Glad I could help.

...unthickened, or thicker? If the watered down version was absorbed into the ball, does that mean the paint straight out of the tube was what worked?

Yeah... I always liked the textures I could get with acrylics, and that you can paint them on something, and it remains flexible (also, they don't have fumes, like oils).

The downside is: they're plastic. *sigh*