Paint

Which Paint is Right for You?

On the reg people approach me about what I use to create my art, on the surface it doesn’t always look like watercolours, despite usually being a watercolour base.

Having these conversations has showed me that people don’t really know the differences between paints or what they should try out first if they’re looking to get creative.

In this article I’m not going to be diving into stuff about pigments or binding agents or anything like that (as much as that stuff is very cool it deserves its own exploration), but I will be giving a proper break down of the most common paints and what you’re in for if you choose to try them out.

Helen Frankenthaler, famous abstract acrylic artist. 

Acrylic:

If you ever played with paint as a kid or did any painting in school, it was probably acrylic paint.

Drying and Effects:

Acrylic paint can be water soluble to a point, meaning you cannot always reactivate it with water.

Past a certain drying point, you will not be able to add water back to your paint pallet to use the remaining paint, which can create waste if you don’t know exactly what you want to use.

That being said, acrylics are probably the easiest thing for beginners to practice with.

You can layer acrylic paint quite easily between dries, and not have to worry about lifting the below layer (unless you’re a violent brush stroker).

Quality and Prices:

Lower quality acrylics are sometimes frustrating to use, usually because the base is too strong and there’s not enough pigment so you end up painting with what feels like poster paint.

Avoid any dollar store bottles and you’ll probably be fine.

If you’re going to buy acrylics, I would look into getting a pack or set. They usually come in small tubes in a range of colours, usually one of each colour with a few extras. You’ll be able to pick these up from anywhere between $10 and $30 depending on the quality you want.

Don’t get crazy expensive paints if you’re trying them for the first time, you may end up hating them and now you’re got a bunch of partially used paint just lying around.

Some acrylics also age terribly, I’ve peeled away tubes to discover powdery dried up paint despite it seeming to be air tight packaging. So keep an eye on them.

Brush Type:

For beginners, you’re going to want a range of smaller paint brushes, with soft bristles.

Try grabbing some square tipped and rounded tipped brushes, you’ll also want about 3 sizes of quite large bristles to help you lay larger swashes of paint at once.

Canvas Type:

Acrylic paint can be applied to a range of surfaces.

It does well on canvas, board and paper.

The only factors to look out for is how thin your paper is and how much water you apply with the acrylic on paper, as it can disintegrate the paper if its not strong enough.

You should also beware the environment and exposure your art will encounter.

If you paint something that will bare the elements or weather outdoors, you will need to varnish your work or seal it somehow to avoid deterioration.

You can use acrylics on a range of items, but you may need to proof it after depending on the journey that art will embark on.

Gustav Klimt The Maiden

Oil:

Oil paint seldom comes cheap, ever.

Once again your best bet if you must try these out, is to try and find a pack of colours for a cheaper price.

But unfortunately, oil paints will always be the most expensive option.

Quality and Price:

If you find a pack of oil paints for less than $20, that’s a hoax, run.

It’s a misconception that the best artists use oil paints, while you can achieve many effects with oil paint, its mostly a prestigious lie that you have to use them to be a “real” artist. Nonsense.

The first time I ever used oil paints it was because my year 12 art teacher insisted that if I had to make a painting for my final it also had to be an oil painting.

I was very naive, and she only supplied me the paints and nothing else.

Drying and Effects:

In order to paint with oils, you need some pretty hectic chemicals.

Solvent, so that you can clean your brushes, and linseed oil so that you can mix your paints and they glide onto the canvas better.

Without these, you will have an uphill battle, as did I.

The other draw back on oil, is that you need a well ventilated space in order to use them.

I had set up in the living room, all the windows open, and still the unbearable fumes of the oil paint frequently made me sick and my mum couldn’t get the smell out until the whole project was over.

Oils also take FOREVER to dry, so applying multiple layers is finicky, you have to very careful not to pull up the layer underneath, and if you apply too much paint to the canvas it may never properly dry.

This can make your art very fragile.

A varnish or glaze is usually recommended at the end to really seal the paint and get that colour to pop. More expenses.

Canvas Type:

Unlike the other paints I will mention, you have to be careful about layering paint types with oils.

Generally the rule is, no matter what, you layer oils last.

You cannot layer anything on top of oils that arent oil based, it will not work.

You can make a base with any paint type you want, then layer the oils on top of that.

As I know it, canvas is the best surface to use oil paint on, but I do believe they can be used on papers as well. I would recommend a very thick card paper if you’re going to use oils, or a sketchbook specifically for oils. The wrong paper or too thin a surface will allow the oil to bleed through to the other side, which can be bothersome when trying to store or mount.

Brush Type:

The brushes you need for oil paints should be firm, harsh bristles, you’ll probably want a range of sizes, and I would go for very synthetic bristles.

You’ll have to be pretty rough with your brushes when you clean them, its pretty rigorous to get all the oil paint off and even then some might be left over.

Oil paint left on brushes is a nightmare, which is why I avoid soft bristles when I paint with them, they’ll just ruin them in my experience.

You can also use pallet knives for oil, sometimes knives have better results than brushes, depending on the desired outcome.

If you have to try oils, try a different paint first.

This isn’t to deter you from trying oils, but if you’re a beginner painter you’re better off learning basic skills using cheaper acrylic paint.

That way you can start oils when you already understand basic colour mixing, how to apply brushstrokes and hopefully ascertain what kind of space you have to work in.

If you do master oils, they can add incredible depth to your imagery, and the more you practice the less paint you waste knowing exactly what you need.

One of Beatrix Potter’s watercolour illustrations

Watercolours:

This is my primary paint type.

Any artwork of mine available to view has been created using watercolours as a base.

A big difference between watercolours and the paints listed above is their canvas requirements.

Canvas Type:

Watercolours are best used on paper, and the relationship they have to paper is crucial to achieving the best results for the paint type and what it does well.

The paper is just as important as the paint.

You will need watercolour paper, specifically you’ll need a high gsm paper, at least 300gsm for a good result (this is due to the thickness, the more water you use with the paint, the more resiliant the paper must be), and the papers come in cold or hot pressed.

Cold pressed typically has a more textured paper, with a rough feeling to it.

Hot pressed paper is usually smooth.

Watercolours will react differently depending on the paper.

If I’m making a piece that’s more abstract, I tend to lean towards cold pressed textured paper so that the effects of the watercolour appear textured.

If I’m trying to make something more structured, like a portrait, I typically go for the hot pressed so that people aren’t focusing on the skin texture being rough.

You cannot make watercolour art on printer paper or notebook paper, please don’t, it will make you cry.

This is where watercolours come in handy for a beginner, if you buy a watercolour sketch book you’ll get a bunch of paper and plenty of room to try out techniques and play around.

The above are the basic range of paper qualities, Arches is one of the best brands and their hot pressed and cold pressed A3 papers are what I use. Reeves as a brand is fine, and they typically have sketchbooks with watercolour paper too, and Kmart will get you through the beginner stage without breaking the bank in the slightest. Got kids? Go Kmart.  

Quality and Price:

Watercolours can be expensive, but so long as you don’t buy dollar store paint you should get enough of a good result.

You should beware watercolour paint quality the most when it comes to hard dried pallets, sometimes things are added to these paints so that they activate better when dried, and this can follow on to your paper surface creating a chalky effect.

A friend bought me a somewhat prestigious paint pallet, a Himi set of dried watercolours, and despite the cost this paint dried with a terrible powdery finish.

If I brushed my hand or paper over it, the pigment would brush off and blur, in the case of using it in sketchbooks, its like using chalk instead, it just flakes off and blends all over the place. I can’t even seal it with hair spray, its just a nuisance.

I only use my Himi pallet for practice and studies in my sketchbooks.

So either buy cheaper tube paints, or buy medium quality dried paint.

The dried pallet to the right side is the only dried watercolour paint I tend to buy, I have never found it to be chalky and it absorbs into the paper well. 

Drying and Effects:

Watercolours are water soluble, meaning that when you add water to the dry paint it will become paint again that you can put to paper.

Watercolours dry very quickly, faster than any other medium.

This is sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse.

You can end up putting down a swash of paint, attempting to add water quickly enough to spread it evenly, but if you don’t do it in time you’ll end up with a stain effect instead.

You can attempt to add more water and buffer it, but if it strains the outline will likely be visible until you add more pigment around it or over it.

However, if you’re a beginner with a sketchbook, the quick dry time comes in handy for making a quick painting then closing the book, or turning the page to start anew.

Aside from some papers, watercolours are pretty cost effective, you can use absolutely every drop of paint, the waste is very minimal, and if you set aside your paint water to dry out at the end, eventually the water will evaporate and the left over paint can be wiped up with a tissue to be thrown out or reused if its possible to use the nasty colour left over (mind you I do this all the time for sketchbook practice).

Many people assume watercolours are less vibrant, I think this is due to what we’re used to seeing watercolours create.

Watercolours can be exceptionally bold and vibrant.

It just requires layers and layers of patience and a crisp understanding of light.

Brush Types:

Soft bristles are definitely the go to here. Usually there are packs of brushes just for watercolours.

Watercolours are a relaxing and mindful practice, you play with them when you want to explore the effect of paint to paper, and the effect of water on pigment. I’ll always be biased towards watercolours, but for some they can be very frustrating and difficult to master.

I’d go to watercolours after exploring acrylics if you’re unsure.

One of Laylah Ali gouache paintings

Gouache:

Gouache is like a bridge between watercolours and acrylics.

Drying and Effect:

They are water soluble like watercolours, sometimes you need to add water then wait for them to soften but you can still use them after they dry into hard clumps.

They have a thickness to them that watercolours don’t, and they dry more matte.

Gouache can be layered with other paints, like acrylic and watercolours.

Quality and Price:

Gouache is a little more expensive, but generally lies in the same ballpark as better quality watercolours.

No gouache set will be available for under $10 that’s worth anything. While you can deal with that kind of price for tube watercolours and acrylics, anything that price for gouache probably isn’t even gouache.

 Canvas Type:

You can use these on watercolour paper, or you can use them on canvas.

You may need more gouache to paint on canvas, as it does thin the more water you add and they are a bit more expensive than watercolours and acrylics.

The range of colours you can get is actually so exciting, and they are cheaper than oils so its very fun for me to go and buy individual colours if I need them for any reason.

Brush Type:

Watercolour brush rules.

Gouache is a fantastic paint for beginners, but it is a little more expensive.

Its best benefits are its surface flexibility and the ability to reactivate it with water, retaining the paint and the boldness of its effects.

The way I create my art is through a watercolour base, with gouache additions and final touches, and sometimes I layer pen on top of that, depending on the thickness of the paint layer.

I’ve painted with all of the above before, we were told ahead of time only oils would be accepted in my university, then when I started they told me I could use what ever I wanted so long as it was paint.

I tried oils, it was expensive, stinky and finicky.

I was never satisfied with acrylics, they never worked for me, especially not being able to reactivate them. In my early years I wasted so much acrylic paint and the mess it made was very toxic to get rid of.

I love being able to gradually blend, I like the slowness, I like when paintings dry quickly so I can frequently come back and add to it.

This is why watercolours are my chosen base paint.

Gouache is very similar, and you can paint on canvas. I love it for bold additions and final touches. If you’re trying to get that “digital perfection” look, gouache is a good way to go.

There are other paints, and I am strictly speaking about flat surface painting and what one can do in a small space with little equipment.

Spray paint is a whole other conversation, as is the types of paint you would use on ceramics, or murals, or on clothing.

But for 2D flat surfaces, these are most of your options.

Happy painting!