Grinding Pigments in Student Grade Fine Art Acrylic Paints by Kimbrella Adair

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Boosting student grade acrylic paints to the professional level is easy. All you are doing is adding more pigment in the blend of acrylic mixture. Adding a tiny amount of water to the pigment (powered pigment) and then add the pigment to the student grade acrylic paint. You will be using the student grade acrylic paints as a base and tinting the base. This process is similar to tinting paints that are used for construction. If you are using a liquid or paste pigment limit or omit the water.

When you are adding the dry pigment to the acrylic you have to use a process called “grinding in”. Grinding in is using a palette knife that looks like a cake/pie spatula and applying pressure on the handle to push the pigment into the acrylic paint. Scrape and push (not stir) until you achieve the consistency that you want. Some artist like the paint thick and some like it thin. It depends on the level of detail I want in the painting that determines the paint consistency. As you prepare the paint don’t add too much pigment so that it affects the adhesion of the paint. You don’t want the paint to peel off of the surface because you added to much pigment. You must put an acrylic varnish over the finished painting to protect it. I prefer a varnish with a UV protectant.

There are certain colors that are more prone to fading. Purple is a good example so keep that in mind as you are mixing your paints. With today’s modern technology purple is more stable than it has been in the past but I recommend contacting the pigment manufacturer for more details about their product.

When you are grinding in cadmium yellow into a yellow acrylic base the yellow will intensify. Yellow is the only color that will become more intense with the addition of more pigment. As a final note always wear a respirator mask when working with dry pigments. Make sure the area you are working in has adequate ventilation. Pigments are made from toxic minerals and may cause serious illness. Please read the labels on the packages and take proper precautions to protect yourself. If you are under the age of 18 do not use any pigments without parent and/or adult supervision.