Artists Acrylics for miniature painitng

[Big_Bunny]

Miniature paints are purpose-built and last a long time, so I don't see any need to use artist's acrylics apart from fun and experimenting.

I thought I could buy a whole heap of plastic dropper bottles and mix up a lot of my own colours using high-pigment artist's acrylics, just for the fun of it.

I tested the idea by buying a black and a white and a flesh colour and mixing up a greyish-zombie skin tone and I think it worked out really well. Considering that one tube of Artist Acrylic costs about the same as 2 bottles of mini paint and when thinned down to the proper consistency would probably make about 20 dropper bottles worth, it's much cheaper too. Not that mini paints break the bank in the first place, but meh...

One real advantage that I see is that you could easily mix up 5 shades of some colour for easy and consistent highlighting/shading (say one base coat colour, two highlights and two shades).

Anyone done this before, got any advice?

 

[BloodASmedium]

I think we all do this mate..to a degree of thibfs..but as for preparing each varied tone ,shade ,and highliht..not something I would've done but let me also say their are some of the greatest names in miniature painting history who've done this to a tee...one such name is the blending master of the 90's and 2000s himself sir BOBBY WONG known for his slayer sword winning entry called "bloodquest" .if your not familiar look it up...he's been called one of the most consciencous hobbyist of all time...he used to do something very close to what you've mentioned .for the bloodquest blood angels armor to achieve the seem less gradation and smooth transition he claimed to have premixed 15 shades and highlights included to achieve his results..so as its a ton of work I could see its advsntsges..honestly things and techniques evolve...as now there are numerous easier more effective ways to achieve award winning results...loaded brush technique,2 brush blending,juicing,glazing and layering to give it a diff name....I personally research color theory through a book called well...color theory by Betty Edwards and through the use of a wet pallette I now go by eye and rely on how colors intract.ex prmiary,complimentary ,analogoys,warm vs cool...I suguest reading get a better understanding on color and you'll become great at seeing "on the fly" when scaling down shades and scaling up highlihts.get used to looking at the forums too.nit everyone just folks you've feel youde like to achieve similar effects of...this is all done only using acrylics from mini painying co.s as you said they purpose and longevity are made for mini painting. I hope i addresed yoyr question correct as this is what it seems yoy were asking if not i apologize lol take care and welcome.

 

[CrookedEye]

I have tried several lines of artists acrylic and find it difficult to work with personally. The body is so different, it's a completely different skill set. I found they had too much body and didn't give me the smooth finish I wanted until I thinned them down so much that they didn't cover as well. YMMV.

 

[Big_Bunny]

Yes they are very thick but did you get a professional quality heavily pixelated paint? I have the opposite problem almost ... that being that I think I'm going to apply a thin translucent layer and it still comes out opaque.

 

[Minx Studio]

Golden and Liquitex work fine when you thin them down.

They are better when mixed with GW or other hobby paints if you want basic hobby applications.

As for why you'd use them--> no hobby brand that I know offers paints in a more close to true pigment form. Which means, creating certain results is nearly impossible with hobby paints.

Saturation is the primary reason for artist acrylics since hobby paints are almost always desatured with white, or through a more complex mixture for "unique" colours.

We use artist acrylics all the time for our commercial work for Ninja Division. (Super Dungeon Explore, Ninja All Stars, Relic Knights etc)

The paint also lasts longer on a wet palette than typical hobby paints.

Its not what I would consider a replacement, but an addition. Hobby paints still have their use, and in some cases are better.

 

[Big_Bunny]

Wow great response, Minx Studio. Thanks very much for the info.

I've been enjoying using the artists acrylics quite a lot (and yeah, I use the professional quality Liquitex range).

One thing I have noticed is that the pigment separates a lot if you mix them. I have a wet palette and after sometime I noticed the colours (especially the black) really separates out and I have to mix it back in before applying it. Not that this is a big issue with a wet palette. Other than that, the paint comes out smooth and relatively opaque at a moderately thin consistency.