Next step up from liquitex basic?

[lorraine57]

What would be the next step up in quality? I don’t have a very large palette so it wouldn’t cost me a ton to move a step up in paint quality. I don’t sell my work, this is simply a hobby for me so I don’t need archival quality but I also get that I’m not saving anything if I’m using twice as much paint. I don’t really care for heavy body paint.

Is the artist loft worth considering in level 2? Does Liquitex go from Basic to professional with no in-between?

Tia!

Lorraine

[Patrick1]

 

I don’t know of any acrylic that has a mid-quality level between student and pro/artist-grade, but maybe there are some out there. But some of the better student acrylics, or the cheaper pro acrylics, come closer to the middle quality level. I don’t have experience with Artists Loft so I can’t comment on them.

Since you don’t want heavy body, Liquitex Soft Body is the same pro-level quality and pigmentation as Heavy Body, with a medium-low viscosity…a bit thicker than other pro-quality fluid acrylics.

 

 

[DMSS]

When I don’t want heavy body I use Golden Fluid acrylics. They are lower viscosity than Liquitex soft body. It depends on which thickness you prefer. Both companies also make a really thin acrylic ink — Golden’s are called High Flow.

--David

[lorraine57]

Patrick1 wrote:

I don’t know of any acrylic that has a mid-quality level between student and pro/artist-grade, but maybe there are some out there. But some of the better student acrylics, or the cheaper pro acrylics, come closer to the middle quality level. I don’t have experience with Artists Loft so I can’t comment on them. Since you don’t want heavy body, Liquitex Soft Body is the same pro-level quality and pigmentation as Heavy Body, with a medium-low viscosity…a bit thicker than other pro-quality fluid acrylics.

Cheaper pro acrylics? I really think the soft body is going to be a little too flowy…are there any better paints similar in consistency to the basics?

 

 

 

Lorraine

[lorraine57]

DMSS wrote:

When I don’t want heavy body I use Golden Fluid acrylics. They are lower viscosity than Liquitex soft body. It depends on which thickness you prefer. Both companies also make a really thin acrylic ink — Golden’s are called High Flow.

I don’t want anything that flows. I really like the consistency of the liquitex basics. Thick enough to knife…easy to blend.

Lorraine

[Patrick1]

“Cheaper pro acrylics? I really think the soft body is going to be a little too flowy…are there any better paints similar in consistency to the basics?”

“I don’t want anything that flows. I really like the consistency of the liquitex basics. Thick enough to knife…easy to blend.”

Most student acrylics that come in a tube will have that same (or similar) medium/medium-high viscosity of Liquitex Basics that you like. There are a multitude to choose from, and you might find some are a bit better quality than Basics, but I haven’t found a huge difference among student acrylics around the same price. IMO, W&N Galeria and Amsterdam Standard are at least as good as Basics. Grumbacher Academy acrylics in aluminum tubes are good, but the ones in plastic squeeze tubes are awful. Daler-Rowney System 3 is supposed to be good but it’s been over 10 years I had one. Sennelier Abstract acrylics look promising but I haven’t yet tried any of them.

If you want a noticeable step up in quality…

Of the pro acrylics I’ve yet tried, the one that comes closest to that medium/medium-high Basics consistency is Talens Amsterdam Expert acrylics. It is probably the softest of the pro/heavy body acrylics I’ve yet had. Pebeo Extra Fine acrylics are also a bit softer than most heavy body.

 

[Dorrart]

Not sure about your style, but one way to step up is to replace the white paint only with a professional tube.   This gives better pigment loading for opaque passages, it can be used for more impasto textural passages and it’s one of the least expensive of the professional grade colors.  Just use that with the Basics paints you seem to like.

- David

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." --Picasso

[lorraine57]

I’m using WN Galeria for my white. Is that still student grade? I figured out quickly that cheap  white didn’t have much coverage.

 

Lorraine

[Richard P]

I’m actually just trying Sennelier Abstract Acrylics. After trying a few organic pigments I’d say they had a student grade level of pigment load (which makes sense, given their price) but they have two differences in the paint I like so far. They have 12 high gloss colours which helps with colour shifting when dry, and they are more like medium-heavy body than soft body.

I need to try them more, but all the other student grade acrylics I know of are soft body.

[lorraine57]

haha….it says the “pouch doubles as a painting tool” in the description….  

Lorraine

[Patrick1]

For what it’s worth, I just found that Liquitex describes their Basics as medium viscosity – so that might be the right compromise for blending and knife work. Although for blending, drying time is probably more important than viscosity – and most student acrylics are intentionally formulated for longer drying time.

[lorraine57]

Yes, the viscosity is perfect. Unfortunately, it seems that every pro grade is either heavy or softer than that. I see nothing in a medium viscosity. If I have to go one way or the other, it’d likely be soft. I don’t use knives or texture as often as I blend. I’d have to thin everything if I go heavy…

Lorraine

[lorraine57]

Also, the fact that “thick” or “soft” are subjective terms doesn’t help. Someone’s “soft” body may indeed be close to that of Liquitex basic’s “medium”. I just don’t know that…I have time, at the prices that Michaels charges bc they assume you’re using a coupon, I’ll have to wait to use coupons so it’ll be one tube at a time. I bought Inktense pencils there and they were twice as much as elsewhere but I had a giftcard and coupon so……

 

Lorraine

[Richard P]

Golden OPEN is kind of a medium consistency, but it’s expensive with a lower pigment load (due to all the retarding agents).

I think Winsor & Newton’s Professional Acrylics are supposed to be a bit less soft body than Golden and Liquitex’s?

[lorraine57]

I think the open concept could cause a lot of unintended accidents for me…..W&N Soft body?

Lorraine

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