Paints and Colour

I’ll be covering paints and pigments in one of the lessons. In the meantime, here is some starting advice:

The most important paint characteristic, for me, is permanence – the light-fastness, or its fade-resistance over time. All reputable paint manufacturers will specify permanence and I check the tubes for this: If it’s not marked on the tube, it’s not good. I use a variety of paint brands in both Artist and Student quality. In many cases, the difference between the Artist and Student variants is the ratio of pigment to medium – the goop that is carrying the granules of pigment. There are potentially other differences in tone, clarity, opacity and covering power. All of these are factors when painting, however above all else, you do not want your painting to fade over time.

I use a limited palette, favoring pigments that are close to the primaries: red, yellow and blue. Should you be off to the store to start the course, by all means follow my recommendations in the course description: Cerulean blue, Ultramarine blue, Cadmium red, Alizarin crimson, Cadmium yellow, Lemon yellow, Burnt Sienna, Yellow ochre, Raw umber, Titanium white. Alternatively, you could buy a starter box of paints. In this case, choose one with a few decent-sized tubes. The boxes with small tubes of multifarious colours are definitely not as useful.

On a final note, you may see some pigments marked “hue”. This indicates a pigment that’s been formulated to mimic the true “hue” of a traditional pigment – but at lower cost. As such, it’s not necessarily inferior, however it may have somewhat different characteristics, depending on application. I often use “hues” and have had no problems.