Basics
Acrylic
The everyday acrylic made
with fine art pigments


Basics is for all creatives. For all budgets. It's perfect for all painting techniques including underpainting and sketching. This medium viscosity paint is made with lightfast, artist-quality pigments in an expanded choice of 72 colors.
See all colors below
All painting techniques | check |
Sketching & underpainting | check |
Color theory/mixing | check |
Collage & mixed media | check |
Medium viscosity | check |
Fine art pigments | check |
Satin finish | check |
Easy blending | check |
Range of opacities | check |
Fully AP certified for safety & educational use | check |
72
COLORS
Your Results

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This product has been evaluated by a toxicologist and labelled for acute and chronic health hazards in accordance with the labelling of Hazardous Art Materials Regulation and Federal Regulation 16 CFR 1500.14 of the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. This product conforms to ASTM D-4236 Standard Practice for Labelling Art Materials for Chronic Adverse health effects. This product has been certified by ACMI (Artists Craft Material Institute, Inc.) to carry the AP (Approved Product) Seal, meaning the product bears no chronic or acute human hazards.
127
Burnt Sienna



A rich warm brown color made by burning raw sienna. Sienna is a natural yellow clay found in the earth and deepens in color when heated. It's one of the oldest pigments in its natural state and can be found in prehistoric cave art. Named after Siena in Italy, where the pigment was sourced during the Renaissance, it is a opaque color with red-brown tones
DISCOVER WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH BASICS
SEE HOW BASICS COLOR MOVES ON THE CANVAS
EXPLORE OUR NEW BASICS COLORS
MORE INFO
QUALITY
Basics gives you the perfect balance of quality and economy. Made for all artists, Basics acrylics are formulated with the exacting Liquitex standard. Which means they're made with the same lightfast, fine art pigments we use in our professional range, but just a lighter load. Choose from a range of sizes...
The 4oz (118ml) tube in 72 colors
The 8.45oz (250ml) tube in 36 colors
The 14oz (400ml) pot in 30 colors
32oz (946ml) pot in 22 colors
And the smaller 0.34oz and 2.54oz tubes, which you can find in our sets

FINE ART PIGMENTS
All Liquitex paints use the highest quality pigments and go through the same rigorous manufacturing process. The only difference is that with Basics we use a lower concentration of pigment than our professional paints. For Basics, fine art pigments are selected and milled using the latest basket bead-mill technology, in the same way as Soft and Heavy Body Acrylics. Pigments are ground with tiny reinforced ceramic beads to give fine dispersion, great color development, strength and brightness, before being added to the acrylic emulsion.

ECONOMICAL
Push your budget harder with Basics. Use on their own or combine together with professional materials – if they’re made by Liquitex, they’re all intermixable. Perfect for everyday use, for sketching out preliminary ideas, for underpainting before laying down your final paint application and for covering large areas.

SAFETY
Basics acrylics are safe for you to use. All colors are independently tested by the Art and Creative Materials Institute at Duke University, and hold the Approved Product (AP) safety seal. This means they are certified to contain no materials in sufficient quantities to be toxic or harmful to humans or to cause health problems, making them ideal for studio and educational use.

SURFACES
If your paint sticks to it, you can use it. Use Basics on:
- canvas
- paper & board
- wood & masonry
- metal
- styrofoam
- stone & ceramics
- textiles

ARCHIVAL
Your work has a life beyond you. As with all Liquitex paints, the pigments in Basics acrylic have passed extensive tests for lightfastness. The advanced acrylic formula is highly flexible, durable, non-yellowing and UV-resistant. Your work will have the greatest archival permanence possible, withstanding color shifting or fading to stay vibrant and true.

Basics to professional
Progressing
As your budget expands, or your practice evolves, you may want to start exploring new techniques. Experiment with your materials or pick up one of our ready-made Basics techniques kits, which gives you all the tools you need, plus a step-by-step guide. And as your budget expands, or you get more serious, you may want to start exploring the more specialist lines of Liquitex Professional. Higher pigment loads give stronger colors, a wider range of mediums let you create new effects. And you can try different acrylic paint textures and formats – from inks to fine art spray paint.
Basics | Professional |
Good pigment load | High pigment load |
Good range of colors | Wide range of colors |
One consistancy of paint (medium viscosity) | Choice of paint viscosities and formats |
Same pricing for all colors of the same size | Different series pricing depending on pigments |
GET STARTED WITH A SET
Explore new techniques, try out new colors and mediums or give as a gift
Tips & Techniques
Useful guides for working with acrylics
Basics FAQs
Other artists have asked us...
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Pigment PR206 was discontinued by the supplier, and we reformulated the color to match as close as possible using PR179 for this pigment replacement. The new mass tone is a little warmer, cleaner and deeper. The new reduction is a little stronger, or deeper, than before. -
Due to pigment PR206 discontinuation by the supplier, we reformulated this color and replaced PR206 with PR179. The new color compared to previous can be considered brighter and more luminous in masstone. In undertone, the shade is slightly bluer than previous with the same color strength. Transparency (transparent color) and lightfastness remain the same. -
Basics paints are cheaper due to the amount of pigment used in their formulations. As less is used than in our Professional range, the cost price is cheaper, thus giving you the perfect balance of economy and performance.