As the very curious person I am I really had to try a few of the new acrylic paints I saw in my local craft store recently. But to be honest with you, the biggest reason I couldn’t resist buying these three bottles were because of the packaging. They’re just so cute! These paint colors call me like candy calls to a kid. They almost made me drool a bit…
To me they look totally edible!
But even though they look yummy I haven’t been eating them, I promise. I have been taking them out for a test drive. But before we dive in, I just wanted to say that I like mixing acrylic paints to make my own colors, in different hues and tones. All you need are some big bottles of blue, green, red, yellow, white and black (and probably you need some neon pink). And with that said, it’s fun to try something different at times, right?
With a cup of black coffee I set out to try these babies on different surfaces. I like the consistency of the paint. It flows easy but is not too runny. I still like the colors as I use them (not just in the bottle), but I think the paint has too little pigment: ie. they do not cover the surface very well.
On brown paper I need two coats to cover the surface completely, and when I paint on a piece of washi tape that has black letters, you can see how transparent and thin this paint really is. In the US this is cheap paint, but because I paid a lot for these tiny bottles (59 ml) I thought they’d be excellently awesome. But i
If you can get them cheaper than I can (for the price of two of these bottles in Sweden you can get a pack of 10 different colors in a set from the US!), and appreciate that you get pretty designed bottles, they’re good enough craft paints I think. I am happy to have tried them out, but will probably not buy them again. Though my friend got me a bottle of pink glitter paint (amethyst glitter paint), from the same brand, and it is truly yummy. Those sparkles – love it!
Just a reminder: to be thorough when testing out new art materials you should create an Evidence page. Here is mine, featuring my first paint test, notes on the paint tube brand + names (the three bottles I bought are named light blue pool, pink raspberry ice, and green pea shoot), and a trial painting of a flower pattern, where the transparency of the paints “works” for me.
As you can see the raspberry paint is the strongest of the tree.
What is your experience with the Martha brand? I’d love to know. I don’t care if you agree with me or have fallen in love with these paints and use them all the time. Please feel free to share your opinion below in the comment section.
People like us, who loves us some yummy paints, papers and pens, also have strong opinions about them. So it was super fun to read your comments on my product review of the promarker pens. Do you have equally strong opinions about your paints? Did you try Martha’s brand yet, and what did you think?
I do have the MS paints and really like them mainly for the soft, pretty colors. I use them on my gelli plate so I am often layering them. The transparency works for that I suppose. I also use them with other acrylics like Golden and cheap craft paints. She has a pearl sheen set too, but the pearlescent look is rather subtle. I probably won’t buy those again.
Hannah, as always – your pages are AMAZING! I wish I were even a fraction as creative as you are. : ) I’ll have to look for these paints but do know that they don’t carry them at Walmart or at least not at the one I go to.
I can’t even begin to tell you how inspiring you are. Not only are your pages amazing but so are YOU!. (Hugs)
Deb
Oh crap – I can not believe that I spelled your name wrong … I am so, so sorry!
This is so funny because I just recently bought 3 bottles of Martha Stewart paint as well! 3 different colors, but yes, the bottles are drool-worthy, and that was exactly why I was tempted. The only reason I caved to the temptations is that the colors I picked up were on clearance. When painting-painting I too like to mix my own colors so I figured for fun I could try them out on my gelli-plate as well, like Christine mentioned above. As for opacity, I too noticed that they were thin, but compared to other small, cheap, pre-mixed colors of “craft” paint they weren’t the worst, but once again, like you, I probably won’t be buying any more either. Next time we go out and blow some money on the same craft paints lets consult each other first ;)
I love the colors you chose. And while transparent watercolors are wonderful, I like my acrylics to be a bit more full-bodied. What I love most of all is the “test pages.” Just loverly!
I appreciate you sharing your honest appraisal and demonstration here. I still have a adequate supply of FolkArt acrylic paints and since they have been doing the job I need done nicely, I haven’t explored further. However I was quite curious about the new MS paints and am pleased to read your input here. Like one of your other fans above – I really prefer opacity and in one or two coats!