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Writer's pictureFior De La Cruz

Product Reviews: Favorite Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

A complete inside scoop of my favorite acrylic paint created by Gaffrey Art Material.


As an artist, I've gone through a plethora of different types of paints. Ranging from both light body to heavy body at different price points. If you are a frequent buyer of art materials, you would know know that this can get quite expensive. However, I think the most I've spent on 1 bottle of 8oz paint was about $25-30, cause ya girl be on a budget - sales are my besties. But overall, a lot of the paints in similar price range work almost exactly the same. For instance, a paint that costs $4.50 (8 fl oz) will be different than a paint that is $17.50-$20.00 (8fl oz). Paints that are $4.50 and under (8 fl oz) will feel much more lighter and appear more transparent. Also, the type of paint is a big differentiator. For acrylics, there is just regular mid-viscosity acrylic paint or heavy body acrylic paint. Heavy body paint is a lot thicker and more opaque.


Here's what I bought:

- Heavy body sculpting acrylic paint in colors: carbon black, titanium white, and light phthalo green

- Acrylic colors: (primary colors) ultramarine blue, hansa yellow, pyrrole red

- Palette Knives: Flat, Round, Essential, Petal


Packaging


First and foremost, the packaging was awesome! Gaffrey Art Material spray painted the box with a stencil of their logo in different colors. It makes it feel more personalized. For me, it definitely made it much more exciting to open the box!


I also liked that they provided some paper clips to close the paint bags for the sculpting paint. I know its just paper clips, but it was just thoughtful gesture.


Check this video out to see me unbox the items!


Consistency

Now, if you're looking for THICC than this paint is it. This paint is made for sculpting. The paint is placed in big piping bags for easy spreading.


For beginners, this paint might be a bit difficult to work with. It's pretty experimental. You will need to have a clear idea of what you want to do with it. You need to practice using different types of palette knives to get different strokes or shapes. Their site has a bunch of different tools (palette knives and brushes) you can use to manipulate the paint to your desired texture and or effect.


Here's some examples of pieces I made with the heavy body acrylic paint:

What's it like?

It's an excellent tool to work with. For me, this paint works similar to like modelling paste, but with a kick. It's like a two in one. Also you can substitute interior filler or plaster (which might be slightly more budget friendly and easier to get) and use the heavy body acrylics instead. I think Gaffrey art material did an excellent job creating this heavy texture acrylic formula though - its like they fused acrylic paint and modelling paste and filler together.


The sculptural paint is what I use to give my pieces that depth and funky texture 🤩

The paint itself is sticky, but once it drys it flakes off your skin or peels off (peeling it off your arm feels like a light waxing 😭) It dries surprisingly faster than I thought it would. Depending how thick you apply the paint, it usually dries within a couple of hours. I like to leave the paint drying overnight though so that I know it's fully dry and I can continue working. You can also paint (or sculpt) something onto wax paper or plastic wrap you can peel it off and layer it and apply to surface with the heavy body paint. It works like glue!


Mid viscosity paint works similar to liquitex acrylics but applies slightly tougher. I do prefer to use my soho urban acrylics more.


Palette Knives

I use these bad bois for everything. The big palette knife I use gesso my canvases or to make my surface flat. The other knives I use to sculpt shapes.


Price Point

In all honesty, for the amount you get for the heavy texture, I think it is fairly priced. At the time, I payed about $21 per 32 oz bag. Now it's $19 for 32 oz!

16oz - $13

32oz - $19

32 oz (4pack) - $65 (nice deal)

1 gal - $68

5 gal bucket - $345

I recommended getting the 32 oz, it will last you a decent amount of time if you don't do extreme texture in your paintings.


Overall, I give the heavy texture product ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

It's fairly priced, versatile, drys fast, and is super fun to use! Super thick!!


Mid Viscosity acrylics:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Lightweight but has some thickness to it. It works exactly how it says. I prefer watering down paint to apply smoother onto the canvas.


Palette knives:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Pretty durable, and has some weight to them. Avg./fairly priced. Love the "don't eat paint" printed on them. Love the turquoise and gold color way!


P.s. this post wasn't sponsored or anything unfortunately 😭

so this is just me being real honest about a product I love using!!! LOL


I hope you enjoyed the read 🤞🏽

If you have any questions about anything or want to let me know your thoughts, please drop a comment below! 👇🏽

Komen


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