Tubes and jars:
You can get the heavy body acrylic paints in the tubes as well as jars. However, the tube is comparably small and portable. On the other hand, jars contain more acrylic but comparably cheaper than the tubes and you can save money by purchasing them. Tube contains paste like acrylic, whereas jars contain thick fluids acrylic which flattens on the palette. If you are confused and do not exactly know which one to buy, start with the tubes and purchase a few jars once you are clear about the colours and brands you are using often. On the other hand, if you are a beginner, start with smaller tubes of about 2 fl. oz. Get the appropriate and right acrylic tubes and jars from Big Acrylic for your the best use on your canvas as well as the palette.
You will find the fluid acrylics typically in bottles. They have screw tops or drippers which make it easier to apply on the canvas as well as on the palette. The difference between tubes and jars may not be professionally a big issue for you as far as the quality and performance of paint is concerned, but the small differences described above count a lot in terms of viscosity and medium.
Drying time:
The speciality about acrylic in comparison to other paints is acrylic dries fast, and this is the reason acrylic is preferred by most artists. On the other hand, it may really a challenge for you if the acrylic dries right at the brush or on the palette before you are done with the painting. Eventually, you may prefer a paint which remains fluid for a longer time for mixing the paint on the canvas for further blending effects. However, you can still solve these issues if you want to stick with acrylic. You can either use retarding medium or purchase open or interactive acrylic which can slower the process of your acrylic and give you more time for your mixing of paints and blending effects. These interactive or open acrylic and the retarding medium are new categories of acrylics introduced by the manufacturers for the purposes of lingering the drying process of acrylic. The interactive and retarding medium comes along with a retardant which can slower the process of drying the acrylic for a few weeks. Open acrylic is a perfect solution for artists who want to use acrylic instead of oil paints.
