A Beginner’s Guide to Different Types of Art Paints
When first starting out as an artist, you need to know your mediums. This includes understanding the different types of paint options. This choice can greatly influence the overall texture, form, and visual impact of your artwork.
This said, selecting the right paints for art projects is essential for bringing your creative vision to life. Each type, whether oil, acrylic, or watercolour, offers unique advantages and disadvantages.
Contents
Acrylics
Acrylic paints are а great starting point for anyone looking to explore their artistic potential. They’re easy to work with on different surfaces including canvas, paper, wood, fabric, and even glass. Furthermore, they dry quickly, which allows you to work on your masterpiece’s details and layer colours without waiting an eternity for it to dry. Also, unlike other mediums, acrylic paints won’t crack, yellow, or fade over time, ensuring your creations remain vibrant for years to come.
Besides being quick-drying and easy to work with, most acrylic paints nowadays are certified as non-toxic for general art use, meaning they’rе safe to use near children and animals. However, that doesn’t mean they’re safe to ingest, breathe in, or have a lot of exposure to them.
When shopping for acrylics, you may come across student-grade and professional paints for art projects. Professional paints have higher pigment concentration and are smoother than student-grade options. Although they are on the pricey side, their quality justifies the cost. Student-grade options are less expensive but they’re not as permanent, bright, and pigmented as professional ones.
If you’re creating artwork for sale, exhibitions, or personal pieces you want to preserve, the durability and quality of artist-grade paints are unmatched. If you’re a novice venturing into the world of acrylic paints, student-grade mediums are a great start. These will give you a nice sense of how colours work and mix, helping you build confidence as you learn.
Apart from adding colours, acrylic paints can be used to create eye-catching effects that enhance the visual appeal and texture of your artwork. Fluorescent and metallic paints are great for making your art vibrant, luminous, and unforgettable.
Acrylic paints are also available in different sizes from compact, easy-squeeze tubes for small projects to 2L jars that can be used for large-scale creations.
Watercolours
Watercolours are another popular medium for beginner artists. Their charm, versatility, and simplicity make them an excellent choice for anyone looking to explore and grow their artistic skills.
However, watercolours can be unpredictable and difficult to control due to their fluid nature. Once the paint is applied, it becomes more difficult to fix errors since the pigment bleeds into the paper. Without practice, it could be more difficult to produce fine details, particularly on damp surfaces.
As already mentioned, acrylics can be applied to a wide range of surfaces, while watercolours are mainly designed for being used on paper. When comparing acrylics and watercolours it’s also worth mentioning that acrylics are generally more opaque, meaning they provide solid coverage with less transparency while watercolours are naturally transparent. They can be used to create a light, airy effect but this can limit the ability to completely cover the surface.
Similar to acrylics, watercolour paints come in two quality levels, student and artist standard. Student-quality watercolours are typically more affordable than artist-quality ones, making them good for practice and learning. However, they have a lower concentration of pigment, meaning the colours may not be as vibrant or intense as artist-grade watercolours. When it comes to colour intensity and permanence, artist-grade watercolours can’t be compared to student-grade options. In the end, you get what you pay for.
Watercolours come in a variety of sizes, including tubes and pans. Tubes typically contain more paint making them more suitable for larger-scale projects. Pans are smaller and lightweight, perfect for artists on the go and plein air (outdoor) painting.
Also, watercolour paints are available in sets and individual tubes and pans. Sets are convenient, cost-effective, and typically come with a selection of colours. The drawback of sets is that they typically include colours you wouldn’t have selected on your own.
Individual pans and tubes, on the other hand, allow you to customise your colour collection based on your preferences or project needs.
Oil Paints
Oil paints are a centuries-old medium loved by some of the greatest painters of all time including Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt van Rijn, Vincent van Gogh, and Claude Monet. Renowned for their rich colour depth, smooth blending capabilities, and exceptional versatility, oil paints have allowed artists to create masterpieces that stand the test of time.
Compared to other mediums, oil paints offer unmatched vibrancy and depth. Furthermore, thanks to a slower drying time they allow for detailed blending, reworking, and layering over days or even weeks. This gives artists the freedom to experiment and explore a wide range of painting techniques.
