Best Acrylic Paint Brands in 2026: An Honest Guide for Every Level
Best Acrylic Markers in 2026: A Complete Guide for Every Surface and Skill Level
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If you are standing in an art store trying to figure out whether Golden is worth the price, whether Liquitex Basics will do the job, or whether there is something in between that makes sense for where you are right now — this guide is for you.
I paint primarily in oils now, but acrylics were my main medium for years. I still reach for Liquitex Soft Body for underpainting before switching to oils, and I have worked with enough brands to know where the real differences lie and where the marketing is just noise.
The best acrylic paint for you depends on your skill level, your budget, and what you are trying to do with it. This guide breaks down the top brands honestly so you can make a clear decision without wasting money on the wrong thing.
What Makes a High Quality Acrylic Paint
Before getting into the brands, it helps to understand what you are actually comparing when you look at acrylic paint. The difference between a tube that costs $3 and one that costs $22 is not arbitrary.
Pigment load is the biggest factor. High quality acrylic paint contains more pigment relative to filler and binder. More pigment means stronger color, better tinting power, and less paint needed to achieve full opacity. A single-pigment cadmium red in a professional line will go further and mix cleaner than a multi-pigment version in a student line.
Acrylic resin binder quality affects how the dried paint holds up over time. Professional grade acrylics use a stronger acrylic resin that stays flexible as it cures, reducing the risk of cracking over years. Student grade acrylics use more filler and less resin, which reduces cost but also reduces longevity.
Lightfastness is how resistant a color is to fading under light exposure. ASTM I is excellent, ASTM II is very good. Most professional grade brands publish lightfastness ratings by color. Budget brands rarely do, which tells you something.
Viscosity — whether you need heavy body, soft body, or fluid acrylics, is about your painting technique, not quality. Heavy body paints hold brush strokes and knife marks. Soft body is smoother and better for detail, glazing, and underpainting. Fluid acrylics flow freely for poured techniques, staining, and thin washes.
Student Grade vs Artist Grade Acrylic Paint
This distinction matters more than any brand name.
Student grade acrylics are made for learning. They cost less because they contain more filler and less pigment. Colors can look dull, mixtures get muddy faster, and some colors wipe off after drying if the resin quality is low. For practicing brush control, learning color theory, or doing studies you are not keeping, student grade is completely reasonable.
Artist grade acrylics are made for finished work. Higher pigment concentration means more vibrant color, stronger tinting strength, and better archival quality. The difference becomes obvious when you try to mix colors, artist grade gives you clean, predictable results where student grade often gives you muddy, unpredictable ones.
A smart approach is to use student grade paint for practice and studies, then upgrade the colors you use most often to artist grade. You do not need a full professional set to get professional results. A limited palette of high quality primary colors plus titanium white will outperform a large set of cheap student grade paints every time.
The Best Acrylic Paint Brands
1. Golden Heavy Body — Best Overall Professional Acrylic Paint
Golden is the benchmark for professional quality acrylic paint. Most acrylic artists who have worked across multiple brands eventually come back to Golden as their standard. The heavy body formula contains no fillers, extenders, or opacifiers, just pigment, acrylic resin, and water.
The buttery consistency holds brush strokes and palette knife marks exactly as you lay them down without leveling out. Color intensity is exceptional, and the tinting power is strong enough that a small amount of any single pigment color goes a long way. Golden also publishes detailed technical information for every color, including pigment density and lightfastness data, which matters if you are creating work intended to last.
Best for: Professional artists, serious hobbyists, fine art work, and anyone who has outgrown student grade and wants the best acrylic option available.
The honest downside: Golden is expensive. For artists doing large studies or underpainting layers, the cost adds up quickly. That is where Golden Fluid Acrylics or a lower-cost brand for preparatory work makes more sense.
Price range: $7 to $22 per tube, higher for specialty colors.
2. Liquitex Professional Heavy Body — Best for Availability and Reliability
Liquitex Professional is the other brand most professional artists keep in their studio. It is slightly more affordable than Golden, easier to find in most art stores worldwide, and consistent enough that you can trust the color will match across batches.
Liquitex heavy body has strong tinting power and smooth milling. The professional line is rated ASTM I or II across most colors, and many colors are single-pigment which keeps mixtures clean. The satin finish dries slightly different from Golden’s more matte quality, which is a preference thing rather than a quality difference.
Best for: Professional artists who need wide availability and repeatable results, artists who work in large quantities, and anyone who wants a professional brand at a slightly lower price than Golden.
The honest downside: The thick consistency can be harder for beginners to blend. Some colors in the Liquitex professional range are less opaque than their Golden equivalents and require layering to achieve full coverage.
Price range: $7 to $28 per tube depending on pigment.
3. Liquitex Soft Body — Best for Underpainting and Glazing
Liquitex Soft Body is a different formula from the Heavy Body line, same professional pigment quality but a smoother, more fluid consistency that makes it ideal for detail work, thin layers, and underpainting.
I use Liquitex Soft Body for underpainting before switching to oils. It dries fast, goes on evenly, and does not create a thick underlayer that would affect the oil paint applied over it. For artists who work in layers, glaze frequently, or want a marker-smooth application, the Soft Body line is the better choice over Heavy Body.
Best for: Underpainting, glazing techniques, detail work, smooth application on illustration or fine detail passages, and layering under oil paint.
The honest downside: The softer consistency does not hold brush strokes or texture. If you want impasto marks or palette knife texture, you need the Heavy Body formula.
Price range: Similar to Heavy Body professional line.
4. Winsor and Newton Galeria — Best Mid-Range Acrylic Paint
Galeria sits between student grade and professional grade in a way that makes it genuinely useful. It uses similar pigments to Winsor and Newton’s professional line at a lower concentration, which means color is less intense but more reliable than most budget student grade options.
The smooth application and medium viscosity make it easy to work with, and it performs well on canvas, paper, wood, and other prepared surfaces. For artists who are past the beginner stage but not ready to invest in a full professional set, Galeria is a solid bridge.
Best for: Art students, hobbyists, and artists building skills who want better quality than basic student paints without paying professional prices.
The honest downside: Lower pigment load than professional lines means more coats for full opacity on some colors. Tinting power is noticeably weaker than Golden or Liquitex Professional.
Price range: $7 to $13 per tube, very accessible for sets.
5. Amsterdam Standard Series — Best Budget Artist Grade
Amsterdam is the brand that surprises most artists who try it expecting student grade performance. Produced by Royal Talens, Amsterdam Standard Series uses reasonably high pigment quality at a price point closer to student grade than professional grade.
Lightfastness ratings are published and most colors are rated excellent or very good. The consistency is medium bodied rather than heavy, which some artists prefer. For the price, the color strength is impressive and the range covers most working palette needs without gaps.
Best for: Artists who want better than student grade quality at a more accessible price, especially those working in larger quantities or experimenting with color before committing to expensive professional tubes.
The honest downside: Not quite at the level of Golden or Liquitex Professional for pigment density and archival quality. The medium viscosity may not satisfy artists who need the specific handling of heavy body paint.
Price range: Among the most affordable artist grade options available, often $4 to $8 per tube.
6. Holbein Heavy Body — Best for Smooth Handling
Holbein is less widely known outside serious studio painters but has a devoted following among portrait and figurative artists who need a heavy body paint that blends more smoothly than Golden or Liquitex. The texture is creamy rather than stiff, which makes it easier to create gradual transitions and soft edges without fighting the paint.
The color range is excellent and the lightfastness is strong. Holbein’s re-engineered heavy body formula has improved vibrancy significantly and now competes directly with Golden and Liquitex at the professional level.
Best for: Portrait artists, figurative painters, and anyone who wants heavy body paint with a less stiff feel. The smooth handling makes it especially good for blending skin tones and subtle gradients.
The honest downside: Premium pricing comparable to Golden. Some colors lean transparent, which requires layering for full opacity. Availability varies by region.
Price range: $9 to $22 per tube.
7. Meeden Acrylic Paint — Best for Color Range and Value
Meeden has built a strong following among hobbyists and intermediate artists who want a large, complete color range at an accessible price. The sets cover a wide palette including colors that professional brands charge premium prices for, which makes them useful for artists who want to explore color without rationing paint.
Meeden acrylic paint performs well on canvas, paper, wood, and fabric. Coverage is solid for lighter colors on light surfaces, and the quick-dry formula makes layering practical for projects that need multiple passes in a single session.
Best for: Hobbyists, craft artists, mixed media work, and anyone building a large working color library without the budget for professional tubes across every color.
The honest downside: Not archival grade. Lightfastness data is limited compared to professional brands. For finished fine art work intended to last, professional grade paints are a better investment.
Price range: Among the most accessible options, with large sets available at a fraction of the cost of professional equivalents.
8. Liquitex Basics — Best for Beginners
Liquitex Basics is one of the most widely used student grade paints because it is familiar, easy to find, and genuinely accessible in price. It handles well for a beginner, the colors are consistent, and the range is broad enough for learning.
The important thing to know about Liquitex Basics is the limitation it has with staying power. Some colors in the Basics line have a lower resin quality that can result in paint wiping off certain surfaces after drying. This makes it unsuitable for finished work that needs to last, but for practice, studies, and learning technique it does the job.
Best for: Beginners learning acrylic techniques, students in art classes, anyone who wants a widely available student grade option that is easy to work with.
The honest downside: Lower pigment concentration than professional lines, limited archival quality, and some colors have staying power issues. Not recommended for work you intend to keep long term.
Price range: The most affordable in the Liquitex range, excellent value for learning.
9. Craft Paint — When to Use It and When Not To
Craft paint like Apple Barrel or Folk Art has a place, but it is not the same category as even student grade artist acrylic. Craft paint uses minimal pigment, significant filler, and a lower quality binder. Colors are dull, tinting power is weak, and durability is limited.
Craft paint is appropriate for home projects, decorating, kids art activities, and anything that does not need to last or hold up to scrutiny. It is not appropriate for canvas paintings, illustration, or any serious art practice.
The price difference between craft paint and Amsterdam or Winsor and Newton Galeria is small enough that moving up to a real student grade or entry artist grade paint is worth it for anyone taking art seriously.
How to Choose the Right Acrylic Paint for You
By Skill Level
Beginners should start with student grade paint like Liquitex Basics, Winsor and Newton Galeria, or Amsterdam to learn how acrylics behave without the pressure of expensive materials. Once you find yourself frustrated by muddy mixtures or weak color, that is the signal to upgrade.
Intermediate artists will notice the biggest quality jump by upgrading titanium white, their primary colors, and their most-used neutrals to artist grade while keeping student grade for studies and underpainting layers.
Professional artists benefit from the full commitment to artist grade acrylics. The tinting strength, archival quality, and color consistency of Golden, Liquitex Professional, or Holbein make a real difference in finished work.
By Budget
A limited palette of artist grade colors will outperform a large set of budget colors every time. If budget is tight, buy five to seven professional grade tubes, titanium white, a warm and cool yellow, warm and cool red, ultramarine blue, and a dark neutral, rather than a large set of student grade colors.
By Painting Style
Heavy body acrylics are for impasto work, visible brush strokes, and texture. Liquitex Soft Body, golden fluid acrylics, and Amsterdam’s standard formula work better for smooth application, glazing, underpainting, and watercolor-like techniques. Match the viscosity to your technique rather than defaulting to heavy body because it looks more substantial.
Quick Comparison Table
| Brand | Grade | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Heavy Body | Professional | Fine art, premium quality | $$$ |
| Liquitex Professional | Professional | Availability, reliability | $$$ |
| Liquitex Soft Body | Professional | Underpainting, glazing, detail | $$$ |
| Holbein Heavy Body | Professional | Smooth blending, portraits | $$$ |
| Winsor and Newton Galeria | Mid-range | Students, budget-conscious artists | $$ |
| Amsterdam Standard | Artist grade | Value-focused artist grade | $$ |
| Meeden | Hobbyist | Color range, mixed media | $ |
| Liquitex Basics | Student | Beginners, practice, studies | $ |
Frequently Asked Questions
What brand of acrylic paint is best? Golden Heavy Body is the benchmark for professional quality acrylic paint. Most experienced acrylic artists consider it the strongest performer for pigment load, color intensity, and archival quality. Liquitex Professional is the best alternative for artists who need wide availability and slightly lower cost at professional quality.
Is Golden acrylic paint better than Liquitex? For pigment density and raw color intensity, Golden has a slight edge. Both are professional grade with excellent lightfastness ratings. Liquitex is more widely available, slightly less expensive on average, and has a broader range of product lines including Soft Body, Basics, and markers. Many artists keep both in their studio and use them interchangeably depending on the color and technique.
What kind of paint do professional artists use? Most professional acrylic painters use artist grade heavy body paint. Golden Heavy Body, Liquitex Professional, and Holbein are the most common choices among working artists. Some professionals also keep Liquitex Soft Body or golden fluid acrylics for underpainting, glazing, and detail work. The choice depends on technique and personal preference, not a single right answer.
What is the most popular acrylic paint? Liquitex is likely the most widely used acrylic paint brand globally, primarily because of its long history, wide availability in art stores, and the range of products from student Basics to professional Heavy Body. Golden is more widely regarded as the highest quality option. Both are standard fixtures in most professional studios.
What is the difference between heavy body and soft body acrylic paint? Heavy body acrylics are thick and hold the shape of brush strokes and palette knife marks. Soft body acrylics have a smoother, more fluid consistency that makes them better for detail work, smooth blending, underpainting, and glazing. Both can be the same professional quality with the same pigment load, the difference is only in consistency.
Do you need to seal acrylic paintings? A varnish is recommended for finished work. Varnish protects the surface from UV light, dust, and moisture and unifies the finish across areas that dried differently between matte and glossy. Apply varnish only after the painting has fully cured, which can take several weeks depending on thickness.
Can you use acrylic paint on canvas without gesso? You can paint on raw canvas but the paint will soak in and the coverage will be poor. Gesso primes the canvas surface, improves paint adhesion, and makes the colors appear brighter. Pre-gessoed canvas is standard for most canvas products sold in art stores.
What acrylic paint is best for beginners? Liquitex Basics, Winsor and Newton Galeria, and Amsterdam Standard Series are all strong starting points for beginners. Galeria and Amsterdam offer better quality than Basics and are worth the small additional cost once you are past the very early learning stages.
For related reading see the guides to the best acrylic markers for artists who want to add marker work to their acrylic practice.
If you want to see what oil on linen looks like in practice, browse my original oil paintings for sale.
