Practicalities and care

To stop your acrylic paints drying out too quickly during a long session, use a wet palette (a palette with dampened kitchen paper covered with greaseproof paper, or a purpose-made stay-wet palette). Only squeeze out the amount of paint you need each time and keep the pots firmly closed. Lightly mist your mixes with a water spray bottle as you work. Avoid painting in a room that is too hot, too dry or in a draught, and choose a room at a moderate temperature (around 20°C) with normal humidity. For particularly long sessions, invest in an acrylic retarder medium that you can mix into your paints to slow their drying time considerably without altering the colours.

Use synthetic (nylon) brushes for acrylic paint, as they cope well with the medium and rinse clean in water. Natural hair brushes are better suited to oils and can be damaged by acrylic, so keep them separate. For most work, a fine round brush handles detail, a flat brush covers larger areas, and a medium brush sits between the two.

For paint by numbers, very fine tips (00 to 0) help you stay inside the small numbered areas, especially on detailed designs. Load the brush lightly and keep the tip pointed rather than pressing down hard, which splays the bristles. Rinse the brush in water between colours and dry it on a cloth so the paint does not dry in the ferrule.