The Acrylic Original
In 1955 Liquitex introduced the first water-based acrylic, and every formula since has been shaped by seven decades of lab and studio work. Trends come and go. The chemistry behind these tubes has stayed on solid ground the whole time.
Any Surface
Canvas, wood, paper, fabric, even glass. Once dry, the paint stays flexible, so it grips the surface firmly and doesn’t crack or flake away as the years go by.
Artist-Tested Formula
Resin chemists and working painters develop each formula together. They balance three things at once: the right body under the brush, enough flex to move with the surface, and durability that holds up through serious, long-term work.
Choose Your Paint
Soft body or heavy body, spray can or acrylic ink, each format of Liquitex acrylic paint is tuned to a different way of working. You shouldn’t have to bend your technique to fit the tube. Pick the format that matches how you paint, and get straight to the canvas.
Heavy Body Acrylic Paint Set: 6 x 22ml Professional Tubes
Six hand-picked colors in a professional heavy body formula, thick enough to keep every brushstroke and palette-knife ridge right where you left it. The 22ml tubes keep the set compact, so you get serious pigment without buying into a full range on day one.
Classic Heavy Body Acrylic Set: 6 Professional Tubes, 59ml Each
The same classic six colors, now in roomy 59ml tubes. That’s enough paint to finish full compositions, work in layers over several sessions and take on bigger canvases without scraping the tube halfway through. Maximum pigment load and dependable color every time you open the cap, which matters when you paint most days of the week.
12-Color Heavy Body Acrylic Starter Set, Professional Grade
Twelve heavy body colors running from deep blues to hot oranges, which covers everything you need to start mixing, layering and building your own color library right away. Each tube carries the same professional-grade pigment, so there’s no beginner-paint phase to outgrow later.
Brilliant Purple Acrylic Gouache, Professional 2-oz (59ml)
A saturated purple that pairs the punch of acrylic with the flat, opaque coverage of classic gouache. It dries to a true matte finish with no glossy patches and no shift in tone, which is why illustrators and designers keep it close for any piece where clean, bold color comes first.
Cadmium-Free Orange Acrylic Gouache, Professional 2-oz (59ml)
A cadmium-free orange with the dense, opaque coverage you’d expect from traditional gouache, minus the heavy metal pigment. The matte finish goes on even and the color reads the same wet or dry, so it holds up for professional illustration, graphic work and any technique that calls for a sharp, clean orange.
Red Medium Acrylic Gouache, Professional 2-oz (59ml)
This cadmium-free red goes on strong: full opacity, a flat matte finish and a tone that won’t drift after it dries. It gives professionals a bold red with no heavy metals in the mix, whether the job is fine illustration, large-scale work or layered mixed media.
Cad Red Acrylic Spray Paint, Professional 12-oz (400ml)
A high-pigment cadmium red hue in a water-based acrylic spray can. You get the color strength of professional tube paint along with steady pressure, clean lines and a finish that stays put on canvas, wood, walls, metal and most other surfaces.
Cad Yellow Acrylic Spray Paint, Professional 12-oz (400ml)
A bright cadmium yellow hue that covers evenly and stays color-accurate whether you’re spraying up close or across a full wall. Steady pressure and a lightfast formula make it a reliable pick for murals, canvas pieces and any surface that needs clean color for years to come.
Cerulean Blue Acrylic Spray Paint, Professional 12-oz (400ml)
A cool cerulean blue in professional spray form, fine enough for detail work and strong enough for big surfaces. Lightfast pigment and controlled pressure put down the same color on every pass, from studio canvases to outdoor murals.
Hookers Green Acrylic Paint Marker, Professional 15mm
A deep, natural green in a 15mm marker that puts professional acrylic exactly where you aim it. You get the control of a pen with the pigment strength of tube paint. Ink flows evenly and the formula is lightfast, so it’s a dependable tool for line work, lettering, illustration and mixed media.
Unbleached Titanium Wide Paint Marker, Professional Grade
A warm, earthy off-white in a wide-nib marker for artists who want broad coverage without giving up control. The paint glides smoothly across large areas and still lets you steer every line, which makes it a natural fit for gestural marks, backgrounds and mixed media pieces that need a soft, muted base.
Red Light Wide Paint Marker, Professional Grade
A vivid cadmium red light hue that lays down thick, opaque color with every pass of the wide nib. It’s made for working big: crisp edges, strong pigment and a lightfast formula that stays true on canvas, wood, paper and more.
About brand
The story starts in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1933, color chemist Henry Levison opened a small family paint mill called Permanent Pigments and ground oil colors for artists. Acrylic paint already existed back then, but only in solvent-based form. Levison worked out a version that mixed with water, and in 1955 it became the first water-based acrylic gesso. That same year he renamed the company Liquitex, a blend of the words liquid and texture.
A year later came the first water-based acrylic artist color, known today as Soft Body, and in 1963 the thicker Heavy Body line followed. Artists caught on fast. Helen Frankenthaler and Andy Warhol were early adopters, and David Hockney moved from oils to acrylics once the heavier formula arrived. None of them were sponsored. The paint simply did what they needed.
Today Liquitex is part of Colart, the art-materials group that also owns Winsor & Newton. New formulas still come from the same partnership that started it all: resin chemists and practicing artists working side by side, with development split between the U.S. office and a lab in France. Most of the paint is produced at the brand’s main factories in France and China, both certified to ISO 9001 for quality and ISO 14001 for environmental management.
The range follows a painter from first class to gallery wall. Basics is the student line for learning and daily practice. Professional Heavy Body and Soft Body are the tubes working artists reach for, alongside acrylic ink, gouache, spray paint, paint markers and a full system of mediums. Four viscosities in one compatible system means you can go from a first canvas to a hundredth without switching brands. More than 70 years in, that track record is still the strongest case for the paint.
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Categories
Tubes, cans or markers, thick impasto or flat matte color: whatever you paint with and whatever you paint on, there’s a category for it. Browse the range below and go straight to the paint, marker or spray that suits your process.
FAQ
It’s a water-based acrylic: pigment suspended in an acrylic polymer emulsion. While it’s wet, you can thin it with water and rinse your brushes at the sink. As the water evaporates, the resin fuses into a flexible film that grips canvas, wood, paper, fabric, glass, metal and most other porous and non-porous surfaces. Once dry, the paint is permanent and water-resistant, so it won’t lift when you paint over it.
Both. Liquitex Basics is the student-grade line, with a lower pigment load and easy handling that won’t punish you for experimenting. Liquitex Professional is artist-grade: higher pigment concentration, no fillers and mostly single-pigment colors for cleaner mixes. The two lines are fully compatible, so moving up later doesn’t mean switching brands or relearning anything.
On smooth or non-porous surfaces, start with a coat of Liquitex gesso for better adhesion. A splash of water will loosen the paint, but too much weakens the film and hurts how well it sticks. For real fluidity, use Flow-Aid Additive or Fluid Medium, which thin the paint while keeping the formula stable. Thin layers dry in about 10–20 minutes. Thick impasto can take several hours, and cool, humid rooms with little airflow slow things down noticeably.
Liquitex products conform to ASTM D4236, the U.S. labeling standard for art materials, and most colors carry the AP Seal as non-toxic. It’s still smart to read the label on each item, especially spray paints and any color with real cadmium in it. For everyday studio use, the cadmium-free range removes heavy metal pigments entirely while keeping the same color strength.
Professional Heavy Body is formulated so wet and dry color stay consistent, without the noticeable darkening acrylics often show as they dry. What you mix on the palette is what ends up on the canvas. Once cured, the film stays flexible, which helps it resist cracking and peeling, and lightfast-rated pigments keep colors from fading for years.
You’re paying for pigment instead of filler. Professional colors carry a higher pigment concentration and are mostly single-pigment, so mixes stay clean, coverage is stronger and a little paint goes further. Budget acrylics often bulk up the tube with extenders, which is why colors can turn muddy fast. If price is the main concern right now, Basics is the lower-cost way in, and it works alongside Professional once you’re ready to upgrade.
Two things set it apart. It’s the brand that introduced water-based acrylics in the first place, and everything in the range, from paints and inks to markers and mediums, shares the same binder and is tested for compatibility. Mixing Liquitex with other acrylic brands such as Golden or Winsor & Newton usually works, but results aren’t guaranteed, since every maker uses its own binder chemistry. Test a small swatch first if you plan to combine them.
Returns are handled by the retailer you buy from, under its own return policy, so it’s worth a quick look before ordering. Hold on to the packaging and order details until you’ve opened and tried the paint. If a tube or can arrives damaged or leaking, contact the seller right away with a photo. That’s usually the quickest route to a replacement or refund.
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Testimonials
Painters in studios, classrooms and on city streets keep Liquitex within reach for a simple reason: the paint does its job, session after session, in the places that count. Here’s how a few of them put it.
I started on Liquitex Basics in my first year and never felt like I was settling for second-rate paint. Colors mixed clean and the consistency was easy to handle. Moving up to the Professional range later felt like the next step, not a leap into some unfamiliar product.
Sarah Mitchell, 24
Painting a wall means sun, wind and work spread over several days, so the paint has to hold up. Liquitex spray hasn’t let me down once. The color stays true, the pressure never sputters, and pieces I did two years ago look exactly like they did on day one.
James Kowalski, 38
I’ve tried plenty of brands over the years, and I keep coming back to Liquitex Heavy Body. There’s real pigment in every tube, the texture keeps each brushstroke where I set it down, and not one of my older paintings has shifted in color. When you want a canvas to hold up for decades, that kind of reliability counts.
