Hello Friends and welcome to my blog. I am reviewing Grumbacher Academy Acrylics. Although l was a Grumbacher Fine Art acrylic painting instructor at Michael's in Kingston for two years, I am not being sponsored to review this brand.  I have been painting with acrylics for 21 years and l have tried many different acrylic products. I am going to give you my honest opinion on these acrylic paints. I effectively paint with Grumbacher acrylics and my students and l have been able to achieve numerous acrylic painting techniques with stunning performances and results.

After reading about Grumbacher, l was intrigued to learn that they have been established since 1905, they must be doing something right as they have been trusted by many artists, far and wide. By 1960s, Grumbacher became an art materials empire, offering artists nearly every supply thinkable. Today the Grumbacher brand is owned by an American manufacturer called Chartpak Inc, who take great pride in providing quality products and service. “Max Grumbacher” started in the industry by hand making brushes, very inspiring as he started his business at his kitchen table. What impresses me the most about this company, is all the multi-media products, and online educational information offered.

Grumbacher Academy acrylics always impress me, as the colours are so vibrant, and when adding water or gloss mediums, they retain their pigments. This is significant, and of value to me as l use a lot of washes in my work and these colours never disappoint me. The consistency and buttery like feel to these paints make me want to dip my fingers into the palette and feel how soft they are. They are smooth and easy to blend. I can’t say that l have ever had an issue blending with these acrylics. They are also a thicker acrylic, so for those of you who like a bit of texture in your work, try them out, you will be pleasantly surprised. The versatility that these acrylics offer is superb. They are not as fast drying as other brands l have used, giving you more time to play and blend with them, and l like that they don’t dry dull in colour.  I do use the Grumbacher varnish to protect my work and in doing so my paintings offer a colour punch that is incredible once varnished. I have had clients ask me if l use oils on my acrylic paintings, that’s how vibrant these colours are.
48 intense colours are offered in the Grumbacher Academy brand, including metallic and iridescent.  They are all rated excellent in light-fastness, and they are AP approved, meaning that this product is safe and certified in a toxicological evaluation, to contain no toxins to humans. You can purchase these acrylics in 75, 90 and 200 ml tubes, as well as a variety of different sets, from sets of ten, 24 ml tubes,  introductory set of six 90 ml tubes. Many sets are offered and  the prices are extremely reasonable for the quality you gain. I feel like l am getting professional quality paints at student prices. Does that raise your eyebrow?

By now l am hoping that you are intrigued by this product? In my opinion they are a must have in your acrylic paint collection, and if you are considering on trying acrylic painting then give these acrylics a try.
I give these Grumbacher Academy acrylics two thumbs up!
If you are looking for additional information on the Grumbacher Academy acrylics or any other Grumbacher products, Chartpak products, clink the links below.

Please feel free to comment below. Wishing you a Beautiful Day,

Alice Melo

I read some critiques that recommended caution using these watercolours due to them fading quickly, but when l downloaded the colour chart and took a look at the information that ShinHan posted on this product, (www.shinhanart.com/eng/product/product_water.php), l found that it was comparable to other professional watercolour brands. Out of the 30 colours that are offered, 17 colours were rated a normal degree of light-fastness, 12 colors rated a high degree of light-fastness and only one, the colour “Opera” rated low.  Personally l thought for the price to quality ratio this brand was superb. When l shopped for a set, the prices varied on Amazon and Ebay, but most were economical. I purchased a 30 colour paint set for $53.00 Canadian off Ebay and this price included free shipping. I have to forewarn you that it did take about 6 weeks for me to receive them, but l was in no rush so this didn’t bother me.

When l opened my package the 7.5ml tubes were well placed and organized in a nice storage box, visually l was instantly awed by this product, and l was dazzled by the bright colour selection. I noticed when l started to lay down the watercolours just how vibrant and intense they were, this impressed me as l didn’t need much paint on the palette when l diluted the paint with lots of water to get the consistency l needed. They blended beautifully so employing the wet-on-wet technique was fantastic with these paints. I also used a dry brushing technique which worked well, and l found that the colours were very opaque, but easy to lift when desired.
I also liked that you can purchase the tubes in open stock, but to be honest, it makes more sense to purchase a set if you run out of colours, given how economical they are.

I kept stumbling upon advertisements for these Hootech Watercolor brush pens on Facebook, and Instagram and they all varied in price. After contemplating, curiosity always gets the best of me so l decided to go looking for them at a low price and l found a set on eBay for $17.24 Canadian and the price included free shipping, so l bought a set.
They didn’t exactly arrive visually appealing as the packaging they are stored in was flimsy and l knew right away that they may not be a good find. But keeping optimistic l decided to try them out. The 20 colour set came with a water brush, which is a brush that you can fill with water and use for watercolours, so that was a nice bonus.
I tried to do some research on these “Hootech Watercolor brush pens” with no luck. I couldn’t find any info on the company, or where they come from, but some vendors advertised that they are Non-toxic, water-based pigment ink, odorless and washable. I am assuming that these are a knock off product with little info on them, and l suspected before trying them that they might be of inferior quality.

I decided to try them on Canson cold press 140 lb smooth watercolour paper. I thought by choosing a smooth paper it would be easier to blend the colours.
When first using them l found that they had little to no ink coming out of the brush pens. They were inconsistent and blotchy. Even though l was using smooth paper it seemed like the ink was running out and l really had to work them to get more ink. Yikes…right away l was frustrated and disappointed with this product. I could not image using them on a bigger drawing, as l drew a small tulip and found that the ink was not working right.
I did like that l was able to use the water filled brush on top of the ink as this helped smooth out the colours and blend them together. Although my tulip drawing was small the colours did not work together as much as l wanted them too.
As far as learning how to use them it wasn’t hard, but l was definitely disappointed in the quality even at $17.24, but the saying is “You get what you pay for” right?  What l did like about them was they felt like l was using a marker only it was watercolour and l would like to find a better quality set of Watercolour brush pens so that l can see the full potential they have in a medium.
 I am not sure if l got a bad batch, but in my opinion, overall l rate this product two thumbs down.
 If you have any suggestions or brands of watercolour brush pens that you like, please let me know as l would love to hear your thoughts.
Have a beautiful day,
Alice