Is the Arteza Metallic Acrylic Paint Worth the Hype? Art Supply Review

Does Arteza’s new line of metallic acrylic paints stack up? Let’s dive in and review.

Well, here we are again. It’s time for another art supply review – and this time, we are gonna play with some metallics.

Disclaimer: some links used in this post are affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a small commission if you purchase using my links at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I think will be helpful to you and bring you one step closer to creating beautiful acrylic masterpieces!

A Deep Dive into Arteza Metallic Paint [MY REVIEW]

Watch my full video review of Arteza’s metallic acrylic paints below.

https://youtu.be/Uq0sMzhsu3w

Arteza Metallic Acrylic Paint *MY HONEST REVIEW* | Light Permanence + Opacity Test (https://youtu.be/Uq0sMzhsu3w)

I recently got a huge package in the mail sent courtesy of the art company, Arteza, and this time around, they sent me some really cool goodies….metallic acrylic paint and acrylic paper pads!

Wheeeee! Feeling like a kid in a candy store, I tore open the box like a savage, marveled like a fan girl for five straight minutes at the contents, and then proceeded to get down to business – and write this review.

Although I am not sponsored by Arteza, they did send me these products free in exchange for my honest review. And, your girl will never say no to playing with more paint…so I simply had to say yes!

How can I not get pumped?

Like I did with my previous review of the Arteza acrylic paint set, I will be analyzing these metallic paints and acrylic pads against a list of criteria – including an opacity test, organization, permanence, and usability, just to name a few.

So, let’s dive in and see if these metallic paints are really worth their shine!

Criteria 1: Organization + Color Selection

I have to hand it to Arteza on this one. Their box organization and design is sleek and efficient, especially if you have to carry around 36 individual paint tubes. When I opened the box, I marveled at how neatly organized all 6 trays were. Like I said in my previous review – hot damn!

Each paint tube has a screw top – big big thumbs up on my end, and the paint tops didn’t have that sealed top that is usually seen with most paint brands. I could easily just pop open the top, easily squeeze my paint out like butter, and get brushin’. In addition each of these 36 tubes are 22 ml in size, which is comparable to other brands like Liquitex.

I had a lot of good feels here, so I will give their organization and paint aesthetic a 5 out of 5.

Criteria 2: Paint Tube Labels + Light Fastness

Then, I moved onto the labels used on the metallic paint tubes themselves, the most important in my mind being the permanence rating.

This was a huge hurdle to figure out when I did my first Arteza acrylic paint review, but now that I am much wiser, I can better assess the permanence quality of these metallic paints.

plus signs indicate ASTM standard rating

Also, in case you’re not sure what permanence means, permanence or “light fastness” is the resistance of pigmented material to fading or color changing when exposed to light. Basically, will your painting change colors over a short period of time or not.

And according to the American Standard Test Measure (ASTM for short), paints will usually have a scale of light fastness ranging from a lightfastness rating of 1 meaning a color will last you over 100s of years to a lightfastness rating of 3 which indicates colors will last 15-50 years.

And I did confirm with Arteza that they do use ASTM standards when assessing their paint permanence.

Arteza typically indicates their permanence ratings in the form of plus signs. A single plus sign represents an ASTM standard of 1 and three plus signs indicate an ASTM standard of 3.

Fortunately for us, the metallic set contained 17 individual paint tubes that contained the one plus sign rating, meaning those colors are ASTM I and will last hundreds of years.

This is miles ahead of what Arteza’s acrylic paint set offered.

In addition, there were ten metallic paint tubes that contained 3 plus signs, indicating these paints are ASTM III standard and will therefore only last 15-50 years.

so, not too bad.

Even though it is kind of a bummer to have ASTM III standard paints, they are in fact great for practicing, journaling, and underpainting. Just because they are there in a kit, does not render them useless or absolute garbage.

But I was happy to see a lovely smattering of good quality, ASTM I standard paints in this metallic paint kit.

I did have a problem with the “semi-false” advertising Arteza did with their paints – claiming that they all last hundreds of years, despite their labels saying otherwise. That’s why is it so important to understand and read your paint labels.

So when it comes to light permanence, especially compared to other similar priced paint brands out there, I give these paints a 3 out of 5.

Criteria 3: Color and Opacity Test

Next up, I ran a color swatch and opacity test – placing a small rectangle of color over a black line and see how the paint dries over time.

This tests a few things…

One, it tests how accurate the paint labels on the tubes are and how accurate the tube swatches are.

When I completed my painting application, I then compared each paint tube to their respective swatch, noting whether they remained true to their label. And sure enough, most of paints reflected their opacity label. Which is good.

I give that a 5 out of 5.

However, when it came to comparing the actual color swatch on the tube to the swatch on the paper, I saw some varied results.

side by side comparison with the tube swatch and the actual painted swatch

The first thing I noticed was that all the colors dried a lighter shade to what was indicated on the paint tube. After some thought, this would make sense, since the mica in the metallic paint swatch catches the ambient light and will thus appear lighter than the actual paint tube swatch.

For the most part, most of the colors looked similar to their tube swatches.

Advice for any artist EVER: I always recommend doing color swatching on paper when getting any paint so you can understand how your paint color looks when dried on paper. It’s good practice that will only benefit you later.

I give their color swatches a 3 out of 5.

Criteria 4: Spreadability, Blending, & Drying Time

After those initial test, I decided to go to town and sketch a butterfly and paint it to test for spreadability, blending and drying time.

I also took this opportunity to test out the acrylic pad paper as well, and how well these two would play together.

For the sake of the experiment, I did not tape down the acrylic paper to my work surface, because I wanted to see how much the paper would buckle from the paint moisture. We are going hog-wild here, Queen Bees!

testing the blend-ability and spreadability of these paints

With that, I gathered my supplies and started to paint.

Like it’s acrylic sisters, these metallic paints have deep intense pigments with a texture that is super fun to play and mix with. It’s not watery like student grade paint but it’s not completely solid like heavy body. It’s almost like runny toothpaste. It’s very easy to spread around and very easy to use with a palette knife for mixing.

And something that completely felt weird to me was the drying time.

These paints dried quickly, a lot more quick than what I have been used to, so this forced me to work fast on my palette when it came to mixing colors.

If you decide to go with these metallic paints and can’t work that fast, you might want to invest in a gel retarder or water spray to add to the paint to increase the drying time.

Initially, I was concerned that I wouldn’t really get much of a blend when mixing my metallic paints together, but to my surprise, I really loved how well two different acrylic colors mixed well together, creating a lovely shimmery blend.

Let’s talk about how shiny these paints are!

When I finished my butterfly and held it up to the light at varying angles, the shine on the metallic was really smooth and shiny. The mica caught in the light and gave a lovely “gloss-like” texture to the painting. I have dealt with metallic paints in the past, and although Arteza’s metallics aren’t the number one best, they were really decent and got the job done.

So in terms of painting experience, blendability and shininess, I would give these paints a 4 out of 5.

Criteria 5: Acrylic Mixed Media Pad Quality

Ok, let’s talk acrylic paper for a hot minute. Similar to my absolute lustful love of Arteza’s mixed media pads, I was in love with their acrylic paper pad set too!

I really enjoyed painting with this acrylic paper. It was thick and rather big in size than what I was used to (11″x14″). I totally felt the quality used in the paper. The pads themselves are acid-free, which means they will not yellow over time, thus protecting your precious creations.

Plus, each page is glued to the pad spine, which allows for very easy removal AND the ability to sketch on these pads is very enjoyable. Not a super big feature, but I totally enjoyed the drawing process on these pads.

Not only that, this paper took a BEATING from my brush as I was painting and laying all my metallic colors on it. After multiple layers of paint, the paper stayed the course – it barely buckled from the moisture and did not tear. Needless to say, I was uber pleased.

I totally give these mixed media pads a 5 out of 5!

Are Arteza Metallic Paints Really Worth it?

There was a lot floating around in my head as I did my test. Some disappointments and some surprises. So let’s recap what I discovered in my acrylic testing.

The good qualities of Arteza paint & mixed media pad

Paint pigments are deep and highly pigmented
Amount of Color availability is great
Organization kit is FANTASTIC.
Paint sizes are decent (22mL) especially compared to other paint brands available.
Most of the paint tubes followed their specified Opacity rating
Easy to handle, squeeze, and mix with a palette knife
The acrylic paper is awesome! It is acid-free, feels super thick between my fingers, and is easy to draw on and remove.
17 colors with an ASTM I standard, meaning colors will last hundreds of years.

The not-so-great qualities of Arteza metallic paint

The color swatches all dried a lighter shade.
Fast drying time (can be an issue with blending)
Lots of colors to choose from – can be a bit overwhelming for someone just starting out.
10 colors with ASTM 3 permanence standard, meaning the colors will last about 15-50 years.

Who are these paints are good for?

-If you are any of the following, Arteza metallic paints are the best choice for you:

A beginner who doesn’t want to worry about wasting money with paint while practicing
A professional artist looking to add some pizazz with ASTM I standard metallics
Wants to get a whole variety of paints for a beginner price
Want to use paints for journaling, practice, or underpainting

Who these paints are NOT good for….

If you are a seasoned artist who wants to sell their work or display at a gallery, some of these paints are ASTM III standard, so avoid those!

Investing in good paints is really key for your career as an artist, and you want your work to last you hundreds of years, not a few decades.

But all in all, Arteza’s metallic acrylic paints actually do have quite a bit to offer to many artists on varying levels of experience. Whether you are a first timer looking to play with metallics or a professional artist looking to add some shine to your gallery work, you can definitely find some value with this paint set on a decent budget.

So, there we have it. That is my honest-to-God review of Arteza metallic paints and their acrylic paper pads. I enjoyed the whole experimentation process, and I will definitely consider them for other art supplies like paper items.

What are you thoughts about my review? Have you tried these paints before? Comment below and let me know!