Here are some of the best cheap acrylic paints that were in our opinion incredibly inexpensive but gave excellent results:
1. Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint
Intro
Available in a set consisting of eighteen 2-ounce containers, these acrylic paints by Apple Barrel are not just populous; they are also some of the cheapest in the market. They are perfect for artists who are heavily limited by cost. Operating under their parent company Plaid, Apple Barrel has been in operation since 1976, and it is no surprise that there are a lot of artists who prefer their acrylic paint. The quality of the acrylic paint is excellent with a silky consistency that applies onto surfaces smoothly. The paint is easy to clean and dries up quickly with a luxurious but soft matte sheen.
Pros
- The acrylic paint can be used on Wood, plaster, tin, craft foam, Styrofoam, terra cotta, and many other surfaces.
- It is non-toxic which means artists can use it freely without worrying about coming into harm.
- You can use brushes, stamps, stencils or a sponge for application.
- The paints can be bought individually or in a set.
Cons
- The paint is a bit thin and watery meaning that you will probably require a few color coats to achieve your desired look.
2. Castle Art Supplies Acrylic Paint Set
Intro
An acrylic paint that delivers outstanding results, the castle art supplies acrylic paint set is a budget set which gives you bang for the buck. The paint’s consistency, quality, and vibrancy are elements that a good number of artists appreciate because these elements remained the same with all 48 colors in the set. This set makes for an excellent gift for individuals interested in diving into the art word of acrylic painting.
Pros
- It adheres to surfaces quite well and is ideal for decorative painting.
- With 48 colors and the moderate price of $.03 per milliliter of paint, you get value for your money.
- It does not dry out quickly.
Cons
- Restocking these acrylic paints from castle art supplies is almost impossible unless you purchase the entire set.
- The quantity of product is very little when compared to other “cheap” acrylic paints.
3. Color Technik Acrylic Paint
Intro
Purchased as a set made up of eighteen 2-ounce bottles, the acrylic paint by Color Technik is a professional grade level acrylic paint that can be used to paint medium and large-scale artworks. The high pigment load is guaranteed to deliver vibrancy to your art pieces despite the limited number of color options. Unlike some variants of acrylic paints available in the market, these paints by Color Technik barely have any color shift regardless of whether they are wet or dry. The paints are safe to use as they are non-toxic.
Pros
Canvas, fabric, paper, ceramic, clay, wood, metal, crafts and even nails, this acrylic paint can be used on almost any surface.
The paints dry extremely fast.
The paints are versatile and can be used with a lot of painting techniques.
Cons
- The color options are limited to 18 colors, but a professional artist who has mastered the skill of color mixing will do just fine when handling these acrylic paints.
- Restocking finished bottles of color is impossible unless you buy the entire set of acrylic paints.
4. Acrylic Paints by Benicci
Intro
If there is a paint that caught us by surprise, it would be these acrylic paints by Benicci. This is because not only is the paint extremely affordable, but the manufacturers of the paint set give you additional value by including a palette knife, a sponge and not one but twelve paint brushes. It is like they got into their customers’ shoes and understand how expensive art supplies are. They also facilitated for beginners to take a deep dive into acrylic painting and develop their technique range by learning how to dab with the sponge and mix colors with the palette knife. The acrylic paint set by Benicci consists of 24 color pigments in 12 ml tubes. This color range is diverse enough to achieve your intended artwork. The pigment load in the paints is also high which means you will get vibrant results with your artwork.
Pros
- Additional art supplies in the package to jumpstart a beginner’s art career.
- Has a six-month replacement or money back guarantee
- The paint can be applied on multiple surfaces.
- It is safe for use and is quick drying.
Cons
- The brushes included in the package have synthetic fiber which can sometimes be rough for artwork.
5. Blicks Artists’ Acrylics and Sets
This top-grade acrylic paint is smooth, lightfast, and permanent. Its pigmentation has an excellent quality to it, longevity and color strength. In addition to that, it gives an exceptional mix of quality and value with 70 colors in the line.
Blicks Artists’ Acrylic is highly viscous and can easily blend with other acrylics. Their viscosity can be thinned or lightened with water or any other media. This paint is thick, and it dries permanent. Once it dries on a surface, nothing can dissolve it.
The aluminum tubes are recyclable, and the contents are excellent for students, professionals, and beginning artists. Blicks Artists’ Acrylics are perfect for simulating oil paint effects.
Pros
- It has vibrant colors.
- It is lightfast and permanent.
- It is highly pigmented.
- It is a high-quality paint.
- It is highly viscous.
- It is intermixable.
- It dries permanent.
- Its colors are durable.
- The tubes are recyclable.
Cons
- It is highly viscous and thick.
- It has no opacity measure on the packaging.
- The black color is not highly pigmented.
6. Utrecht Artists’ Acrylic Colors and Sets
Utrecht is known to be the first company worldwide to handcraft acrylics paint. With more than 50 years of excellence and experience, Utrecht is based in Brooklyn, New York City. Their finely milled Artists’ Acrylic Colors have been highly prized by professional artists. Their brilliance and rich texture are simply remarkable and amazing but that is just icing on the cake. Their excellent longevity is just something to write home about.
This acrylic paint is outstandingly lightfast with their pigments as highly concentrated as possible. They are combined with polymer vehicles of superior quality to produce great exquisite colors. These colors have clarity, great covering power, and their tinting strength is simply exceptional. The singly pigmented ones offer great blending results making it a great choice for both professional and other painters.
Utrecht Artists’ Acrylic Colors come packaged in various containers including jars, tubes, and gallons. Their quality, consistency and the ability to spread on the surface consistently makes it almost incomparable.
Pros
- It is lightfast and permanent.
- It is available in a range of sizes.
- It is brilliant with a rich texture.
- It is highly durable and long-lasting.
- The pigments are highly concentrated.
- The colors are of great quality.
- It spreads consistently on a surface.
Cons
- It is expensive.
- The paints dry too fast making it uneasy to blend.
- It is hard to wash it off the brush if it dries on it.
- The container lids are too tight.
Final thoughts
As with other art supplies and mediums, acrylic paints are often graded and categorized into two major levels specifically the artist/professional grade and the beginner/student grade. These two categories usually have clear distinctions between them; however, it is not always necessary to pay a premium cost for admission. While the price of a medium or in this case the acrylic paint could imply value and high quality, this is not always true as you can find some perfect acrylic paints cheaply.
The critical thing to remember when picking your acrylic paint is that you need to be on the lookout for signs such as the permanence, the viscosity, hue, and quality of the paint which determine whether the paint will deliver exceptional results or otherwise.
Once you have tacked the concern of acrylic paint permanence, viscosity, hue, and quality, using acrylic paint is easy and straightforward. Aside from letting your paint dry, the only other thing you need to do before using acrylic paint is to prime the surface. Priming before paint application helps the paint adhere to the surface even better and decreases the quantity of paint/ color layers that you will need to apply on your surface. Gesso is a filler and pigment combination that is used as a primer before acrylic paint is applied onto the surface because it gives the surface additional tooth and texture. If this is your first time attempt at acrylic painting or you are just looking into what acrylic paint options are available in the market, we hope our list has been helpful.