Basic equipment for acrylic painting

To get started painting with acrylics, this is the basic equipment you'll need:
1. Paint
2. Brushes
3. Canvases
4. A palette
5. An easel
6. Paper towels
7. A spray bottle
8. Empty jars
9. Drop cloth
10. Running water and some soap

1. Paint. See my article on buying paint. You need 4-7 tubes of primary colors, as discussed.

2. Brushes. You don't need that many, but unfortunately the only way to figure out what sizes, shapes, and styles you like is to buy some and try them. You'll have to decide whether you prefer a softer synthetic brush or a harder bristle type, so I recommend getting a couple of each to try them out. (Don't bother with soft natural brushes like real sable, they're too delicate for acrylics and anyway they're expensive. Stick with the synthetics for your soft brushes.) To get started, buy a round and flat synthetic and a round and flat hog-bristle. The round should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch diameter, the flat should be 1/2 to 1 inch across. You get to pick whether the flat brush has a squared-off end or a rounded end. Get smaller sizes if you want to paint really tiny details; go bigger if you want to do large or less-detailed paintings. You can also buy really cheap 1-to-3 inch wide housepainting brushes, if you're really strapped for cash and want to paint big. Be aware that cheap brushes will tend to shed bristles more than the expensive ones (but even the expensive ones shed occasionally!) and the bristles will splay out more instead of making a nice tight point. On the other hand, if you ruin a cheap brush it's no big deal!

3. Canvases. You gotta paint on something, it might as well be canvas: it's tough, fairly cheap, and readily available. And it's traditional. You can start with the inexpensive Fredrix canvasboards, which are just cardboard wrapped with gessoed canvas. They usually come in shrinkwrapped 3-packs. Get some different sizes, like 8x10 inches, 11x14, etc. Again, get smaller ones like 5x7 if you're keen on working really small, or get bigger sizes if that's where your interest lies. After you've experimented on these cheapo boards, you can graduate to pre-gessoed stretched canvas. For these, the Fredrix brand is universally hated amongst artists, so I recommend buying better ones in bulk from online suppliers such as CanvasPlace (shipping is fast but expensive) or Curry's (free shipping if you buy $25 but the shipping time is over a month). Of course, acrylics can be used on just about any surface you like, but I'd stick with these pre-made supports to start with. No sense spending hours and hours cutting boards, stretching canvas, gessoing and sanding when you're just starting out. Also, I like to use the "gallery wrapped" style of canvas: the canvas is stapled only on the back, not on the sides, so you can paint the sides and then the painting doesn't even need a frame (frames are expensive).

4. A palette. That is, some surface to put blobs of paint on and a place to mix colors before you apply them to your painting. There are all sorts of palettes in the art store. Don't buy any of them! They're way too much trouble (and often rather expensive). Acrylic paint will dry on these and stick like glue, requiring laborious scraping and washing every time you want to clean them. Forget it! Instead, you'll need to go to your biggest local supermarket, and head for the aisle where they have stuff like waxed paper, parchment paper, etc. What you want is called "freezer paper". It is not waxed paper, and it is not parchment paper. It's made by Reynolds, and it comes in a roll like waxed paper. You'll just tear off a section at a time, tape it down to something rigid like a table or a piece of board, and use it as a disposable palette. Much easier than scraping dried paint off a glass or plastic palette with a razorblade.

5. An easel. Wait, don't panic, you probably don't really need an easel, but if you have one, it certainly will come in handy. For smaller paintings, you can paint flat on a table (just remember to protect the table). Bigger paintings are more awkward, but you can either paint on a large table or on the floor, depending on how creaky your joints are. If you're really creaky and you want to paint pretty big, you might need to spring for a real artist's easel. The cheapest easels (which don't have a lot of fancy adjustments) can be had for about $30. Shop in your local art stores and on the internet at places like Dick Blick, Curry's, or Jerry's Artarama.

6. A roll of paper towels.

7. A spray bottle. You will occasionally want to spritz a mist of water over your palette to keep the paint from drying out. If you're really cheap you could reuse a well-washed-out empty bottle of household cleaner, or you could cough up a couple bucks for a brand new, guaranteed-clean spray bottle from a hardware or home improvement store.

8. A big water jar (and an empty jar to hold brushes). You'll need a big water jar both to rinse off your brushes and for the water to thin your paints. I use a one-gallon plastic milk bottle with the top cut off. I left the handle still attached so it's easier to carry back and forth to the sink. You want your water jar to be nice and big, so you don't have to change the water too often. You also need an empty jar to store your brushes (always stand them bristle-end up!)

9. A painter's cloth or other protective materials to keep the area you're painting in relatively clean. Acrylics dry quickly, and once they're dry they're permanent. If you're painting on nice carpeting or on the dining room table, you'll want to protect these surfaces from the inevitable drips and slops.

10. Somewhere nearby you'll need running water (like a sink, or at least a hose!) and some soap (a bar of hand soap is perfect).

Now, once you buy your paints, you're ready to start painting.

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Articles on Acrylic Painting - Getting Started

Why paint with acrylics?
Basic equipment for acrylic painting
Buying acrylic paints
Painting with acrylics
Mixing colors