page with drawdown samples of the colour at full strength and in a 1:10 mix with Titanium White an extremely useful feature and one unique to the Golden site as far as I'm aware (note: the links work most consistently from the basic colour chart page).
In addition to providing a visual comparison of relative opacity and tinting strength (compare
Ultramarine Violet and
Dioxazine Purple for example!) it also gives an indication of the difference between the masstone and undercolour for each colour. This is a good indication of Golden's dedication to providing up-to-date and comprehensive information to the artist about their products and acrylic paint in general; they are also noted for consistently replying to queries via email, even when they don't relate directly to their products. Another unique feature is they recently added numerical readings for the opacity (and tinting strength) so we don't have to rely on the very approximate four classifications used by almost every other paint maker in the world.
Other useful pages include their basic introduction to
pigment families and another
pigment identification chart in tabular format, which also includes the Munsell values for each colour, useful for comparison with similar information from Liquitex.
Liquitex
Liquitex is the oldest manufacturer of acrylic paints as we know them (read more about their history
here) and, like Golden, are committed to providing a wealth of information to artists on their site. They have a number of PDF documents that are well worth downloading so that you can refer to them at any time.
Liquitex publish a booklet called The Acrylic Book that contains descriptions of their products and a range of suggestions and advice on many issues related to using acrylics. Download the
Acrylic Book if you want to save yourself the five bucks! This was updated in 2003 to make the PDF version more accessible. Even if you don't use their products I strongly advise any acrylic painter to read it through as it is very useful and informative (note: 5mb in size). Although the topic is touched on in The Acrylic Book, one of the other useful PDFs to download is
The Varnished Truth, "The Why's, What's, and How's of Varnishing Acrylic Paintings".
Both of the above are on the
Literature page. A complete list of downloadable documents in on the
Library page, which includes a comprehensive list of Materials Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for their products and, currently, two newsletters.
If you don't have a store near you where you can pick up free leaflets like colour charts, Liquitex have provided this in a downloadable format too,
Colour Resource Guide for their high- and medium-viscosity acrylics. The colour chart for their Basics line is located
here. They also have a
Technical Information document which includes full pigment listings, which is very useful when one wants to compare the ingredients in similar paints, as well as the Munsell data for every colour which can compared with Golden's paints.
Winsor & Newton
Winsor & Newton's site requires a Flash-enabled browser to access and it can be a little slow on a 56k modem but with the update they added a number of useful resources. W&N's artists' acrylics are called Finity and they make a second single-price range called Galeria which are flow-formula paints.
Finity
colour chart and
composition & permanence table. Galeria
colour chart and
composition & permanence table.
Because of the nature of the site it's not possible to include links to some of the content but if you're a beginner, look for the Learn To Paint section under Creative Encylopedia > Techniques for a basic introduction. If you don't understand any of the terms used in the composition & permanence tables have a look at the terminology PDF
here. There is also a general art
glossary.
There are some individual articles on using acrylics, the fairly comprehensive
Hints, Tips & Techniques,
Acrylic Painting On Paper,
Acrylics In Their Own Right which includes Methods For The Multi-Purpose Paint and
Acrylic Colour Murals which includes a brief description of why and how to stretch paper.
And in addition, their general Art News leaflets,
Issue 1,
Issue 2 and
Issue 3 as well as their Sgrafitto magazine,
Issue 1, Volume 1,
Issue 1, Volume 2,
Issue 2, Volume 1,
Issue 2, Volume 2 and
Issue 2, Volume 3 are worth a look.
Their International Catalogue can be found
here if you'd like to check their complete product range.
The remaining listings are provided in alphabetical order.
Acrilex
Brazillian firm, website only in Portuguese unfortunately. Offer a small range of artists' acrylic line, A 600, with 27 colours, and what looks like a studio range. Colour chart for each can be found by navigating the site or you can look directly
here. and
here. No pigment information is given for either acrylic line but the A 600 line appears to offer some of today's cornerstone pigments including Cadmium Yellow, Orange and Red, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue and Green, as well as what looks like Quinacridone Magenta and Dioxazine Purple.
They also offer a range of ancillary products for acrylic painters including acrylic 'gesso', varnishes and gel medium.
Thanks to Bresciani for bringing this brand to our attention.
Caran d'Ache
Swiss firm of long standing with a large presence in the coloured-pencil and pen markets in Europe. Their artists' acrylics are
Acrylic Extra-Fine.
The also make a student/studio range,
Acrylo.
Thanks to ab39z for mentioning these.
ChromaColour
A paint intended for artists from a major name in animation paints and supplies, they are very highly regarded by some users. Offered in two consistencies, fluid in the bottles and a gel in the tubes, representative colours can be seen on the
ordering page. Those in Europe may prefer to look at the
UK site, colour chart is
here. Note there are no genuine cadmiums, cobalts or cerulean, also the range in the UK is a singe price for all colours but there is a small range in the US.
Chroma
Australian manufacturer better known for their individual ranges:
Atelier which they describe as "professional artists' acrylic paints & mediums", click on the Colour Chart link at left for colour charts and additional information, including their
latest 24 colours and their
unique colours.
Jo Sonja's Artists Colours described as "professional folk & decorative artists' colours & mediums". These are often seen as craft colours but are good matt-surface acrylics at a reasonable price with good covering power.
Chroma are also the manufacturer of
Chromacryl Student Acrylics.
Absolute Matte
A2 Acrylics also for students, they are intended to out-perform other entry-level acrylics such as System 3, Galeria and Liquitex Basics with better coverage and a thicker consistency.
Corfix
Brazillian firm, website only in Portuguese unfortunately. Offers a range of
artists' acrylics, available in 20ml, 37ml and 120ml aluminium tubes, 250ml pots and some boxed sets. No pigment information given although some guesses can be made based on the pigment info for their oil paints.
Also offered is a selection of decorative acrylics and related products, see
here, including a two-part craquelure system.
Thanks to member Bresciani for bringing this brand to our attention.
Daler-Rowney
Daler-Rowney manufacture two ranges of acrylics, the much-improved Cryla artists' range and the flow-formula System 3 range which is like W&N's Galeria but in larger tubes.
Their product catalogue can be found on
this page. Their colour charts are on
this page.
The
Technical Q & A page includes links to MSDS, some FAQs and pigment listings; the two we're concerned with are
Cryla and
System 3.
Daler-Rowney are helpful if you have questions about their products. The links to their various email addresses are on
this page.
daVinci
If you'd like a look at the history of the company click
here.
First Quality Artists' Acrylic Colors
colour chart and
pigment listings.
"Scuola" Acrylic Colors
colour chart and
pigment listings.
If you'd like to try their paints the
trial offer might be worth considering.
Dick Blick
Dick Blick are of course one of the major online retailers and a long-time supporter of WC!, their acrylic listings are on
this page. They also make their own Artist's Acrylics which are very competitively priced and of very good quality (better than some name brands).
Their individual colour listings are
here and their sets are
here. Their gloss and matte mediums are on
this page which also includes their retarder, gel medium, modelling paste, acrylic 'gesso' and acrylic remover for cleaning dried paint from brushes.
Dick Blick don't list the pigments used in their paints on the site and don't have this information available in a single document that they can email you, although they will do their best to help you make an informed choice. Their labels list the full pigment information on the front.
Gruden
Slovenian acrylics, manufactured since 1995. Seventy-six colours are offered and a simulated colour chart can be seen
here, which lists the pigments used.
Grumbacher
Grumbacher make two ranges of acrylics, an artists' range called Finest and a student/studio range called Academy. A brief
history of the company is on this page if you're interested.
Finest
pigment chart. There doesn't appear to be a colour chart on the site for their Finest acrylics.
Academy
pigment chart and
colour chart.
Their site also hosts a
message board where technical queries about their products are answered by a representative, a very useful feature.
Holbein
Japanese maker of a full range of artists' materials.
Acryla are their artist's acrylics, the page has basic colour chart and range information.
They also offer an 'acrylic gouache'
Acryla Designer Gouache.
Aeroflash is an airbrush acrylic line.
Holbein also offer the largest range of coloured acrylic 'gesso' that I'm aware of
Acryla Color Gesso including 'metallics'! The white variety is available in four grades, from smooth to super coarse. The pigment list for these is
here.
Thanks to ab39z for mentioning these.
Lefranc & Bourgeois
Long-established French firm making a wide selection of media; thanks to ab39z for reminding us about them. Their the artists' acrylics are
Fine Acrylics, this page also lists their mediums and varnishes. The colour chart can be viewed
here.
Louvre is their studio/student line. The colour chart can be seen on
this page.
They also offer a vinyl range
Flashe which are marketed as multi-surface paints with a wide range of applications suited to their very matt finish. The colour chart can be viewed
here.
Lukas
Several lines of different consistency and quality. They seem to be especially fond of their transparent artist's acrylics.
Thanks to diphascon for this info.
M. Graham
Acrylic
colour chart,
pigment listings and
MSDS. Their website is out of date and does not list the newer colours added to their line a couple of years ago.
Maimeri
Italian firm, makes a range of media including three type of acrylics.
Brera are their artists' acrylics, which appear to be made to a consistently high standard.
Polycolor is a range of vinyl or acrylic/vinyl co-polymer paints, intended for a wide range of surfaces.
Start as the name suggests, is a range of student acrylics.
Each page has a colour chart below a brief description of the range, click on each colour swatch to get a popup window showing the paint applied to canvas - full strength and as a tint - with a listing of the pigments used in most cases.
This page lists their auxiliary products, including a range of mediums and additives and three types of acrylic 'gesso'.
MIR
Spanish company, website has full pigment information on their smallish line of artists acrylics.
Nova Colors
Factory-direct acrylic paints made by Artex Manufacturing Company. No idea of their quality but they describe them as "top quality artists' acrylic paint", prices are
very competitive and they are available in a wide range of sizes, from 4 fl. oz. to 5 gallons! The colour range appears to be good, including pearlescent and interference colours as well as a range of fluorescents; they also have a full range of mediums. They can be ordered from
this page.
Pébéo
French company that make a wide range of artists' materials. Their
Acrylic extra-fine is their artists' acrylic line. Their gels, mediums and varnishes are listed
here.
Also offer a
Studio Acrylics line.
As well as
Colorex Technic, pigmented acrylic inks.
Rubens (Nerchau)
Artists' paints from an old German manufacturer.
Thanks to member diphascon for this link.
Savoir Faire
French company, perhaps best known as the maker of Fabriano papers; thanks again to ab39z for the reminder.
Lascaux is their artists' acrylic range which they describe as the "premier professional artists' quality acrylic paints" and are priced accordingly.
They also offer a
Studio range, including some highly-regarded metallics under the title
Studio Bronze.
Perlacryl, "a unique, artists' quality iridescent acrylic that is based on a non-toxic formulation of synthetic mother of pearl."
Aquacryl, a "revolutionary paint, Lascaux Aquacryl combines true watercolor characteristics with those of acrylics."
Raphael are their students' acrylics.
Also worth mentioning is their
Sirius sets, "a patented five primary color mixing system" which is also available in watercolour.
Schmincke
Their top-of-the-range acrylics are
PRIMAcryl, also available in a fluid range. Described as "PRIMAcryl®, the pasty premium acrylic colour from Schmincke, covers a rich and balanced range of 84 finest tones produced according to new formulations. The PRIMAcryl® Fluid range comprises 24 identical tones in a premium thin-bodied consistency." The online colour chart is
here and their mediums page
here.
Akademie Acryl Color is their student-grade range, also now available in an extra-heavy-body version.
Aero Color Professional are their acrylic airbrush inks.
The downloadable version of their colour charts can be found on
this page
Talens
Talens, a Dutch firm, offer three ranges in acrylics, watercolours and oils. Rembrandt is their artists' range, Van Gogh is their studio or student range and Amsterdam is their beginner's range.
Rembrandt
overview and
colour chart.
Van Gogh
overview and
colour chart.
Amsterdam
overview and
colour chart.
Tammura Colors
Another Australian brand, makers of
Hydrocryl. You can read more about them on the
guidelines page (note: some of the statements in relation to other brands are not accurate). There are more tips on use
here and the colour chart is
here.
Tri-Art
Canadian firm with a growing reputation; thanks to member timelady for the link. Their
Tri-Art Finest Quality High Viscosity Acrylics are artists' acrylics with a wide colour range, good heavy-body consistency and excellent pigmentation that dry to a fairly consistent gloss finish. Colour charts for each range are available from the menu at the left.
Truecolour is "a quality artist paint at an excellent price."
Rheotech is their student range.
Liquid Acrylics
Airbrush Acrylics
They make a range of acrylic
inks that are "an ideal medium for direct application onto fabrics and leather".
They also offer a range of
mediums.
Turner Acryl Gouache
Made by Turner Colour Works Ltd. in Japan, you can read about the history of the company
here. Apparently the best-selling acrylics in Japan, the range is fairly large including a wide selection of convenience mixtures and specialist colours (luminescent, metallic, pearlescent, interference and pastel). As the name suggests they're matt-finish acrylics with good coverage. Quite a bit of information on the paints is provided on the site (with occasional lapses into Jenglish!) including the large PDF
here.
Utrecht
Utrecht's Premium Pigment Load Acrylic Colors are one the thickest artists' acrylic. The 2oz tubes start on
this page. Each colour has a photographed swatch on canvas showing the colour applied full strength and as a tint. They are also available in
5oz,
pints and
gallons (black and white only).
They also have a Studio Series available in
pints and
gallons (black and white only).
Utrecht don't list the pigments used in their paints on the site and I have been unable to get any response at all from them after repeated emails, but their labels list the full pigment information on the reverse.
Vallejo
Spanish acrylic maker also known for their wide range of craft/hobby vinyl paints. Their
Acrylic Artist Color range seems well made, very smooth, with good body straight from the tube and using high-quality pigments; they are quite reasonably priced in some markets. I have experienced a slight lifting problem with these paints when used thinned with water alone so you might want to watch out for that if you try them. Full pigment information is available on the site and is printed on the tubes. Vallejo also make the following acrylic products:
Studio Acrylic
Designer Liquid Color
Liquid Acrylic
Gouache Acrylic
Einion
Online acrylic resources
Linear Mode
