One of the biggest mistake that people make with acrylic paints is to think that they can just do it on their own. After all, this is true with water color painting, so why not with acrylics? In reality, although you can learn acrylic painting independently, I recommend against it. At the very least, you should use an instructional how to paint video. You see, acrylic paint techniques are much more complicated than anything you have probably done before. Not only do you have to worry about mixing colors, but you also have to get the paint to the right consistency. Acrylic painting supplies are expensive, so unless you wants to buy the cheap, low quality stuff, you should try to conserve them as well as you can. That is why a good art class is almost a necessity.