The best acrylic paint sets balance color range, tube size, and the surfaces you plan to paint, from canvas and paper to rocks and wood crafts. These picks include everyday color palettes and specialty finishes, so you can choose between more shades, larger tubes, or added brushes and mixing tools.
Quick Top Products
U.S. Art Supply 72-Color Acrylic Paint Set
- 72 colors come in 12ml tubes.
- The water-based paint has a smooth consistency and covering strength.
- A double-sided color mixing wheel is included.
Best For: Artists and students who want a broad palette of everyday colors in compact tubes.
U.S. Art Supply 24-Color Outdoor Acrylic Set
- It includes 24 colors in 2oz bottles.
- The paints are intended for indoor and outdoor use.
- Seven brushes and a color mixing wheel are included.
Best For: Crafters who want outdoor-use paint and brushes for rocks, wood, canvas, and toys.
U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Iridescent Acrylic Set
- Twelve iridescent colors come in 75ml tubes.
- The colors have chameleon, color-shifting properties.
- A double-sided mixing wheel is included.
Best For: Artists seeking shimmering, color-shifting accents for canvas, paper, wood, or rocks.
U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Metallic Acrylic Set
- It includes 12 metallic colors in 75ml tubes.
- The paint has a high-shine finish and smooth application.
- It is intended for canvas, wood, pottery, and rocks.
Best For: Artists who want metallic finishes in larger tubes for canvas and craft projects.
U.S. Art Supply 36-Color Metallic Acrylic Set
- It contains 36 metallic colors in 18ml tubes.
- The colors provide a high-shine finish.
- The set includes pearlescent and iridescent effects.
Best For: Artists who want many pearlescent and iridescent colors in compact tubes.
U.S. Art Supply 36-Color Acrylic Set
- The set has 36 colors in 12ml tubes.
- The paints are water-based and highly pigmented.
- It includes a double-sided color mixing wheel.
Best For: Students and beginners wanting many standard colors in compact tubes.
U.S. Art Supply 24-Color Acrylic Set
- It includes 24 colors in 12ml tubes.
- The paints are water-based, highly pigmented, and smooth.
- A double-sided color mixing wheel is included.
Best For: Painters who want a modest standard palette and color-mixing aid.
U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Acrylic Paint Set
- Twelve colors come in 75ml tubes.
- The paint is water-based, highly pigmented, and smooth.
- Named shades include cobalt blue, crimson, and titanium white.
Best For: Painters seeking larger tubes of standard acrylic colors for canvas and crafts.
Largest Everyday Color Range
U.S. Art Supply 72 Color Professional Acrylic Paint Set in 12ml Tubes - Art Painting Supplies for Adults, Artists, Students, Beginners - Canvas Portrait Paintings
This set puts 72 colors in 12ml tubes, giving artists a wide palette for canvas, wood, fabric, paper, and mixed art media. The paints are water-based and highly pigmented, with a smooth consistency and covering strength.
A double-sided color mixing wheel is included as an educational tool. The broad selection suits projects that benefit from ready-made shades, though each tube is compact.
It is a practical choice for students or hobbyists exploring color combinations across painting and craft projects.
Best For: Artists and students who want a broad palette of everyday colors in compact tubes.
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Choose this set when variety matters more than having a large amount of each color. Its 72 shades and mixing wheel suit students, beginners, and artists working across several surfaces.
Check whether the compact 12ml tubes provide enough paint for your planned projects.
Outdoor Crafts With Brushes Included
U.S. Art Supply Professional 24 Color Outdoor Acrylic Paint Set, 2oz Bottles, with 7 Brush Kit - Vivid Colors for Painting Canvas, Rocks, Wood Crafts, Toys
This 24-color set combines 2oz bottles with a seven-brush kit for painting canvas, rocks, wood crafts, and toys. The water-based acrylics are described as weather-resistant and suitable for indoor and outdoor use.
Flat and round nylon brush tips provide options for different strokes, while a color mixing wheel adds a basic learning aid. Its mix of larger containers and included tools makes it a useful fit for craft sessions with multiple surfaces.
Consider how much of your work is outdoors when comparing it with sets aimed primarily at indoor painting.
Best For: Crafters who want outdoor-use paint and brushes for rocks, wood, canvas, and toys.
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Choose this set for craft projects where having brushes and larger paint containers together is useful, especially when rocks or wood are part of the plan. Its weather-resistant, indoor/outdoor positioning gives it a different emphasis from the other general palettes.
Check that the included colors and brush tips fit your projects; artists prioritizing maximum shade variety may prefer a larger color count.
Shimmering Color-Shifting Effects
U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Iridescent Acrylic Paint Set Large 75ml Tubes - Luminescent, Chameleon, Color-Shifting Pearl Colors, Crafting Paints - Iridescent Paint Acrylics for Canvas, Wood, Rock, Paper
This specialty set has 12 iridescent acrylic colors in 75ml tubes, with effects that shift between hues and create a luminescent finish. The water-based paint is suited to canvas, wood, fabric, paper, rocks, and other art media.
A double-sided color mixing wheel is included, and the product notes identify the paints as non-toxic, acid-free, and conforming to ASTM D4236 and EN71. Because the palette focuses on iridescence, it serves a different role from a standard everyday set.
It works well when shimmering effects are central to the project or added over other colors.
Best For: Artists seeking shimmering, color-shifting accents for canvas, paper, wood, or rocks.
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Choose this set when shimmer and color shift are intentional parts of the artwork, rather than when you need a broad conventional palette. Its 75ml tubes provide more paint per color than the compact tube sets, while the 12-color range is narrower.
Check that iridescent shades suit the whole project or plan to pair them with a separate standard-color set.
Large Metallic Color Tubes
U.S. Art Supply Professional Metallic Acrylic Paint Set - 12 Rich Metallic Colors, 75ml Tubes - Craft Paint for Canvas, Wood, Rock, Model Painting
This metallic set provides 12 colors in 75ml tubes, with a smooth, high-shine finish. It is intended for canvas, wood, pottery, and rock surfaces, and the heavy-body formula has rich pigmentation with smooth blending and coverage.
The larger tubes suit projects that use metallic paint repeatedly or across larger areas. This is a specialty palette rather than an all-purpose set of standard colors, so it makes the most sense when metallic effects are central to your work.
Best For: Artists who want metallic finishes in larger tubes for canvas and craft projects.
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Pick this option when you want metallic shades in larger tubes for repeated use. The 75ml size and high-shine finish suit projects where metallic effects are central.
Check whether your project needs large quantities of a limited metallic palette or many different metallic shades before choosing.
Broad Metallic Shade Selection
U.S. Art Supply 36-Color Metallic Acrylic Paint Set - 18ml Tubes - Acrylic Paint for Canvas Painting, Wood Crafts & Rock Painting - Color Mixing Wheel
This set offers 36 metallic colors in 18ml tubes, including silver, gold, and copper tones. Its heavy-body acrylic paint is richly pigmented, with smooth blending and coverage, and the finishes include pearlescent and iridescent effects.
The colors are intended for canvas, wood, pottery, rocks, outdoor crafts, and detailed model painting. For work that uses a range of metallic accents, the wide palette may be useful.
Best For: Artists who want many pearlescent and iridescent colors in compact tubes.
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Choose this set if a broad range of metallic finishes is useful. Its 36 colors include several named metallic tones and pearlescent or iridescent effects.
Consider how many shades you expect to use and how often you will reach for them when choosing tube sizes.
Compact 36-Color Everyday Palette
U.S. Art Supply 36 Color Professional Acrylic Paint Set in 12ml Tubes - Art Painting Supplies for Adults, Artists, Students, Beginners - Canvas Portrait Paintings
This standard acrylic set contains 36 colors in 12ml tubes. The water-based paint is highly pigmented, has a smooth consistency and covering strength, and is intended for canvas, wood, fabric, paper, and other art media.
A double-sided color mixing wheel adds an educational element for color terminology and theory. The compact tubes give you a broad range in individual portions.
It suits students and beginners practicing different colors across class, canvas, and craft projects, as well as artists who prefer many ready-mixed options.
Best For: Students and beginners wanting many standard colors in compact tubes.
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This is a sensible fit for learning or projects that benefit from a varied standard palette in compact amounts. The included mixing wheel adds a reference for color concepts, while the 12ml tubes are compact.
Consider whether the included range and tube size suit your planned projects.
Smaller Everyday Set With Mixing Wheel
U.S. Art Supply 24 Color Professional Acrylic Paint Set in 12ml Tubes - Art Painting Supplies for Adults, Artists, Students, Beginners - Canvas Portrait Paintings
This 24-color set uses 12ml tubes of water-based acrylic paint with a smooth consistency, high pigmentation, and covering strength. It is intended for canvas, wood, fabric, paper, and other art media, including crafts, portraits, abstracts, and landscapes.
A double-sided color mixing wheel is included as an educational tool. It offers a focused starting palette for beginners or smaller projects.
The compact tubes are best suited to trying colors and working at modest scale rather than stocking larger volumes of each shade.
Best For: Painters who want a modest standard palette and color-mixing aid.
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Choose this option when a focused standard palette and mixing aid meet your needs. The paints are intended for common surfaces, and the 12ml tubes keep the set compact in volume.
Consider whether the included color range and tube size meet your needs.
Large-Tube Standard Artist Colors
U.S. Art Supply 12 Color Set of Acrylic Oil Paint 75ml Tubes - High Opacity, Strong Tinting Strength, Oil Paints for Canvas Painting, Wood & Media
This set contains 12 standard acrylic colors in 75ml tubes, with a smooth consistency and strong covering power. The water-based paint is intended for canvas, wood, fabric, paper, and most art media.
Named colors include cobalt blue, crimson, lemon yellow, titanium white, lamp black, and burnt umber. The larger tubes suit work that uses familiar shades repeatedly, while the 12-color range keeps the palette focused.
It is a useful option for building an everyday palette around core colors rather than buying many premixed shades.
Best For: Painters seeking larger tubes of standard acrylic colors for canvas and crafts.
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Choose these larger tubes if you prefer a core set of familiar colors and expect to use each shade regularly. The 75ml size gives more paint per color than compact tubes, while the smaller palette leaves more mixing to you.
Check whether its named shades cover your planned work.
How to Choose Acrylic Paint Sets
How We Picked Acrylic Paint Sets
We selected sets that provide acrylic colors for painting, drawing from the supplied products for canvas, paper, wood, fabric, rocks, pottery, or craft work. The selection includes everyday palettes in several color counts, larger 75ml tubes, a brush-included outdoor craft kit, and metallic or iridescent specialty sets.
The airbrush primer is excluded because it prepares surfaces rather than serving as a general paint palette.
The useful comparison points are palette type, volume per color, intended surfaces, and included learning or painting tools. The products span compact 12ml tubes, metallic 18ml tubes, 75ml specialty colors, and 2oz bottles.
Those differences affect whether a set suits color exploration, repeated use of core shades, outdoor crafts, or a particular finish.
Comparing Acrylic Paint Sets
For everyday colors, compare how much variety you want with how much paint you need per shade. The 72-color set offers the broadest standard palette among these picks, while the 24-color and 36-color options provide fewer ready-made colors in 12ml tubes.
The 12-color, 75ml set trades color count for larger tubes and familiar named shades.
Specialty paints serve a different purpose. The 12-color iridescent set focuses on color-shifting effects in 75ml tubes.
Metallic choices include 12 colors in 75ml tubes or 36 colors in 18ml tubes, so the decision is larger quantities per shade versus a wider effect palette. The outdoor set uses 2oz bottles and includes seven brushes, making its kit contents and outdoor use relevant to craft buyers.
| Product | Standout features | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Art Supply 72-Color Acrylic Paint SetCheck Price |
| Artists and students who want a broad palette of everyday colors in compact tubes. |
| U.S. Art Supply 24-Color Outdoor Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Crafters who want outdoor-use paint and brushes for rocks, wood, canvas, and toys. |
| U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Iridescent Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Artists seeking shimmering, color-shifting accents for canvas, paper, wood, or rocks. |
| U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Metallic Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Artists who want metallic finishes in larger tubes for canvas and craft projects. |
| U.S. Art Supply 36-Color Metallic Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Artists who want many pearlescent and iridescent colors in compact tubes. |
| U.S. Art Supply 36-Color Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Students and beginners wanting many standard colors in compact tubes. |
| U.S. Art Supply 24-Color Acrylic SetCheck Price |
| Painters who want a modest standard palette and color-mixing aid. |
| U.S. Art Supply 12-Color Acrylic Paint SetCheck Price |
| Painters seeking larger tubes of standard acrylic colors for canvas and crafts. |
Choosing Paint Sets for Canvas and Crafts
Check the surfaces you actually plan to paint. Several sets are intended for canvas, wood, fabric, and paper, while the metallic sets also identify pottery, rocks, and model painting.
The outdoor set specifically covers rocks, wood crafts, toys, and canvas. If your projects span multiple materials, favor a set whose listed uses match those surfaces.
Tube size and bottle format matter alongside color count. Compact 12ml tubes give you multiple shades in a smaller amount per color.
Larger 75ml tubes suit projects that use those colors more often. The 2oz bottles in the outdoor kit provide a different format and arrive with brushes, but the set has 24 colors.
Which Acrylic Paint Set Fits Your Projects?
Choose the 72-color everyday set if you want the widest standard palette, or the 36-color set if you want a varied selection in compact tubes with a mixing wheel. A 24-color set is a more focused starting range.
The 12-color, 75ml standard palette fits artists who prefer larger tubes of familiar shades and are comfortable mixing additional colors.
For craft effects, consider whether you want outdoor-use paint with brushes, metallic finishes, or iridescent color shifts. The outdoor kit includes brushes for rocks and wood crafts.
The 36-color metallic set supplies more effect shades in 18ml tubes, while the 12-color metallic set offers larger 75ml tubes. Choose the iridescent set when changing, shimmering hues are central to the design.
Before buying, match the set's color style, volume, and stated surfaces to the work you expect to make.