One of the very first decisions you must make when you start painting is what sort of paint to use. This Q&A will help you decide between the most commonly used paints: oils, acrylics, watercolors, and pastels. Or take the quiz: Painting Personality Quiz: What Paint Should You Use?
Are these the only types of paint available?
No, acrylics, oils, and watercolors are the mostly widely used. Pastels and watercolor pencils are popular cross-over drawing/painting mediums; painterly effects can be achieved with them while retaining the immediacy of drawing. Other painting media are gouache, tempera, and
encaustic. Special paints are used for painting on silk or fabric, which are heat set (usually with an iron) to stop them washing out.
What are the advantages of each? Dries very fast. Mixed with water or mediums/gels. Brushes cleaned with water. Once dried, can be overpainted without disturbing underlying layers. Can be used thickly (impasto), like oils, or in thin washes, like watercolor. Water-resistant, so good for murals. Works as a glue, so good for collages.
Oils: Dries slowly, allowing plenty of time to work and to blend colors. Once dried, can be overpainted without disturbing underlying layers. Rich, deep colors which maintain their intensity when dry. Can be used thickly or in thin, smooth glazes. Then there's the status factor, oils being what the Old Masters used. (Take the quiz: Acrylics or Oils? to help you decide.)
Watercolors: Mixed with water and brushes cleaned with water. Paint can be lifted off by rewetting. If paint squeezed from a tube has dried, it becomes reusable if you add water. This is, afterall, the state pans or blocks of watercolor come in (see How To Choose Between Pan and Tube Watercolors).
Pastels: There's no waiting for pastels to dry. Colors are mixed on the paper, not on a palette, by overlaying or blending them (see Basic Techniques for Pastels). A wide range of colors are available. No brushes to clean. Easy to use outside the studio. Oil-based pastels can be thinned and blended with turpentine, or scrapped off to reveal colors underneath, known as sgraffito.
What are the disadvantages of each? Dries very fast, though working time can be increased by adding retarding medium to paint or spraying water on a painting. Completely waterproof once dried, so cannot be removed by rewetting the paint. Difficult to remove from a brush if it's dried in it. Except when used in thin washes, colors dry a bit darker than when applied.
Oils: Mixed with solvents and oils, so need to work in a well-ventilated area. Slow-drying, so consider working on several paintings at once. Have to wait several months to ensure a painting is dry before it can be varnished. Brushes need to be cleaned with white spirit or similar solvent. Water-based oils are produced by several paint manufacturers.
Watercolors: Being quite transparent, it's hard to rectify or hide mistakes in a watercolor painting. Need to allow for colours being lighter once they've dried than how they appeared when you painted. There is no white paint in watercolor; the white comes from the paper you're painting on.
Pastels: Usually requires a greater range of colours to create a picture than for other media. Different brands and pigments vary in softness. Soft pastel works tend to be liable to smudging and the pastel coming off the support. This can be prevented by using a spray-on fixative, taping a piece of tracing paper over it, or framing it with a mount that keeps it away from the glass.
What other things should I consider when deciding what paint to use? Watercolors are the cheapest to set yourself up with; all you need buy is a set of basic colors, a brush or two of different sizes, some paper, plus a board and brown gummed tape if you intend to stretch the paper.
Poison hazards: If you've small children, you may not want to have the solvents used in oil painting lying around. Some people are also allergic to the solvents – low-odour versions are available, as are water-based oil paints. Soft pastels can product a lot of dust; be careful to minimise the amount you inhale. For example, don't blow on your work to remove loose pastel. Poisonous pigments, such as Cadmium red, are usually available as a non-toxic hue (not that any paint is made to be eaten!).
Before You Buy: Take a look at these tips on buying acrylic, oil, watercolor, and pastel painting supplies.
How can I be sure I've chosen the right paint?
You can't, not until you've tried it out. You'll soon discover whether you enjoy working with it and the results, or not. If you like different things about different paints, you could mix them – then you'll be working in what's called mixed media. If there's an art college near you, see if they offer an introductory course on a particular medium. You get to try the paint among other novices and will learn basic skills. It may also provide you with a contact for cheaper art materials.
