One of the great things about using acrylic paints is how much flexibility there is in the surfaces you can paint on. And while there are a lot of options, I’m only going to highlight my three favorites and tell you their pros and cons.
MDF: First of all, let’s look at MDF. This is a manufactured wood material. It is similar to Masonite, but I prefer it because it is more rigid. It’s sold in panels at some art stores, but I’ve most commonly bought it at Home Depot in a 2’ x 4’ sheet. It is ¼” thick. I usually try to mark it out and ask them to cut it to size before I leave the store. This saves me time, and they have always done it for free or a minimal charge. To make sure I don’t waste much, I cut it down into sizes that are divisions of the 24”x48” piece, like 12”x16” panels.
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Pre-Primed Stretched Canvas: This is probably the most common surface on which people paint with either acrylic or oil paints. It is what I use for large paintings all the time. It can be purchased in a wide variety of sizes. It also varies in the thickness of the stretcher bars and quality of the canvas. Most art stores carry it in the common sizes and they usually have a couple of different qualities. If you want to get a custom size, you can either stretch your own (this takes some practice), or there are different online options where you simply enter the size you want and they will custom make it for you.
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Pre-Primed Canvas Panels: In smaller sizes, and especially for plein air painting, I recommend using canvas panels. These are panels covered with canvas for a nice, sturdy textured painting surface. They are light-weight, durable, easy to store, and fairly inexpensive. There are different qualities of these. Cheaper ones are made with a cheaper cardboard type core, and more expensive versions have an MDF core. The ones I use right now are Centurion LX Universal Primed Linen Painting Panels by Creative Mark. Less expensive options include Fredrix Canvas Panels, which I used frequently when beginning to paint in acrylics.
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So, those are the 3 surfaces I most commonly use and recommend as substrates for acrylic paints. Each has slightly different strengths and weaknesses, so figure out what you want it for, and then choose accordingly.
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