Best paper for acrylic paint

Painting with acrylics on paper is both cheaper and often more practical than using canvas. In this guide, we share our top tips on acrylic pads for different styles and needs.

Best Acrylic Paper for Beginners

To get the most out of your new acrylic paints, you’ll need paper with good grip, preferably a bit of texture and a primed surface, and that won’t cost you a fortune. Here are some excellent options to start with.

1. Crevide Acrylic Pad
2. Hahnemühle Acrylic Pad
3. Winsor & Newton Acrylic Pad
   
   

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Best Acrylic Paper for Layering

When working with multiple layers of acrylic paint, thinner paper will buckle. Paper designed for layering has a higher paper weight and ideally a slight tooth for the paint to grip onto.

1. Hahnemühle Acrylic Pad
2. Crevide Acrylic Pad
3. Clairefontaine Pastelmat Artist Pad Anthracite
4. Crevide Canvas Pad
   
   

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Best Acrylic Paper for Sketching

Not every painting needs to be a masterpiece. Sometimes you just want to test ideas, colours and shapes without any pressure. This is the paper you’ll want: affordable, plenty of sheets to play around on, yet sturdy enough to withstand more than one brushstroke.

1. Faber-Castell Mixed Media Pad
2. Canson XL Mix-Media
3. Clairefontaine Paint'ON Artist Pad
4. Hahnemühle Acrylic Pad
   
   

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Best Paper for Combining Acrylic and Watercolour

Want to work with diluted acrylic, thin layers and a watercolour-like technique? Then watercolour paper is a great option. Go for paper of at least 300 gsm, cold-pressed and of artist quality for the best results.

1. Arches Watercolour Pad
2. Hahnemühle Watercolour Pad
3. Canson Montval Watercolour Pad
4. Winsor & Newton Watercolour Pad
5. St Cuthberts Mill Bockingford Watercolour Pad
   
   

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Best Sketchbook for Acrylic Paint

A sketchbook for acrylic paint should be able to capture your ideas without warping from water or thick layers. Here we look at the paper’s weight and quality. To make the page extra sturdy, you can prime it with one or two layers of gesso.

1. Art Creation Sketchbook
2. Daler-Rowney Ebony Artist's Sketch Book
3. Moleskine Watercolour ART Collection
4. Hahnemühle Watercolour Book
5. Leuchtturm1917
   
   

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Best Gesso for Acrylic Paper

Some acrylic and canvas papers are already primed, so you can skip this step. But if you’re painting in a sketchbook, on mixed media or watercolour paper, a layer of gesso can make a big difference. It provides better adhesion, a smoother finish, and reduces the risk of the paper absorbing the paint too quickly.

1. Liquitex Gesso
2. Pen Store Arts Gesso
3. Sennelier Abstract Gesso
4. Creativ Company Super Primer
5. Winsor & Newton Galeria Gesso
   
   

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