When it comes time for creative activities, having the right tools and craft gear to get started is one of the most important steps. Painting as a craft requires the best paints to make your activities easy, fun, and rewarding. Having the best paint in your toolkit gives you many options for mixing diverse colors, textures, and learning new methods. There are many kinds of paints that will do for crafting, but if you are looking for the best paint option we have taken the time to compile thorough reviews on 10 of the best paints for crafts. 
 
Below you will find a wide-ranging list of acrylic paints we recommend browsing through to find the best paint for your particular craft. Whether you are painting with your children, learning as a hobby, or looking to expand your arsenal of paints as a professional artist, we have a comprehensive list of the best paints available to suite your needs. To begin, we'll answer some frequently asked questions regarding craft paint and the various options on the market, in doing so we hope that you feel confident and guided as you shop for the best paint.
 

Comparison Table

FAQs: Craft Paint

Below we have answered 5 of the most frequently asked questions pertaining to craft paint.

1. What Is Craft Paint?

2. What Does Craft Paint Do?

3. Where Can I Buy Craft Paint?

4. How Much Does Craft Paint Cost?

How We Reviewed The Best Paint

paint and brush in plastic cups

Image via Pexels

We understand that shopping around to find the best paint can be rather time-consuming, especially if you are looking for paint for a particular purpose and with particular characteristics. Recognizing this, we invested in writing this article to provide you with in-depth comparisons of 10 leading acrylic and craft paints. Your time is valuable and we want to help make sure you have plenty of it so you can spend your day happily crafting!

Below you will find each paint's highlight features and general price point. Pairing price with quality and range of application, we aim to determine the best paint available, whether you are a beginner crafter or an expert painter looking to try a new brand.


Overall Price Range Of Craft Paint

Craft paint ranges dramatically in quality and quantity which vastly impacts price point. High-end acrylic craft paints will give you amazing and rich pigments, with incredibly reliable consistency and permanence without much need for thinning or breaking down with water. Low-end craft paints are economical, but they may compromise quality and color pigment. You can spend anywhere from $ a tube to several hundred dollars in high-end acrylic paint. Finding the best paint for the best price ultimately depends on how you are going to use the paint.


What We Reviewed


Winsor & Newton Artists Acrylic Paint 

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Features

The Winsor & Newton Artist's Acrylic Paint pairs well with painting mediums and is best recommended for advanced to expert level painters who are looking for a high-quality acrylic paint with extensive potential for customization. These acrylics are great for fluid and gesture painting, heavy application, or shapeable for uses like printmaking. This paint dries to a satin finish and is available in 80 colors. These paints are made from a clear, resinous binder that enables artists to increase color durability, broaden the life of their colors, and improve overall flow and easy movement with a brush.


PROS 
  • Consistent color when wet or dry
  • Easy to read label
  • Buttery consistency which easily holds shape
  • True to the color swatch on each tube
CONS
  • Not always available in the US
  • Replaced Winsor & Newton's Finity range
  • Moderate to high-end price point, not the best paint for crafts with children

Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Paint

Sale
Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic Paint, 10 x 20ml (0.7-oz) Tube Paint...
  • Conforms to ASTM d4236
  • 20ml Tubes
  • Acrylic paints that can give you professional looking results

Features

This set of Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic paints offers you professional results at a low-end price point without sacrificing color quality. This particular set offers many rich pigments with variable opacity, brush stroke retention, and reliable permanence. The colors are clean, buttery, and dry with a satin finish. You will receive 10 tubs of 20ml acrylic paint in a variety of base colors excluding black but including white.


PROS 
  • Student grade, high-quality paints
  • Affordably priced
  • Rich pigments
  • Colors create a uniform surface with great retention
  • Easy to clean
CONS
  • Tubes feel oversized for the amount of paint inside
  • Set is missing a cyan blue, limiting the color potential
  • Manufacturing is hit or miss, its formula may be inconsistent

Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Tube

Sale
Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint Set, 6 x 22ml (0.74-oz) Tube Paint Set,...
  • SET INCLUDES - Six 22ml (0.74oz) tubes. Primary Yellow, Primary Red, Primary Blue, Phthalocyanine Green, Titanium White,...
  • WHY BASICS? - Liquitex invented artists' acrylics back in 1955 and we've specialized in acrylics ever since. Basics...
  • ADJUSTABLE - Basics comes in a range of opacities, and can be adjusted to use as an undertone, tint, or shade. For...

Features

This acrylic paint set by Liquitex is their BASICS line that was developed for students and artists searching for quality and economy. These colors are formulated for rich brilliance and pigment clarity. This paint is a heavy body acrylic with a smooth and buttery consistency, making this one of the best paints for easy blending at an affordable price.

Liquitex BASICS keeps brush strokes and texture in place. An ideal acrylic paint for learning to apply color theory and mixing techniques. Liquitex BASICS dry with a stain finish. This set of paints can be mixed with any Liquitex acrylic paint and Liquitex mediums. These paints are safe for educational use and with students.


PROS 
  • Affordable, high quality and thick paints
  • Distinct color pigments
  • Smooth texture, ideal for mixing and blending
  • Accessible price for students and artists who use a lot of paint
CONS
  • Paint swatches on each tube are not true to color
  • Labels are hard to read
  • Dries very fast

Sennelier Abstract Innovative Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

Sale
Sennelier Abstract Innovative Heavy Body Acrylic Paint, 120ml Pouch,...
  • Very popular with students, professional painters, street artists, and many more creative people
  • Iridescent Pearl
  • A pleasure to handle with a brush, a palette knife or straight out of the soft pack

Features

The next paint on the list is the Sennelier Abstract Innovative Heavy Body Acrylic Paint. This particular paint is strongly pigmented with a heavy, thick-body texture. The packages are designed for easy color recognition and economy. This Sennelier Heavy Body Acrylic Paint offers many applications while leaving room for opacity and transparency experimentation. Although thick, this paint remains workable and buttery which makes blending easy. Great for crafts that require thick paint coats or texture. This brand is made in France.

PROS 
  • Deep hues and bright colors
  • Best paints for blending—although only with other Sennelier paints
  • Easy to thin with an acrylic medium
  • Moderately priced and reliable quality
CONS
  • Very thick, requires thinning in most traditional applications
  • No box set, must purchase pouches individually

Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

Golden Color Mixing Set of 8, Classic Theory
  • 8 colors in 2oz tubes
  • For landscapes - still lives - portraits
  • Great for artists exploring the traditional range of oil colors

Features

Golden Heavy Body Acrylic Paints are excellent paints for beginners and professionals alike who are looking for an economical yet high-quality and thick acrylic paint. This set is filled with basic colors for testing and applying color theory while maintaining versatility for painting with a variety of techniques and mediums. These paints are dense with brilliant viscosity and color pigment. These are the best paints for beginners who want to learn proper painting techniques from the beginning while relying on true colors and strong paints.


PROS 
  • Thick yet workable like buttery
  • True to color
  • A professional grade starter kit
  • Reliable brand with beautiful pigments
CONS
  • Moderately priced (investment)
  • Kit offers unique pigments, not static base colors


Golden Open Acrylic Modern Theory

Sale
Golden Open Acrylic Modern Theory,Multi,Set Of 8
  • The Open line features a relaxed working property
  • Golden Open Slow-Drying set
  • Capable of better blending-softening-shading-glazing

Features

The Golden OPEN Acrylic paint set is ideal for conditions where you might want slower drying, giving you more opportunity for blending, shading, and glazing. The colors are bright, clean and beautifully tinted. This set offers bold colors that will give you a new palette beyond the basic colors. The paint is easy to work with and have reliably strong pigment.


PROS 
  • Excellent drying time
  • Useful color mixing chart included
  • Great for beginners
  • Affordable
CONS
  • Thin consistency, poor coverage
  • Ideal for layering but with minimal texture
  • Bold primary colors, not traditional shades

Golden Fluid Acrylic

Sale
Golden Fluid Acrylic, 1/2 Ounce Set Of 8, Assorted Colors
  • Most versatile paint formula
  • Golden Fluid Acrylic
  • set of 8

Features

Moving on to the next Golden craft paint, the Golden Fluid Acrylic is a strong yet flexible acrylic paint designed for tinting, shading, and blending colors with ease. These Golden Fluid Acrylics are also great when brushing, mixing, spraying or layering other types of Golden paints. Combining the fluid acrylics with certain mediums will give you more control and watercolor-like abilities. This particular set offers eight 1/2 oz jars of base colors, including white, plus a fluid application guide.


PROS 
  • Professional grade acrylics
  • Ideal paint for airbrushing
  • Affordably priced
  • Rich, reliable pigments
  • Thin viscosity allows you to paint with more control and fluidity versus thick acrylic paints
CONS
  • Small 1/2 oz jars, best paint set for details, not large paintings
  • Flip-top bottle lids dry out and cake on paint
  • Questionable value depending on the application

M. Graham & Co. Acrylic Paint

M. Graham & Co. Acrylic Paint Cadmium Yellow
  • Slightly longer open time allows subtle blends of color
  • Increased pigment loads slightly longer open time allows subtle blends of color stronger and more vibrant colors
  • Made in the USA

Features

The next featured paint is the M. Graham & Co. Acrylic Paint. This artist quality paint is exceptionally well made with high solid and pure acrylic emulsion producing beautifully pigmented colors that give you more time for blending and mixing with an extended open / drying time. Painting with this acrylic paint is a pleasure with its smooth, buttery texture. Made in the USA, this paint is reliably high-quality. This is the best paint for serious artists who are not willing to compromise quality for a lower price.

PROS 
  • Beautiful, rich colors
  • High-quality acrylic emulsion
  • Made in the USA
  • Professional grade with a smooth feel
CONS
  • Available online, not widely stocked in stores
  • Moderate price point per 5oz tube
  • Not the best paint for crafting, more for serious artists producing large-scale acrylic paintings

Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylic

Features

Moving on, we have the Chroma Atelier Interactive Acrylic paint. This acrylic gives you an extended drying time for better color blending and precision control. Pigments are loaded with beautiful and true colors that feel smooth and creamy under the brush. These acrylics give a clean, satin finish but can be easily reactivated with a medium or water. This set features 7 base colors in 80ml tubes.


PROS 
  • Extremely workable and lively paint
  • Easy to reactivate and layer
  • Rich pigments
  • Longer drying time
  • Nice tube size
CONS
  • Poor customer service
  • Very basic colors

Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylic

Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylic Paint Classic Jar 8-Piece Set
  • Contents: 8 x 2 oz jars and a Technique Sheet
  • Assortment of popular Liquitex colors; see below for color names
  • Conforms to ASTM D4236; Safe for educational use

Features

Our last craft paint to highlight is the Liquitex Professional Soft Body Acrylic. This paint has a low-odor base with an impressive resin base that increases drying time all the while producing beautiful, clear colors. The paint itself is durable, workable, UV resistant, and water-resistant when dry. This acrylic pairs well with other Liquitex paints and mediums. This is a professional grade paint that offers you a smooth texture and concentrated pigment for amazingly rich, and pure colors. Ideal for experts or professional artists.


PROS 
  • Vibrant colors of the highest quality
  • Saturated pigments
  • Easy to work with
  • Great for mixing across mediums and techniques
CONS
  • Flip-top caps become easily loaded with dry paint
  • Very small containers
  • High-end price point

The Verdict

mixed paint

Image via Pexels

As we wrap up this review searching for the best paint for crafts, we have decided on two favorites. The Liquitex BASICS acrylic paints will give you the most diversity and economy as they offer fairly large sized tubes at a great price. The BASICS paints are designed for students and those learning to work with the acrylic medium. Quality, price, and quantity have influenced our decision in choosing the Liquitex BASICS as the best paint for crafts. 

 
We recommend Golden Heavy Body Acrylic for any advanced to expert level painter or artist in need of richly saturated yet workable paints. The Heavy Body paints pair well with Golden mediums, giving you incredible value and diverse application with an amazing feeling under your brush. We hope that you have found this review to be useful during your search for the best paint.

Last update on 2023-03-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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