Making Acrylic Paints from Pigment Powders

Being able to make paint from pigment powder is empowering and opens up possibilities. While the steps are straightforward, one might have to experiment for a while to get to a formulation that works for a specific application. In this article we provide a general recipe for making acrylic paints from scratch.

Please keep in mind that, unless you have the proper environment, equipment and training, we do not recommend working with potentially toxic pigments, such as those based on lead, cadmium or mercury. Even when using less toxic pigments, we strongly recommend use of a properly fitted, NIOSH approved half-mask respirator equipped with P100 filtration or the equivalent

While it is possible to simply add some acrylic medium to pigment powders on the palette, and mix with a palette knife, the resulting paint might contain small lumps.

In brief, making acrylic paints from scratch requires three simple steps:

1: Wetting out dry pigments
2: Mulling pigment paste
3: Mixing with acrylic binder

Step 1: Wet out pigments with water and Wetting Aid

Soaking pigment powders in a small amount of water first, softens up pigment agglomerates or pigment clusters, and makes it easier to create a smooth paint. Some pigments, particularly synthetic organics, like the Phthalo Blues or Benzimidazolone Yellows, repel water. For these pigments it helps to add some Wetting Aid to the water. This breaks the surface tension of the water and makes it easier to mix with water-repellent pigments (Image 1). Refer to the Wetting Aid tech sheet for recommended mixing ratios of water to Wetting Aid. Water-repellent pigments might require longer stirring, which incorporates more air bubbles in the paste. Letting pigment pastes sit overnight helps to let air bubbles escape.

Image 1: Water droplets on Anthraquinone Blue (PB 60), a synthetic organic pigment that repels water. The water drop on the left beads up, while the water droplet on the right contains Wetting Aid and soaks into the pigment powder.

Image 2: Wetting Aid is mixed with water at a 32 to 1 mixing ratio in a separate jar, then added to Anthraquinone Blue (PB 60), a synthetic organic pigment that repels water.

Step 2: Mulling pigment paste

Creating a pigment paste first allows for the pigments to be mulled thoroughly without running the risk of acrylic binder drying up and creating clumps of paint. Pigments, which mix readily with water can be made into a pigment paste directly on a glass plate and mulled immediately. Generally, inorganic pigments, whether natural or synthetic, mix readily with water.

Image 4: Bismuth Vanadate Yellow pigment powder (PY184, synthetic inorganic pigment) is formed on a glass plate into the shape of a volcano. Water is added into the middle, to create a pigment paste.

Step 3: Add GAC 100 or another acrylic binder

After the pigment is mulled to a smooth paste, an acrylic medium may be added. GAC 100 is our recommended medium for making a smooth acrylic paint from dry pigments. GAC 100 is good at wetting out and binding pigments. Once GAC 100 and the pigment paste have been mixed into a well-bound paint, it’s still possible to further adjust the paint with the addition of acrylic gels, pastes or mediums, to change viscosity, sheen, translucency, or dry time. For example, in Image 7 we mixed our handmade Bismuth Vanadate paint with OPEN Medium to extend the dry time of the paint, and with Heavy Gel Gloss to thicken the the viscosity of the paint. You may want to imbue your paints with other properties, like improved leveling, or film hardness. All of this is possible with the right medium. Here are overview videos of our acrylic mediums, gels and pastes, for inspiration.

We recommend applying the handmade paints onto a sacrificial test surface, letting them dry, and then assessing if the paints are well-bound or possibly under-bound, cracking or flaking (see Image 8). Testing on paper or unstretched canvas allows you to flex the paint-outs a little, and thus test the flexibility of your handmade paint.

Image 6: GAC 100 is added to Bismuth Vanadate pigment paste.

Image 9: GAC 100 binder is separating out of self-made Yellow Ochre paint.

Handmade paints are more likely to separate, whereby the acrylic binder separates from the pigment (Image 9) or have other stability issues such as thickening with long term storage. This isn’t an issue if the self-made paint is used right away. However, if you intend to store handmade paint, airtight open-mouthed containers allow for easy stirring before use.

It’s only with large special effect pigments, like mica pigments, that direct mixing with acrylic medium without mulling would be recommended (Image 10). Using a mortar or muller with mica pigments can crush the mica flakes and reduce their luster and color effect.