Complete Your Collection of Artists' Paint
Whether you are a budding beginner or an experienced artist, the perfect paint is an essential tool to create stunning projects. Quality artists' paint is easy to work with and delivers professional results.
What are the different artists' paint choices?You're probably familiar with watercolor, acrylic, and tempera paint. Have you ever considered creating a project with spray paint? With a little practice, you can use spray paint to quickly form large works of art that showcase amazing affects.
For a piece that features rich, blended colors, oil paint is an artist's choice. You'll find three categories of oil paints: student, artist, and professional. While student-category oil paints are appropriate for practicing effects, many new artists begin their oil paint careers with artist-category oil paints.
Have you heard of gouache? Wikipedia defines gouache as an opaque watercolor that is used alone or in combination with other mediums. Acrylic gouache is mixed with an acrylic-based binder rather than the gum arabic of traditional gouache. It dries to a matte finish.
Which paints last the longest?It's recommended that, no matter what medium you use, you should be aware of the product's permanence. Permanence, sometimes called lightfastness, is the ability for artists' paint to resist fading when exposed to light. Product permanence is rated by ASTM International as follows:
- ASTM I: Excellent lightfastness
- ASTM II: Very good lightfastness
- ASTM III: Not sufficiently lightfast
Acrylic paint typically has a higher permanence rating than watercolor or oil paint. The permanence rating is featured directly on the product packaging.
What tools should accompany the artists' paint?Some art supplies, such as canvases and paintbrushes, are even obvious to beginners. Before you start on a project, make sure you have medium-specific tools to create desired special effects. Watercolor additives, acrylic gesso, and painting knives are a short list of tools to consider.
Which brands should be part of your paint palette?When it comes to selecting the brands of artists' paint, it is a matter of preference. Here is a list of common brands specific mediums:
- Watercolor: Winsor & Newton and Prima Marketing
- Tempera paint: Blick, Prang, and School Smart
- Acrylic paint: Golden and Liquitex
- Oil paint: Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, and Bob Ross
- Gouache: Winsor & Newton, Reeves, and Liquitex