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Acrylic house paints?

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Kay Devlin

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Hello, I've recently been commissioned to paint a life-sized fibreglass lion sculpture with a design I submitted, for an outdoor arts event. It's my first such commission, and while I'm overjoyed I'm also a bit apprehensive. I'm relatively new to acrylic, and painting anything 3-dimensional, so this is all new to me! I've been advised to use acrylic house paints, as opposed to artists' paints, as it's for outdoor use and needs to be hardwearing, as well there being large areas to cover. My question is, has anyone done anything like this, or used acrylic house paints and could recommend a brand(s) of paint to use? I'm hoping to hit the DIY shops this weekend so any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance. Kay

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by Triduana

Keith Orange

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Read this link, about halfway down there's an answer to your question: http://www.daler-rowney.com/content/questions-answers

Kay Devlin

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I think I have it sorted out now. I can use water-based gloss on the larger areas and artists acrylic on the bits needing finer detail. I just need to get started.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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I imagine you're worried about the cost of using artist paints throughout - as I would be; but there are acrylics available in litre pots, that can work out reasonably inexpensively: take a look at Jacksons' online catalogue, there are all sorts of possibilities there. Probably an overall coat of varnish would help resolve the gloss/matte difference: but that could get pricey as well, if you're using a good quality varnish - it might even work out cheaper in the end to use artists' acrylics throughout, although it depends a lot on the size of the area to be covered.

Kay Devlin

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Thank you. The gloss / matt finish probably won't matter too much as it needs to be coated in marine varnish, so it will end up very glossy. You're right Robert it is mainly to do with cost that I'm thinking of using house paints. The whole sculpture is essentially three colours (it's a life-sized lion so fairly big) with a few bits of finer detail here and there. I've seen photos of people using Dulux paints for similar sculptures so I suppose either would work! Many thanks Kay.
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Probably would, yes ... Dulux, I mean. I wouldn't normally recommend it at all for any artwork, but I imagine this isn't intended to be a work to last for a hundred years; and if it's a sculpture, someone can always re-paint it when and if the paint wears thin or comes off.

Kay Devlin

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Thanks Robert. Sorry I haven't replied, I haven't seen the internet for a while. I went for Valspar in the end, I was able to get an exact match for the colours I wanted for the large areas. That just leaves me with a few more paints to go and buy. Kay