I can safely say that I am moving beyond student and beginner paints.
They served their purpose when I was a child, and in college when I needed inexpensive colors to put on a canvas for class.
So, if you're a hobbyist, inexpensive colors are good.
However, keep in mind inexpensive colors will:
- have less pigment in them
- more dull colors,
- might mix strangely
- the pigment in the color won't match other brands' colors
- might be transparent, which can be good or bad for your purposes
- might be runny or clot too quickly in the tube
- dry too quickly on the canvas, so they become sticky and unworkable
- and other anomalies.
I have learned all this from trial and error. A professional or advanced hobbyist cannot simply use cheap colors. Your work will LOOK like an amateur's work. Or worse, like... sorry to say it, washable children's paint on a cheap piece of paper.
(FYI, since the cost of materials goes up, this is partially why original artwork has the cost that it does. Part the cost is the experience of the artist, part how much time is spent on the piece, and part is the cost of quality materials and making a piece that will last decades or centuries as opposed to a year or two.)
I am saying this looking back on paintings I've made over the past few years.
I am ramping up the quality of my pigments. The job I have currently is but a temp job, but I don't spend money on anything else, just student loans, some food, some transportation (I bought some clothes last week), and the rest goes towards bettering my knowledge of my crafts, mainly art and art supplies.
I think I like heavier body acrylic, but its hard to... find something that's in the middle of heavy body and low viscosity paint. At the moment I'm using
- Liquitex brand, heavy body and more general pigments,
- Golden brand, and
- Chroma brand.
I'm looking at my options as for paints I want to use. I have found that going to art supply websites gives you great deals, plus exposes you to reviews of other artists' experiences with materials.
What I stopped using:
Again, these were good for learning to paint and school projects, in both primary school and bachelor level college. But again, for a more professional artist, they don't really work.
- Reeves
- Liquitex Basic
- Artist Loft (basically off brand)
- Premiere Acrylic Colors
I mean, brands have cheaper colors in order to build brand loyalty with a customer and draw them towards buying the higher quality materials they sell.
However, this is the piece I am complaining of. Well, not really. I just felt I needed to say something after last night, I slowly became frustrated with some of the colors. This painting is a work in progress, and I plan on repainting most of it. I like how its coming out, except for some of the paints I used. But eeehhhhhh...
-MNR
