Heavy body Acrylic
For artists who want thick, buttery paint that retains brush marks or can be applied heavily with a painting knife.
Check out the ProChroma heavy body binder from our binders page HERE, alternatively combine ProChroma pigment dispersions to any heavy textured, artist acrylic mediums on the market including structure pastes and the whole array of special effects mediums that contain sand, pumice, glass beads etc
The heavier body binders are generally more expensive, but this is somewhat helped by the fact that less ProChroma pigment dispersion is needed to make a really pigmented paint. The properties of the heavy body paste help to suspend the pigment throughout the acrylic matrix and when applied neat with a brush or painting knife, the thicker paint-film ensures great coverage and colour saturation.
Mixing the paint can be done on the palette with a palette knife or in a container that can be stirred well. As a starting guide for making paint that would be deemed 'artist grade', mix in a ratio of approximately 60% binder to 40% colour. To make a more transparent 'student' grade paint, simply increase the proportion of binder to pigment.
To make it easier to determine the ratio of pigment to binder when mixing multiple pigments together, a recommendation is to mix up the colour or shade first, then mix this to the correct ratio of binder.
Many paints on the market reduce the pigment content and add an inert filler such as chalk or blanc fixe (barium sulphate) to bulk out the paint or lighten the value of some strong pigments. This results in a paint that can initially appear to be great quality, but will offer poor coverage or colour saturation when dry.
ProChroma pigments are intensely concentrated, and many of them look almost black in the bottle, and so in order to become a useful colour to work with, need to be lightened in value. The very top performing artist paints contain only pigment and binder, and so to maintain this quality we recommend using titanium white to adjust the value. The addition of titanium white also imparts excellent opacity. Where a more transparent paint is needed, for glazing and other special effects techniques etc, then simply adding less pigment to binder will achieve this.
Soft body Acrylic
Soft body refers to the consistency of the majority of acrylic paint on the market. The closest description in its wet state is that of a soft gel. It holds its shape rather than flows, but can be brushed out very easily and often self levels as it dries, thus does not retain strong brush marks.
The ProChroma Soft body binder can be found on our binders page HERE, alternatively combine ProChroma pigment dispersions to any similar soft textured, artist acrylic mediums on the market including gel mediums, glazing mediums etc
The soft body binders are generally super easy to work with and respond best with a brush, but can be worked to some extent with a painting knife. Mixing the paint can be done on the palette with a palette knife or in a container that can be stirred well or shaken vigorously. As a starting guide for making 'artist' grade paint, mix in a ratio of approximately 50% binder to 50% colour.
To make a more transparent 'student' grade paint, simply increase the proportion of binder to pigment.
For a really heavily pigmented paint, it is possible to slightly 'under' bind the pigment. Try 30-40% binder to 60-70% pigment. This will be more pigmented than any paint you can buy off the shelf, and take on a more matt finish like acrylic gouache, however it will not have the usual resilient paint-film associated with acrylic paint. It is ideal for use on absorbent surfaces such as paper in sketchbooks or artworks that will be displayed behind glass.
As with heavy body paint to make it easier to determine the ratio of pigment to binder when mixing multiple pigments together, a recommendation is to mix up the colour or shade first, then mix this to the required ratio of binder.
Soft body acrylics brush out to a much thinner paint-film than their heavy body counterparts, and so in order to achieve any degree of opacity with the often naturally transparent pigments, it is advisable to mix in an amount of titanium white. Often the biggest surprise to new users of our pigment dispersions, is just how much white can be added before the colour loses saturation. In fact, many of the colours need the addition of some white to reach their optimal brightness/chroma.
Fluid Acrylic (aka High Flow, Acrylic Ink)
Fluid acrylic binder is ideal for creating a paint that is brushable, drippable, splashable, pourable or sprayable. Diluted with a little water, it can also be used as ink in a dip pen or as an ink for acrylic markers.
The ProChroma Fluid binder can be found on our binders page HERE, alternatively combine ProChroma pigment dispersions to any similar acrylic fluid mediums on the market including fluid mediums, pouring mediums, airbrush mediums etc
Mixing the paint is best achieved by stirring in a container or placing in a bottle and shaking to mix. As a starting guide for making 'artist' grade paint, mix in a ratio of approximately 50% binder to 50% colour.
To make a more transparent 'student' grade paint, simply increase the proportion of binder to pigment.
As with heavy body paint to make it easier to determine the ratio of pigment to binder when mixing multiple pigments together, a recommendation is to mix up the colour or shade first, then mix this to the required ratio of binder.
Just as with Soft body acrylics, Fluid acrylics brush out to a much thinner paint-film than their heavy body counterparts, and so in order to achieve any degree of opacity with the often naturally transparent pigments, it is advisable to mix in an amount of titanium white to reach optimal brightness/chroma and best opacity.
As with any low viscosity acrylic ink product out there, when left to stand, it is natural for the pigments to separate out from each other or from the binder, The fluid binders do not have the viscosity to hold up the pigment particles against gravity. The dispersants in ProChroma colours however allow for easy re-dispersal with simply a vigorous shake before each use.
Upgrading Your Existing Acrylic Paint
Ever seen that discount acrylic paint sold in huge tubs or tubes that looks nice and bright and is too good a bargain to pass up?. Then you try it out and realise that there is not enough pigment to cover any previous layers even when slapping it on mega thick, and adding white just gives you a pale but still transparent paint.
Dig out that paint from the reject corner of your craft room or studio and upgrade it using ProChroma pigment dispersions. Simply mix up a similar colour using our pigments, then add to the cheap acrylic paint, treating the cheap paint as though it was simply binder. i.e. if the cheap paint is soft body consistency, then add up to equal parts of pigment dispersion. This will transform that useless paint into a power house of great colour.
** It should be taken into consideration though, that the really bargain price paint may be made with cheaper grade acrylic resins and so would not be an ideal choice for painting a masterpiece that you wish to have last a lifetime. **
Sometimes it's not even the really 'reeeally' cheap paint that needs an upgrade, often even the big brand student grade paints can be a great purchase for some tasks, like covering large areas or underpainting, but just don't have the colour saturation for certain aspects or the covering power to overpaint or modify a section in one layer. Mix in some ProChroma pigment to give good paint a boost in performance to great paint.