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Post by Jae on Jul 17, 2016 19:32:04 GMT -5
Hey I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this (if it's not oops) but it seemed like it so yeah.
I decided recently that I want to get into painting. It's for a variety of reasons (i.e. it looks fun, paintings are legit one of the most beautiful forms of art, and I think it might help relieve some of my anxiety and depression). However I have no idea where to start.
I don't know what I would need to buy, most importantly. But I also don't really know the difference between the styles. Well I know watercolor when I see it, but I'm not really sure between acrylic and oil, nor do I know the differences in materials (different paints/colors, brushes, canvases, etc...) and brush techniques. I can probably hammer out the latter part on my own through Youtube tutorials, but I'm not too sure with the materials and such. I tried googling, but nearly every site I found just went into detail on the differences between artist-quality and student-quality paints; none really had a concise 'here's what you need to get started' shopping list.
So, anyone who's into painting wanna weigh in and help a newb out? .__.
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Post by Zoey on Jul 17, 2016 22:40:00 GMT -5
Hey I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this (if it's not oops) but it seemed like it so yeah. I decided recently that I want to get into painting. It's for a variety of reasons (i.e. it looks fun, paintings are legit one of the most beautiful forms of art, and I think it might help relieve some of my anxiety and depression). However I have no idea where to start. I don't know what I would need to buy, most importantly. But I also don't really know the difference between the styles. Well I know watercolor when I see it, but I'm not really sure between acrylic and oil, nor do I know the differences in materials (different paints/colors, brushes, canvases, etc...) and brush techniques. I can probably hammer out the latter part on my own through Youtube tutorials, but I'm not too sure with the materials and such. I tried googling, but nearly every site I found just went into detail on the differences between artist-quality and student-quality paints; none really had a concise 'here's what you need to get started' shopping list. So, anyone who's into painting wanna weigh in and help a newb out? .__. YOOO so currently not doing painting anymore, but I did do quite a few of them in middle/high school.  tbh, my painting teacher from back then typically bought art supplies in bulk, but they were specifically branded for artists, and didn't actually cost that much. I remember a massive bundle of a variety of paint brushes (like 15-20 brushes? all shapes, sizes, and textures) costed about $7, and a carton of about 20 acrylics didn't cost that much, either. So, just go to an actual art shop (not like, Michael's or something--their stuff is way too overpriced) and pick up some low-end paints and brushes (not, like, Crayola or something for kids). The good ones usually come in squeezy tubes, not already potted. Pick up a cheap, plastic palette with low walls as well for mixing colors. Dump a variety pack of brushes in, and complete it all with a big watercolor sketchpad. Of course, there are different types of paints and brushes, as you mentioned. I'll go over the few that I know. I personally haven't used oils yet, but I hear that they are extremely messy. I have used watercolor and acrylics, though. Watercolor is, as you can imagine, more watery, and the way it washes on paper is very light and delicate, and colors blend seamlessly. It's kind of hard to get photo-realistic shading with watercolor, but I personally prefer the look of it because it looks elegant. When using watercolor, you're going to have to dip your brush into water very frequently. Your brushes will also be more flat, with smaller and softer bristles (a lot of the times they're synthetic), like this:  Acrylic, on the other hand, has a much thicker consistency, and it is so. hard. to get off. anything. However, when I was younger, I loved using acrylics, because it was much easier to layer on color without it looking muddy, since the texture was drier. It dries much faster as well, and you can get some extremely vivid shading with it. Acrylics, like watercolors, come in tubes, but they also come in bottles. Their packaging sizes are usually bigger. But you'll be able to tell the difference, since all art supplies are labeled! Acrylic brushes are much stiffer, often made from coarse animal hair: They have to be stiffer because with acrylics, you frequently "dab" the paint on, while in watercolor, it is almost exclusively made of soft brush strokes. Also, another word of caution when working with acrylics: make sure all clean surfaces are covered with newspaper or something before work, and wash palette and brushes and hands IMMEDIATELY with warm/hot water after finishing. and preferably wear an apron or clothes you won't miss, although acrylic -should- come off in the wash if you wash it early enough after it gets dirty. In terms of sketchpads/canvases, I wouldn't recommend canvases for now mostly because they are pretty expensive, and made more for finishing pieces instead of just experimenting. Of course, you can still experiment with canvas, but I mean, with each canvas costing several dollars a pop... You don't need an amazing quality sketchpad to do amazing art.  Just make sure to buy one that is specifically labeled watercolor, and has thick sheets with the iconic uneven surfaces of watercolor paper. I hear that "heavier" paper is better for soaking up liquid, but honestly, as long as the watercolor pad is from an art store, it should be more than enough to get you where you want to go. ^.^ Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'll let you know which ones I can answer. XD If you're curious about other media, I can also offer insight into graphite, charcoal, pastel pencil, and colored pencil. ^.^ |
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Post by Jae on Jul 17, 2016 23:34:07 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the in-depth answer Zoey ! ^^ A lot of good info there! So basically all I need is a palette, paints, brushes and watercolor paper (and I'm guessing that watercolor paper is thick enough to hold acrylics without tearing)? I found this easel + storage box thing that I think may have belonged to my mom that I can re-use. I don't really know of any art stores around me that aren't Michaels or AC Moore. I did find some online sellers that are listed on more than one art blog so I may go that route, for paints and brushes at least. Most dollar stores and Walmarts around me sell Strathmore pads, and I assume that those are good enough for a beginner to mess around on. As far as other questions, what colors should I get to start off? And, if you know, which pigments are worth springing for a higher-quality brand and which ones, if any, can be had cheaply? Again thank you so much for your time ^^ I'll definitely keep that in mind if I want to expand my artistic *ahem* talents. |
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Post by Zoey on Jul 18, 2016 0:08:47 GMT -5
Thank you so much for the in-depth answer Zoey ! ^^ A lot of good info there! So basically all I need is a palette, paints, brushes and watercolor paper (and I'm guessing that watercolor paper is thick enough to hold acrylics without tearing)? I found this easel + storage box thing that I think may have belonged to my mom that I can re-use. I don't really know of any art stores around me that aren't Michaels or AC Moore. I did find some online sellers that are listed on more than one art blog so I may go that route, for paints and brushes at least. Most dollar stores and Walmarts around me sell Strathmore pads, and I assume that those are good enough for a beginner to mess around on. As far as other questions, what colors should I get to start off? And, if you know, which pigments are worth springing for a higher-quality brand and which ones, if any, can be had cheaply? Again thank you so much for your time ^^ I'll definitely keep that in mind if I want to expand my artistic *ahem* talents. Not a problem! Let's see what else I can dig out of my mind... Yup! That should be all you need. ^.^ And yes, watercolor paper should be sufficient for acrylic, especially since acrylic has a drier and thicker consistency and isn't as liquidy as watercolors. Easels are definitely helpful! Although if you're doing watercolor, I would suggest trying on a flat table first, so you have more control over where the water runs.  with acrylics, it doesn't matter as much since you won't be dipping your brush into water as much. tbh, online retailers are probably your cheapest option. I searched up some sketchpads and paints on Amazon just today, and usually the top results are good artist-quality items (ALWAYS check the review before buying, though--and make sure they aren't just "I received this product for free for my honest opinion," because those tend to be heavily biased). yeah, I wouldn't go to a crafts store, just because their items tend to be overpriced, BUT they may have coupons that make an item or two reasonably priced. Most of my sketchpads in the past have actually been Strathmore. They are amazing for sketching quality (although, to be fair, it isn't like I ever really had the opportunity to draw on paper squeezed from the finest of trees or whatnot, but I am plenty satisfied with what I have now. XD); I'm actually not sure if they make watercolor paper pads as well, but if they do, go ahead and pick one up. Color wise? uh, definitely your primaries, ie. red, yellow, and blue. LOL! tbh, you don't really have to worry about picking or choosing colors because watercolors and acrylics typically aren't super expensive (unlike Copic markers, which are upwards of $6-7 for a single marker), and they come in sets. I've never used acrylics or watercolors that come by themselves. When I was still painting, both my watercolor and acrylic sets came in about ~24 or so colors, and that was plenty for my purposes (some of the colors rarely ever got used), because you normally use your palette to mix colors anyway. tbh, you can probably get away with the small sets of 12, especially if you're not like, "I need THIS EXACT COLOR and I can't be bothered to mix it! D: ", and 24-ish is safe for intermediate use. if you suddenly decide to become ULTRA SERIOUS I MUST BE BEST PAINTER EVARR, then you can invest in the bigger, more expensive sets. But c'mon, it's more impressive to show your awesome painting to other people and be like, "yeah, I did that with 12 colors " (also, again, make sure you're buying the paint sets in the squeezy tubes, because the pre-panned palettes typically aren't as good. they're drier, and with paints, you need them to be FLUID, bro. FLUID.) I've never used pure pigments before in drawing, so I apologize, can't offer any ol' wisdom there. D: imo, they aren't necessary at all, especially if you have a nice set of 12-24 colors. Now, if you're wondering about brands to splurge on for paint sets, whether they be watercolor or acrylic, I honestly can't tell you which ones are "OMG SO WORTH THE MONEEEZ" because when I run out of paint from a set, my teachers typically buy me whatever brand can be bought in bulk or on sale, I guess, cause they always change. XD The pricier ones typically are pigmented better, but honestly you shouldn't be paying more than twenty bucks or so for your first paint set (I'll give it 30 if you're buying a set of 24, but that's pretty generous). If you're at an art supply store, you can always ask someone for their opinion; online, there's always reviews! |
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Post by Zoey on Jul 18, 2016 0:34:36 GMT -5
In addition to the small novella I responded with in my previous post, I actually went ahead and pulled out my old paints to show you what I mean. So from left to right: Palette - Cheap, can be cleaned, used for squeezing paint onto and mixing colors together. Small welled sections so that it can hold water without bleeding through the entire palette. 24-set Reeves watercolors - I believe this was the cheapest I could find at the art store. Works well for watercolor purposes. Note squeezy tubes in all of them! 12-set Jo Sonja's acrylic "sampler" - they say it's a "sampler" because normally you buy acrylics in massive bottles, but these are 20 mL or 2/3 fl oz tubes and they lasted me through almost a dozen big paintings? there's still plenty left, and I feel like I don't even use half the colors. LOL! 24-set Marie's watercolor (seems to be manufactured in China? idk) - purchased from teacher. I think these may have been a better texture and quality than the Reeves, but maybe that's only because I've used these more and are used to them. Tbh, either of the watercolor sets are fine. And as you can see, even though I've done a lot of watercolor paintings, all of my tubes still look new because I've hardly made a dent in them. The watercolor tubes are about 0.4 fl oz each, and again, some of these colors I've never touched before, so I think you'll do just fine with 12 as well. as far as color usage goes, I think my most-used are usually black, white, red, yellow, blue, green, brown, and maybe orange for landscapes. I think I might've used purple as well...? idk. point being, you have a set of basic colors and then mix them to make the five bajillion other colors that you need for a painting. XD It's fun! sometimes you don't even know what color you'll get. And it teaches you a bit of color theory in the long run. Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. XD let me know if there's anything else! POST YOUR PAINTINGS HERE IF YOU DO START DOING THEM |
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Post by M is for Morphine on Jul 18, 2016 9:29:37 GMT -5
The only paint I really know is acrylics, and I love them. I am a beginner by any metric but hopefully I can help you out. Acrylics are cool and really versatile, as well as being quite cheap to begin with. They don't need a special thinner like oils do and can be thinned with just water. You'll probably want to thin it because it's really, really thick out of the tube and often quite gloppy. You can thin with water a lot, but if you overdo it you can break the polymer bond that hold the paint together. Generally 1 part water to 2 parts paint is a good guideline if you're thinning. If you need to thin it further, like for a wash, you'll need to use acrylic medium/flow aid to keep it together.
Which brings me to- mediums! This is the coolest thing about acrylics to me. There is all sorts of crap you can mix in your paint for different effects. You can get a gel or paste medium for really thick impasto painting, like Van Gogh style. You can make your paint textured or change the properties- more or less shiny, slower drying, etc. You don't need any to start but it's something you can have a lot of fun with if you decide you want to.
Picking paint is pretty simple for a beginner, because you aren't asking a lot from your paint and almost any will do. The price of paint increases based on two things: quality of pigment, and density of pigment. Quality of pigment is obvious when you're looking at a really, really dirty cheap acrylic like the craft acrylics, like FolkArt or Apple Barrel. FolkArt is actually kind of decent but the primary colors (especially the reds!) are poor and lack the intensity of even the cheapest artist acrylics. They also have less of a pigment to binder ratio and may thin poorly. The advantages of FolkArt are the price, which is ridiculous, and the exceptional variety of pre-mixed colors (good range of flesh tones, actually) if you hate mixing/need consistency.
Next up is the beginner artist acrylics like Liquitex Basics, Reeves, or any other 'student acrylic', which have less pigment and possibly cheaper pigment than the 'professional' or 'artist' versions put out by the same companies. As a beginner I think that student paints should be fine. Like, on a beginning level things like 'it will take more thinned coats to reach my desired consistency' or 'is less intense when mixed with white than an identical amount of a better acrylic' aren't going to make a ton of difference, so it might be best to save your money until you're sure you like working with acrylics or painting at all. A problem I did have with Reeves is that the caps on the tubes are really crappy. The ring part of the cap that screws on the tube has a tendency to break so I ended up with a couple of tubes of rock solid plastic.
So the big thing about acrylic is the dry time. This is both the good and the bad thing. Oil paints stay wet and blendable for literally days, and it's not hard to get really rad gradients and subtle transitions between colors. With acrylics, it's much harder. It's also a huge pain when you mix up a color just right and it dries on the pallet. On the other hand, it's nice to have your painting all the way dry the same day you finished it. Also since it dries into a plastic, it's quite strong. You'll still probably want to protect it further with an acrylic varnish if it's a piece you want to keep around, though.
I just started experimenting with a wet pallet, and I think it's going to be a game changer. It's something you might want to look into if blending becomes an issue for you. You could also try a 'gel retarder' to increase the blending life, but it's not an option for the way I work so I haven't tried it.
Oh yeah re: washing your brushes in really hot water, it can soften the glue that keeps the bristles in and make them fall out. Also you know how people have a cup of rinse water for their bushes and leave them sitting in it? That really messes the point of the brush up and can ruin them quickly. Lay them down horizontally when you're not using them. Rinse out your brush while you work before any paint dries in there. Acrylic cures into a plastic and will ruin your brush. When you're done for the day, wash them out with dish soap (they make a special soap that is just for brushes but I haven't used it, I bet it's nice but dawn has worked fine), dry them, and lay them out to get all the way dry.
I'm sure you know but I'll say it anyway: Licking your brush while you paint is bad, it's so bad man. If you're using a small pointed brush and you need to reshape it, dip it in water and touch it to a paper towel. Pull it toward you while rotating it, and the point will reform. Please don't ingest pigments, some of them are extremely toxic.
Sorry for the ramble, just my two cents on acrylics.
Edit:
I forgot an important lesson I learned, called "How to use thinned acrylics for small details and not dump a ton of garbage on everything." So when you load your brush with the thinned paint, it sucks up a bunch of liquid and holds it in the bristles. Then you touch your brush to the surface you mean to paint and way more paint than you intended comes bloorping out at once. To prevent this, after you load your brush touch the tip very gently against a paper towel. It will suck off any excess and prevent a tragedy.
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Post by June Scarlet on Jul 18, 2016 12:29:01 GMT -5
Wow, Zoey, I have that same exact set! It's good enough for my needs. I would personally say to start with watercolor, because it's very easy to work with technique wise. What is hard about it is that there's no undo button, once you put it down, you're stuck unless you can maybe blot it out with a rag right away. But it works very well if you're already used to drawing, because you can draw on the watercolor paper, and then use the watercolor on top. I know Zoey said watercolor paper is fine for acrylic, but I disagree, which just goes to show there is no right answer for anyone. The thing about watercolor paper, it's designed to be absorbent and soak up the water. That's great for watercolor. But Acrylic isn't watery, so it's not so great. I would use Bristol Board for Acrylic, it's nice and smooth, making it easier to paint over. Don't touch oils if you're a beginner. There's just all these extras rules going on with it, like you have to use the right thinners, and you have to paint fat over lean, which means the first layers have to be watery, and the top layers have to be oily, or else it'll start cracking in ten years. And you have to set it out to cure for a month before it's sort of properly dried. More like 6 months to be perfectly dried. What is nice about oils is that you have time to play around with the paint over many days, you're not in a hurry. But that's not something you'd be interested in at this stage. So a basic list for me would be Paper, Paint, and Brushes. Everything else is just nice to have. A palette? I just use a paper plate, actually, one that has a waterproof finish, but otherwise ordinary. Maybe wear some old clothes you don't mind getting paint on, because you probably will. |
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Post by M is for Morphine on Jul 18, 2016 13:11:12 GMT -5
It might not be the most ideal, but I don't think there's any reason you couldn't paint with acrylics on watercolor paper as long as it was a good weight and strength, as acrylic is a bit heavy and could cause the page to buckle or tear. In fact if you are thinning the acrylics a lot or washing I think a watercolor paper would be preferred. I think if you're getting really wet with it you'd have to stretch it? I'm sure Zoey can confirm or set me right on that. I have a couple different papers on hand including a cold press WC paper. I'll have to run some tests and confirm. |
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Post by Jae on Jul 18, 2016 14:28:10 GMT -5
Thank you so much for all the advice, guys! I found what I think is a blank canvas in some more old stuff. I guess I'll hang onto that for future endeavors xD June Scarlet that's what I had heard but if someone here was a diehard oils fan and really wanted to share tips, I didn't want to turn them away haha. I guess I'll just start out simple, like you all suggested, and kind of see where it takes me! |
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Post by Zoey on Jul 18, 2016 15:16:28 GMT -5
Wow, Zoey , I have that same exact set! It's good enough for my needs. ... So a basic list for me would be Paper, Paint, and Brushes. Everything else is just nice to have. A palette? I just use a paper plate, actually, one that has a waterproof finish, but otherwise ordinary. Maybe wear some old clothes you don't mind getting paint on, because you probably will. Indeed! Reeves are like, the start-up paints for watercolors if you're trying to learn proper watercolor painting. *high fives for same art supplies* I personally prefer a palette, because they are cheap (like two bucks max), are reusable (so cleaner for the environment), don't take up space, and don't get entirely soaked with liquid and become a mess because they are a hard plastic. But yes, ditto on wearing old clothes. It might not be the most ideal, but I don't think there's any reason you couldn't paint with acrylics on watercolor paper as long as it was a good weight and strength, as acrylic is a bit heavy and could cause the page to buckle or tear. In fact if you are thinning the acrylics a lot or washing I think a watercolor paper would be preferred. I think if you're getting really wet with it you'd have to stretch it? I'm sure Zoey can confirm or set me right on that. I have a couple different papers on hand including a cold press WC paper. I'll have to run some tests and confirm. After spending a few hours cleaning out my old art files (WHOO! found some more old sketches that I should post up soon!) and inhaling like a bucket of dust, I discovered that I could not find any examples of me using acrylics on watercolor paper, but I could've -sworn- I did. Afterward, I decided to google it up, and the general consensus is that it's fine. ^.^ I personally do not see a problem; watercolor paper is designed to absorb a ton of liquid, and as long as you use the normal thick watercolor paper in basic watercolor pads, weight shouldn't be a problem (and if you're starting out by applying globs and globs of acrylic on paper... uh, might want to scale back LOL! It's actually not too different from painting with watercolors.). Oh, I forgot to mention this, but add some old, porous kitchen sponges to your brush tool set as well! If you're doing bushes or trees, like so: they create FANTASTIC shrubs, flowers, and leaves just by dabbing on paint with sponges. And I did take a tally of my sketchpads as well, and it seems like all of them are either from Strathmore (if they're watercolor) or Carson (if they're normal sketch paper).  Cheap-ish supplies that have fantastic quality! ^.^ (I hope Jae isn't overwhelmed by all this info... D: anyway, takeaway from all this is that there's no one true way to approach painting, but you shouldn't worry too much about incredibly proper art supplies or anything. XD You'll be able to paint fantastic things regardless!) |
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tbh, my painting teacher from back then typically bought art supplies in bulk, but they were specifically branded for artists, and didn't actually cost that much. I remember a massive bundle of a variety of paint brushes (like 15-20 brushes? all shapes, sizes, and textures) costed about $7, and a carton of about 20 acrylics didn't cost that much, either. So, just go to an actual art shop (not like, Michael's or something--their stuff is way too overpriced) and pick up some low-end paints and brushes (not, like, Crayola or something for kids). The good ones usually come in squeezy tubes, not already potted. Pick up a cheap, plastic palette with low walls as well for mixing colors. Dump a variety pack of brushes in, and complete it all with a big watercolor sketchpad.
Just make sure to buy one that is specifically labeled watercolor, and has thick sheets with the iconic uneven surfaces of watercolor paper. I hear that "heavier" paper is better for soaking up liquid, but honestly, as long as the watercolor pad is from an art store, it should be more than enough to get you where you want to go. ^.^
with acrylics, it doesn't matter as much since you won't be dipping your brush into water as much.
Cheap-ish supplies that have fantastic quality! ^.^