Artists are always chasing new finishes, fresh colors, and different surface textures. The look of poured resin gives art a deep, mirror-like shine, and that’s hard to get from acrylics alone. It’s tempting to try blending the two. Sometimes, you want a splash of paint in your resin—either for color or for that marbled, swirling effect you see on decorative trays, jewelry, and wall panels.
Acrylic paint starts out as a water-based emulsion that dries by evaporation. Epoxy resin relies on a chemical hardening reaction between two components: resin and hardener. Stir the two systems together and things can get tricky. If you add a little acrylic paint into your resin, it might work in small amounts. The paint can give just enough color without messing up the texture. Use more than a few drops, and you risk ruining the curing process. Water in the paint can block proper hardening of the resin. Uncured or cloudy resin is a mess—sticky, unpredictable, and impossible to rescue.
Plenty of artists stretch the rules and still succeed. The trick is in the ratios. One small drop of paint in a few ounces of resin usually blends fine. Go beyond that, and you wind up disappointed. Even if it looks alright for a day, the resin can soften or cloud over time. If you’re creating something for regular handling or for sale, that’s not a risk worth taking. Have you ever picked up a resin coaster from a craft fair and found it a little flexible or tacky? This happens often, and paint can be the culprit.
Scientific resources warn about water-based additives in resin. They point out how moisture breaks chemical bonds in epoxy. That does not mean all colorants are off-limits—just that picking the right tool for the job helps more than stubbornly sticking to what’s in reach.
I’ve tried this myself, lured by the idea of peppy colors and the convenience of what I had on hand. Sometimes I got lucky. Other times, frustration won: uncured patches, odd bubbles, and streaks in work that took hours to prepare. I learned the hard way that most professional resin artists recommend mica powders or dyes designed just for epoxy. These pigments blend in without altering the chemistry.
Check supplier safety sheets—they often explain which paints, alcohol inks, or powders can handle resin’s demands. Using the right colorant also protects your work against UV fading and chemical breakdown. Buying a tiny jar of resin pigment costs less than remaking a whole piece.
Anyone can toss paint in resin and get lucky every once in a while. If you’re crafting for the long haul, or selling your creations, consistency counts. Look for colorants formulated for epoxy. If you want to experiment with acrylics anyway, run a test sample—see how it holds up before you commit time or expensive resin to a big project.
Color drives creativity. Want the vivid hues found in acrylics? Seek them out in resin-friendly forms. This protects your art, your reputation, and your materials investment. Mixing paints and chemistry sometimes gives a beautiful surprise. More often, the best results come from respecting the science behind your supplies.
