Acrylic Painters: Is it okay to use Ceramcoat brand paint that comes in little bottles?

I want to start painting on canvas with acrylics and used to be a crafter. Could I use Ceramcoat and Folk Art brands of paint that I buy at the craft stores like Michaels and Hobby Lobby? They say Acrylic on the label.Acrylic Painters: Is it okay to use Ceramcoat brand paint that comes in little bottles?
There is a big difference between folk art paint and artist quality paints.





1. artist quality paint generally has one or two pigments in it. It is made this way becuse the colours are meant to be mixed together without creating ';mud';. But Folk art paint is made with many different pigments to arrive at the right colour - ';Delft Blue'; will probably have two blues, one green, a red and a white in it. If you mix that with another folk art paint, you will get mud. These paints were never intended to be mixed together.





2. Artist quality paint is either opaque, semi-opaque, or transparent, depending on the pigment. There are times when you want a transparent paint for a certain effect. But folk art paint is all opaque. Most of the colours have either white or black added so one colour can be painted on top of another. This results in very flat colours.





3. Artists acrylics come in different forms, but the most popular is heavy-bodied, meaning it is thicker than toothpaste, so you have the opportunity to have texture in your painting. Folk art paints are thin and leave no texture.





4. The ratio of pigment-to-binder in artists paints is much higher than in folk art paint. You can thin good acrylics by 70% or more without losing any of the brilliance of colour - you just can't do that with craft paint.





You will get completely different effects using artists acrylics - give them a try!Acrylic Painters: Is it okay to use Ceramcoat brand paint that comes in little bottles?
I'm a acrylic artist, I don't use these on canvas and would not even consider doing so. The usual acrylic paints used on canvas don't need to be coated to protect them.





I use the kinds of paint you mentioned and the Ceramcoat on things like rocks and painting on slate.





Diane
Yes, you can use most of those craft paints with other acrylic paints and mediums. I've done this quite a lot for a number of years, not all of the time but every now and then. There are some cool colors out there.


I recommend using them with acrylic gloss or matte mediums...like Liquitex or Golden brand.