This week I was asked to review two products from Arteza, their set of 36 metallic paints and their 12×12 premium canvases. Both are available from amazon.com and the Arteza website:
Arteza Site Links (Usually cheaper than Amazon)
Amazon Links
Both products get great reviews on Amazon—the paints get 4.8 out of 5 stars and the canvases get a 4.5 out of 5 stars. After reading about both products I was excited to try them out. I was expecting high quality but I wanted to see how they held up in a pour painting situation. If you’re interested in more supplies info check out our guide on acrylic pouring supplies.
Spoiler Alert: I’m jumping straight to my conclusion here. Both the paints and the canvas were definitely good quality but you should be aware of a few issues I ran into before making a purchase decision. Let me explain:
The Arteza Canvases
I hope you will take the time to watch the video because it gives a lot more information than I am able write about in this blog. In short, the premium 12×12 canvases were well made. All the corners looked great, the canvas was nicely trimmed and neatly stapled on the back. The packaging was also quite good. All-in-all a high quality product and the price ($32 for a pack of 8) put the price at around $4 per canvas—very reasonable.
But… and it seems like there is always a “but.” After I did the actual flip cup pour, several areas on the canvas started repelling the paint, creating small, white craters (I call them bald spots). These little bald spots first appear to be cells but soon you realize that you can see canvas at the center of the circle rather than another color of paint. This occurs when there is some substance on the canvas that prevents the paint from bonding to the canvas. Sometimes it can be something as simple as oil from your fingertips getting on the canvas. So if you were to purchase these canvases I would make sure to wipe them off with windex before pouring.
After the video I actually did a second pour, making sure I didn’t touch the canvas and the bald spots appeared on the second canvas as well (see photo). I have never seen these spots while painting with a brush but something about the fluid nature of pour painting can make these spots appear.
Canvas Verdict: These are high quality canvases, but plan on wiping them down with something like Windex before you pour.
The Arteza Set of 36 Metallic Paints
This is a beautiful set of paints—so many colors and they all have a beautiful, shiny, sheen like a pearl. Once my painting dried, the beautiful sheen remained which was wonderful. The paints were very nicely packaged and the box has six trays, each containing six tubes of paint. When you take the trays out of the box there is definitely a flutter of excitement when you realize there is yet another layer of paints after the second layer. The colors had a high level of pigment and mixed well with Floetrol which is key when making a pour painting. They are also reasonably priced for metallic paints.
Once again these are great, high quality paints but… even though I added silicone to all my paints I hardly got any cells at all. In the video, after I do the flip cup, you’ll see me grab my torch, fully expecting to see some amazing cells pop out when I add the heat—only to be disappointed. If I were using these paints again I would combine with other non-metallic paints to get cells and add more variety to the pour.
Final thought on the metallic paint set: I truly believe these are wonderful, high quality paints, with vibrant colors but they didn’t produce cells as effectively as other paints I’ve used. So if you want cells either use different paints or combine the metallic paints with other types of paint as well.
One more thought just in case you are curious and want to test these paints for yourself—Arteza has a very generous return policy which says:
100% Money-Back Guarantee: We want you to be thrilled with our Metallic Acrylic Paint supplies. If you’re not satisfied, return them to us for a fast, no-hassle refund or product replacement.
That means you can always try these products out for yourself and if you aren’t happy, return them!
Read Next: Arteza Paint Review
Steve Shaw is an artist and teacher living in Atlanta, Georgia. His days are spent in the classroom teaching his students the basics of art and self-expression. In the evenings and weekends, he paints. Steve has shown his work in several galleries in the Southeast and has illustrated three children’s books. Recently Steve has discovered acrylic pour painting and is putting all his other projects on hold while he journeys down this artistic road.
To see more, follow him on Instagram, visit his website, watch his videos on his YouTube Channel and purchase his paintings at Etsy.com.
Thanks for doing the review & the experiment, Steve. The bald spots on the canvas are a disappointing surprise!! Did you try another canvas that you first washed with Windex? Did that work? I’d like to see you do another pour with these Arteza metallics… with some other paints to see how they mix & react.
At the beginning of the video you mentioned that the canvases came primed. But I know that I often purchase canvases that come primed, however, I always apply at least one (and usually two) coats of gesso on every canvas I use for pour painting or any kind of painting. Did or have you tried gessoing the Arteza canvases to see if that would help with the problem you noted?
Steve, those little wooden pieces are called canvas keys. If you’re canvas gets “loose” and doesn’t tighten with the spray water method, you can use the keys. You do not insert them between the stretcher bars and the canvas.
The stretcher bars have slits in the corners. This is where the keys go. You push in and it will take up the slack in your canvas. Do it lightly to avoid damage.
Oh good grief. I need to go back to school. In my comment I stated “if you’re canvas”. Substitute “your” :~)
I’m waiting to try out my Arteza Canvases and their Acrylic and Metallic paints which I received a couple of weeks ago. Haven’t had a good opportunity to try the Canvases yet. Thanks for the heads up, will be sure to Gesso the canvases just to be sure. You may just have received a bad batch.. I’ve got 16 of the 11x 14 inch ones to try.
I love the packaging of Arteza Paints, especially the Large Sachet type for the Acrylics.
Always glad to see others’ commentaries on products so I can look out for certain aspects if I buy them. These Arteza paints definitely look to have beautiful colors, and metallics are hard to resist! Adding in a solid color is a great tip, as is the wiping down of their canvases prior to pouring. Thanks, Steve!
I’m very interested that you got these results. After seeing several other artists do reviews on Arteza Paints and canvas (not the metallics as yet; they seem to be doing quite the push lately). I’ve not heard these complaints from others. Although admittedly one of the artists I follow a lot, doesn’t really go for cells most of the time. But she is getting lovely webbing with the techniques she uses.
I think I will like the metallic paints, but I am disappointed the three primaries were not included. Red. Yellow and Blue. Now I have to buy them separately .