Frequently Asked Questions

Just have a go! Get yourself some materials and start making, painting and drawing. You don’t need much to get started and you might have something you can use right away, such as pencils, ballpoint pens and cardboard packaging. You might surprise yourself, and when you are ready to buy different materials, be sure to read our article “Guide – Art supplies for Beginners – What to buy “

There are loads of tips and tutorials online, and soon this site will be heaving with them too.

Why not Sign up to our newsletter and get new articles, tips and tutorials straight into your inbox?
Click here to sign up now!

Why yes! Even seasoned professionals need inspiration, encouragement and help at times. Other artists often have so much to offer by way of inspiration and ideas. We seek them out and write about them or link to their websites.

Our newsletter, while not sent frequently, can keep you informed about Art Events and articles as well as tips and tutorials.
You can use the form below to sign up now!

Please go to our Tutorials page here. You can also use the search box near the top of this page to find specific subjects.

Sorry, no we don’t.
Taking classes can certainly help both beginners and long-time artists, as it is always beneficial to get feedback from instructors and from peers. We also know that many people find it motivating to connect with teachers and other artists personally. People you meet in those circumstances sometimes become life-long friends.

Contact your local community college or local art center! Your local art shop might know some good places to take classes or perhaps have leaflets left by others.

If you can’t afford art classes or there aren’t any available in your community, consider joining an online art community. Many have lots of beginners and experienced artists helping each other and sharing information.
You might find something through the BBC learning section.

Nothing intrusive will happen. We Never share your email address with anyone else, and you have to confirm with Aweber, our secure email provider, before you get anything from us.

At first, you will receive a series of emails from us, Outlines, with links to pages on our website where you can read more or watch a video of a Painting Demonstration. We send emails from time to time to tell you about updates and current information.

If it all gets too much or you don’t want to hear from us any more, you can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link any email we send (Boo hoo -Please don’t leave!).

In fact our newsletter updates are infrequent and usually contain a summary of various types of information that we think might interest you,  perhaps a summary of our latest articles or some great exhibitions about to start. We may occasionally inform you about discounts or special deals on products and, when available, we may send discount coupons for our own products that are only for our subscribers!

Outlines Acrylic Paint Set and Outlines Single tube of White paint. Tubes of individual colours from the set are available in the Paints section of our Shop.

Titanium White, Lemon Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Vermillion, Crimson Red, Sap Green, Viridian, Cerulean Blue, Ultramarine Blue, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber and Lamp Black

We have no plans to add more colours but if you need a special colour, Outlines paints mix very well with other brands.
This means you do not need to throw your current stock away because you can use them with our paints!

Our paint will adhere to:

Canvas, board (including mountboards, MDF and plywoods), paper, cardboard, wood, metal, stones and pebbles or rocks, fabric (including natural and synthetic fabrics, most plastics, and many other surfaces that have a bit of texture.

It’s Great for up-cycling too – we have painted cereal boxes and other packaging to create and recycle. Your imagination is your limit!

Results on some materials can be improved with a little preparation.
Acrylic paint may scrape or fall off easily from very smooth surfaces if soaked in water. However, our paint can be used for decoration on materials such glass that will not need washing such as jars and bottles.
As time goes on, you will find articles about ideas and techniques for painting on all these different surfaces.

I’m sorry, I have to tell you they are NOT for use on concrete garden ornaments kept outside as I have not tested it for that purpose and I have not left any of my painted things outside for long periods.

I have not used it on concrete of any kind so I do not know how well it will adhere to concrete nor how long it will last.

Yes, they can be mixed with any mediums intended for use with acrylics, such as gels and thickeners. They can also be mixed with sand or grit, used with decorating and DIY products such as water based wood-glue and many found substances that will give it a texture.
Our paints blend well with other brands of Acrylic paint should you want to use colours that are not in our range. It’s a very versatile paint!

Acrylic paints are water-based and can be washed off brushes and surfaces while still wet. Dried paint on brushes will ruin them so we recommend wiping off any excess then rinsing them in small amount of water. Please refer to our article, Disposal of Rinse Water.

No, they are not. Please read details on our Non Toxic Acrylic Paint Page

Our Acrylic paints are non-toxic and are tested safe for children subject to the latest Toy Standard Testing. To pass the test they have to be safe to suck and chew.
Please bear in mind that paint might not stick well enough to a shiny glass surface to withstand frequent washing. I like to use it for painting glass jars intended to be used as dry containers.
If you are determined to paint wine glasses I would say that it is best to avoid painting right up to the rim because the texture might not be all that pleasant against the lips.
I recommend reserving painted drinking glasses for one-off occasions and then keep them as decorative pieces afterwards.

Please go to the Product Information pages here to read detailed information.

As far as is possible and practicable I have sought to exclude animal products and testing in our paints, while paying particular attention to toxic ingredients and environmental impact.

The base ingredients and pigments in Outlines paints are all synthetic. Our paints do not contain any pure pigments that contain toxins.
Please visit this page for more information: Vegetarian and Vegan Artists  

Please go to Certificates and Documents to download the pdfs.

Our products are sold online only. Our paints can be bought from our Online shop   where you have the widest choice.
Selected products are sometimes available at Amazon.co.uk and at Ebay.co.uk. We do not have a shop that you can visit, only a studio where we very occasionally hold open studio events when artworks and some finished goods can be purchased. Such events will be announced in the news section, on our Facebook page and on Twitter.

Not at present, we do not handle payments for other people’s products directly from this site. Our  designs are available on many items that are not stocked by us. These are printed on demand by outside services and you are purchasing directly from them. We may list such products in our online shop from time to time and they will be clearly marked.
Our articles may mention products we have designed, used or recommend. On pages where they are mentioned, we usually provide links to purchase.

We aim to be as helpful as we can to our users about making art and practicing crafts. Gathering information and writing about all those subjects takes time, effort and money. Where possible, we link to sites and quality products that are relevant, fun or useful. Some, but by no means all of those links, may earn us a small commission. Commissions earned help to pay for the running of this site.

Our  Own Products and Designs that are stocked by us show shipping details when you add them to basket. To see an estimate please enter your postcode or zipcode in the delivery address box. To see which countries we ship to please refer to the Ordering Terms. for details. Countries we can ship to may change from time to time.  Items can be removed from your basket at any time before making a purchase.

We do link to some products that We do not stock: Shipping is set by the company where you are buying the item.

Our Own Products and Designs that are stocked by us are sent by us.  We provide tracking codes where possible. Products listed on Amazon are sold by Amazon.  Items we have designed are printed on demand and sold by outside services and you are purchasing direct from them. We may link to Other products that are sold by others.
Please direct your delivery enquiry to the website or suppliers where you purchased the item.
Sometimes your orders will come from different locations, so you may receive one item before the next.

Our paint may be out of stock on Amazon, but we have stock here:) You might Try writing ” Outlines art materials Acrylic paints ” or click here for the UK search They should come up at, or close to, the top of the results.

Please check all your folders and especially your junk folder and Whitelist the domain outlinesart.com
Emails from a new sender often end up in the wrong folder.

Queries are answered by a human being who is very busy, not always available and who sleeps from time to time.
Please be patient, unless your query is identified as spam, it will be answered as soon as possible but may take up to 72 hours.

Please also check all your folders and especially your junk folder and Whitelist the domain outlinesart.com
It is common for emails from a new sender to go to the wrong folder.

Usually adding an email address to your contacts list does the job, but if you have a problem, you can use your favourite search engine and type: ‘how to whitelist an email’ to find the answer for your email client.

Order confirmations and Answers to queries come from various email addresses.
Please check your junk folder and Whitelist the domain outlinesart.com.
Some email clients  such as gmail, hotmail and yahoo can be over-zealous when marking emails as junk or spam. New senders often end up there.

We welcome comments on our products. The shop calls them ‘Reviews’ but they work in the same way as normal comments. You will find the box to leave a ‘review’ at the bottom of the product after the ‘Details’ and ‘Additional Information’ tabs. Don’t worry, your email address is required but will NOT show in public.

We encourage and welcome commenting on articles but please observe the rules found Here

All Comments are moderated to avoid Spam and will not appear immediately. Please be patient while they are processed.

We’d love to hear about your ideas and the things you have made, especially if you have pictures we can show our readers!  Please go to this page, read it and then use the form at the bottom to write to us about it.

Great!  Please go to this page, read the instructions for Authors and then use the form at the bottom to submit your article.