Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Set 12 and Brush Set 6 Pack FAQ

I've spent the last nine years on the buying side of art supplies—mostly for school districts and independent retailers. When I get the same question about a product three times in a week, it earns an FAQ. The Liquitex Basics acrylic paint set 12 and the Liquitex Basics brush set 6 pack have earned that twice over.

These are the questions I actually get. Jump to whatever you need:

• Is the Basics 12-color set actually good, or just cheap?
• How different is Basics from Liquitex's professional line?
• Are the Basics brushes worth buying?
• Is Basics safe for classrooms?
• How do you get permanent marker off wood?
• Can you order Basics in bulk with a tight deadline?
• Which set should an adult beginner choose?

Is the Liquitex Basics 12-color set actually good, or just cheap?

“Good” depends on whose hands are holding the brush. If that sounds like a cop-out, bear with me. For a high school class, a community center, or someone testing acrylic paint for the first time, this set is genuinely good. For a working artist who needs maximum pigment intensity and perfectly consistent color, it's the wrong tool.

Basics is Liquitex's student-grade line, but it isn't craft-store paint. It comes out of the tube fairly thick, it holds a brushmark, and it dries to a satin finish. The palette in a 12-color set won't give you ready-made teal or magenta, but it includes warm and cool primaries plus earth tones. That's a strength if you want to learn mixing instead of grabbing a premixed tube every time.

How different is Basics from Liquitex's professional heavy body line?

From the outside, the obvious difference is price. People assume student-grade paint is just the professional formula thinned with water. The reality is more about pigment load. Professional heavy body acrylics carry more pigment per volume, so a little goes further, and a tint made with white stays more colorful. Basics has more filler and binder relative to pigment, which means the same mix turns chalky faster.

That sounds like a knock, but it isn't. Basics behaves predictably, it's forgiving while you learn, and you won't panic when a student leaves the lid off overnight. For classroom projects, practice pieces, and quick studies, it's the right amount of paint. When you're ready for longer-lasting, gallery-grade work, the professional line's published color permanence ratings matter more. Liquitex lists pigment and permanence records for individual colors on liquitex.com—compare there before a big purchase.

Are the Liquitex Basics brushes any good? Six-pack review, short version

If you landed here because you typed “liquitex basics brush set 6 pack reviews” into Google, the short answer is yes, with one caveat. These brushes survive regular classroom use, clean up well, and don't shed bristles the way cheap multipacks do. In the sets I've unboxed over the years, the ferrules stay tight and the synthetic bristles keep their shape. I haven't had to replace one due to a defect.

The assortment is mostly flats and rounds in useful sizes: enough to block in shapes, lay down washes, and do a little detail work. Honestly, I'm not sure why Liquitex leaves the handles a bit rougher than the professional line. It feels kinda cheap until you remember these brushes will go into a shared classroom bucket, not a studio roll.

Caveat: Don't use these for precision lines or tiny details. A separate liner or miniature brush is better. Think of the Basics 6-pack as workhorses rather than scalpels.

Is Liquitex Basics safe for classroom use?

I'm careful with this one because “safe” gets thrown around loosely. Most Basics paints sold in the U.S. carry the ACMI “AP Non-Toxic” seal, along with “Conforms to ASTM D-4236,” printed on the tube or set packaging. That mark matters: it means an independent toxicologist reviewed the product for hazards under normal art use. Check that mark on whatever you buy. If the packaging doesn't show it, don't assume. You can look up the AP seal program at acmiart.org if you want confirmation.

Also, “non-toxic” in art materials is not the same as “edible” or “safe to use as finger paint.” It means the product doesn't pose a chronic health hazard in expected use. Liquitex has moved the Basics palette to cadmium-free formulations, which is a sensible step, but cadmium-free is an ingredient choice rather than a certification by itself.

My classroom rule: use this paint for painting, supervise small children, wash hands afterward. That's it.

How do you get permanent marker off wood?

This question shows up in an acrylic paint FAQ more than you'd expect. Usually the story goes one of two ways: someone sketches a design on a wood panel with permanent marker, paints over it, and the ink ghosts through. Or a student labels wood panels for a show, and the labels have to go. Here's how to get permanent marker off wood, in the order you should try it.

Start with a dry-erase marker if the wood is sealed or painted. Scribble over the permanent marks with the whiteboard marker, wait a few seconds, and wipe both off with a soft cloth. The solvent in dry-erase ink can re-dissolve the permanent ink binder, and the whole mess lifts off together. Test an inconspicuous corner first.

On raw or unfinished wood, reach for 91% or 99% isopropyl alcohol. Press a paper towel onto the mark and let the alcohol work; blot rather than scrub, because scrubbing pushes ink deeper into the grain. Let the wood dry, sand lightly with 220-grit if the grain raised, and repeat if a ghost remains. I'd skip acetone unless you're ready to refinish the piece; it roughens grain and can cloud existing finishes.

Stubborn stain and you still plan to paint the panel? Sand it, seal it with an ink-blocking primer (shellac-based works best for marker), then apply a coat of Liquitex Basics gesso before the acrylic paint. The gesso gives your paint a consistent tooth and helps keep old ink from surfacing later.

Can I order the Basics sets in bulk on a tight deadline?

Yes, but you need to ask for it instead of assuming standard ground will save you. In my role coordinating orders for schools and retail shops, rush orders are normal. In August 2024, one school district needed thirty 12-color sets by the following Monday for teacher workshops, and their usual vendor had backordered. We split the order: twenty sets from a regional warehouse via expedited freight, ten as next-day parcel shipments from a second warehouse. All thirty were on site by Friday. Splitting shipping costs more, but it saved a project that had a hard start date.

That move only works when inventory is actually in two places, so ask your supplier to check stock before paying for air freight. And if your delivery address is rural or remote, add buffer days. Bulk buyers should also ask whether education or volume pricing applies; school purchase orders often unlock a better rate, but nobody advertises it.

Which Basics set should an adult beginner buy?

If you're brand new to acrylics, the 12-color set plus the 6-brush set will get you through the first several months without feeling limited. Twelve colors sound small until you realize you can mix hundreds of variations. When you start noticing you're constantly reaching for the same three colors, upgrade those specific colors to a larger size or the professional line—that's smarter than buying another box set.

If you're sketching on a wood panel for your first project, don't reach for permanent marker before reading question #5. I promise it's less painful than the cleanup.