If you only buy acrylic paint based on the brand name, you’re doing it the hard way. Eckersley’s is one of those rare places where the range is the point: student lines, pro lines, weird specialist mediums, the whole wall of “what if I try this?”, and you can compare it in-store and online without guessing what “heavy body” means in real life.
One-line truth: the best paint is the one that behaves the way you paint.
Online you get reviews, stock levels, and easy price comparisons. In-store you get the stuff you can’t Google: how the paint feels under a brush, how quickly it tacks up, and whether that “matte” is actually matte or just “not too shiny.”
A quick reality check before you buy anything
Here’s the thing: acrylics are a system. Paint + medium + surface + brush. Change one and the whole vibe shifts.
I’ve watched people blame “bad paint” when the real issue was cheap paper, a too-soft brush, or slapping heavy body paint on an unprimed surface and wondering why it drags like wet cement.
So when you shop acrylic paints at Eckersley’s, shop like you’re building a setup, not collecting tubes.
How I’d choose acrylics (no fluff, just the framework)
Some of this is personal preference, but the physics doesn’t care about preference.
1) Viscosity: how the paint moves
Fluid acrylics are for glazing, staining, ink-like detail, smooth gradients. Heavy body is for bold marks, knife work, textured brushstrokes that stay put. Soft body sits in the middle and plays nicer with general-purpose painting.
Now, this won’t apply to everyone, but if you’re doing impasto and buying runny paint, you’ll spend more on thickening mediums than you would’ve spent buying the right paint in the first place.
2) Pigment load: how much color you’re actually getting
Higher pigment load usually means:
– stronger coverage
– cleaner mixes
– less “milky” look when you add white
– better value per painted square metre (even if the tube costs more)
And yeah, you can feel the difference when you mix. Student paint can get chalky fast because it often relies more on extenders and fillers.
A nerdy but useful stat: Golden’s internal testing commonly reports professional acrylic films can reach “touch dry” in 10, 30 minutes depending on thickness and conditions (Golden Artist Colors, “Drying Time of Acrylics,” educational resources). That’s not a sales pitch; it’s just what you’re fighting when you try to blend skies for an hour.
3) Drying time: your tempo, your rules
Fast drying is great for blocking in, underpainting, and quick iterations. It’s brutal for slow blends unless you use:
– a stay-wet palette
– retarder/slow-drying medium
– a mist bottle (careful, too much water weakens films)
4) Permanence + lightfastness: the “will this still look good later?” question
If it’s going on a wall, being sold, gifted, or stored long-term, check lightfastness ratings. Some pigments fade faster than you’d expect, even in acrylic.
In my experience, the heartbreak isn’t immediate. It’s 18 months later when the reds look tired.
Eckersley’s range: what you’ll run into on the shelves
Eckersley’s tends to cover the spectrum properly: entry-level sets that behave decently, right up to artist-grade paints with strong pigment strength and reliable handling. You’ll also find finishes and mediums that change the game more than most people expect.
Expect choices like:
– student vs professional lines (consistency and pigment load are the big differences)
– fluid / soft body / heavy body acrylics
– mediums: gloss, matte, satin, gel, texture paste, pouring mediums, flow improvers
– varnishes: because yes, acrylics often need a final surface decision
Some people treat sheen like an afterthought. I don’t. Sheen is part of the composition.
Finishes, pigments, viscosity: match the job, don’t improvise
Gloss makes color look deeper and darker because it reflects light differently. Matte knocks back glare and can make passages feel “painterly” and soft (but it can also make darks look slightly flatter). Satin sits in the diplomatic middle.
A practical way to choose without overthinking it:
– Glazing + luminous color → fluid paint + gloss medium
– Illustration-like flat areas → soft body + controlled matte/satin finish
– Chunky texture → heavy body + gel medium (and accept longer dry times)
Pigments matter most when mixing. If your palette is all convenience mixes and low pigment strength, your blends go muddy fast. A small set of strong single-pigment colors often beats a giant rainbow of weak mixes.
One-line reminder: opacity isn’t “good” or “bad”, it’s a tool.
In-store at Eckersley’s: how to narrow the wall of options fast
Look, the wall of paint can melt your brain. Don’t browse randomly. Ask three questions and you’ll cut the range down in minutes:
- What surface are you painting on? Canvas, board, wood, paper, each wants different prep and paint thickness.
- Do you want texture or smoothness? That decides viscosity.
- Are you finishing glossy or matte? That decides mediums and varnish decisions.
Then do what smart painters do: test behavior, not just color. Swatches help, sure, but pay attention to drag, leveling, and how it covers in one pass.
Brush pairing matters more than beginners think. Stiff hog-style synthetics push heavy body paint beautifully. Soft synthetics make fluid acrylics behave like silk. Swap the brush and the “same” paint suddenly feels like a new product (annoying, but true).
Deals, promos, and the smart way to spend less without buying junk
Eckersley’s promos can be genuinely useful if you shop like a grown-up about it. Seasonal sales and bulk deals are obvious, but the real budget win is planning your purchases around your project schedule instead of panic-buying the night before you paint.
A simple approach that works:
– buy large tubes only of the colors you burn through (white, black, common earths, your fav blue)
– buy small tubes for high-chroma accents you rarely use
– watch for bundle sets when you’re building a base palette
– don’t overstock specialty mediums unless you’ve tested them (I’ve seen half-used jars die on shelves)
And storage? Not glamorous, but it saves money. Keep caps clean. Store tubes so labels face up. If you forget what you own, you’ll rebuy it. Every time.
Final thought (not a sales pitch, just the honest angle)
Eckersley’s is worth it for acrylics because you can compare the full ecosystem: paint body, pigment behavior, finishes, compatible tools, and price tiers, all in one place. Online is great for research and reorders. In-store is where you make fewer mistakes.
If your acrylics have ever felt “off,” odds are the paint wasn’t wrong.
Your match was.