Acrylic Paint

I am an artist by trade.  I love to paint murals, and pictures with acrylic paint.  Over the years I have tried many different brands of professional acrylic paint.  Now, before I start my review, let me just say that each artist has his or her own preferences when it comes to brands of paint, types of canvases, and brands of brushes.  So I will discuss a few different brands of paint and what they offer as paint.

Brand: Golden
What it offers: smoothly mixed paint colors, variety of hues, variety of sizes.  Golden usually comes in tubs, or metal tubes.
Pros: I love this stuff.  I love how beautiful the mixed colors come out, no mixed color gets dulled they stay just as vibrant and rich as if you bought the mixed color.  Works great with same brand mediums and finishes.
Cons: the price isn't friendly to students, and "budgeting artist" wallets.  Some solutions: use coupons to purchase the paint, its very worth the investment!

My rating

Brand: Basics
What it offers: smoothly mixed paint colors, large variety of pre-mixed colors, easy to find at local art and crafts stores, paint usually comes in 6.7oz plastic tubes for easy use.
Pros: I love this stuff too.  When I have a large project with a quick dead line I love being able to buy premixed colors the right hue that I need, so I don't waste time or paint trying to get the color I need. Works great with many different mediums, finishes, and textures.
Cons: I haven't been able to find the larger plastic tubes at local arts and crafts stores in the Provo/ Orem Utah area.

My rating

Brand: Premiere' Acrylic Color
What it offers: very similar to Basics brand, in that there are tons of pre-mixed colors that you can buy.  This is a smooth paint, but not as good a quality as Basics and not comparable to Golden.
Pros: easily available to students and starving artists' budgets.
Cons: not as smooth or easy to mix with other brands of paint as say Golden or Basics.

My rating

Brand: Studio 71
What it offers: uniquely colored hues, the largest variety of 6.75 fl. oz plastic paint tubes of hues.
Pros: available at Robert's Arts and Craft store, usually on sale for 30% off each tube. Mixes well with its own brand of paint. You can mimic water colors well.
Cons: the names of the paint are not the same as any other brand I have reviewed.  Cobalt blue from Golden or Basics is a rich color, in Studio 71 its a dull Periwinkle looking hue.

My rating

Over all summary, if you are poor go with what you can afford, just learn how to over come the negative  aspects of the poorer quality paints.  If you can afford it I highly recommend Basics and especially Golden brand acrylic paint.