The largest group of artificial or synthetic resins used in paint manufacture are the so-called alkyd resins (introduced in 1926). Alkyd resins are obtained by the polymerisation of certain alcohols with organic acids, one such reaction being that of glycerol with phthallic anhydride. Alkyd acts essentially as a synthetic oil medium, used extensively in household paint finishes. Other important groups, some developed especially for screen-printing inks, include coumarone-indene resins (from coal-tar) and phenolic resins, which include Bakelite, the first useful synthetic plastic (1909) polymerised from formaldehyde and phenol (carbolic acid). Two synthetic polymers which make particularly durable and transparent pigment binders are the polyvinyl and acrylic resins, developed since the 1930s. In vinyl paint systems, vinyl acetate polymerises for form polyvinyl acetate (PVA); in acrylic systems, methyl methacrylate polymerises to form polymethyl methacrylate (marketed under the trade-names Plexiglas, Perspex and Lucite). Water-based plastic or 'emulsion' paints are prepared by dispersing tiny drops of water with the solid pigment and a monomer by high-speed agitation. Polymerisation occurs as the water evaporates and the fluid plastic coalesces into a tough and flexible film within which the colouring pigment is firmly embedded. Polymer plastic materials are of two classes: thermoplastics and setting plastics. Thermoplastic materials are hard and rigid at room temperature but soften and become plastic again when heated; they include polyvinyl chloride (PVC), the acrylic resins (PMMA), polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, which is employed in vacuum-forming sculpture techniques. Setting plastics are of two types: thermosetting plastics (or thermosets) are plastic until heated, when a chemical reaction takes place which is irreversible. Cold-setting plastics are plastic until undergoing a reaction at room temperature, which similarly sets the material in its final form. The thermosets include the phenolic resins (Bakelite and Formica), urea-formaldehyde and most polyester (alkyd) resins; some polyether (expoxy) resins are cold-setting, though these usually set more quickly if heated.

Among artists who have pioneed the use of synthetic plastics are the American sculptors Ronald Davis (b. 1937), John McCracken (b.1934), Tom Wesselmann (b. 1931) and the British sculptor Peter Jones (b. 1939). Each has produced works that could not have been made in other media. Davis produced a series of 'plastic-coloured' polyester wall panels (1966-72) reinforced with glass-fibre. McCracken has manufactured a series of elegant glass-fibre-reinforced planks (after 1966) each impregnated with a single-coloured dye. Wesselmann has created colourful panels in stitched PVC over foam rubber, issued in multiple editions (after 1971). Peter Jones has, since 1974, produced numerous variations of Colourscape, consisting of large, inflated structures of welded PVC sheeting which invite the viewer to move freely through a network of brightly coloured chambers of filtered daylight.