A lot of us on LV here are very creative, and use different mediums to express ourselves, whether it be digital or traditional art. But if you're a traditional artist, finding quality materials that won't break your wallet can be tough sometimes if you don't know where to start looking. Recently, I just got into watercolors, and I'm having a difficult time with the paints that I'm using. So how do you tell the difference between good and bad paints, and what are your tips for picking out quality painting materials?
I never was much of a painter, but watercolors never were my thing, either...lol. But I can say for picking out quality materials that you're more likely to find those at a hobby shop or something like that than your local Wal-Mart or anything like that.
I've not used watercolours for years but I can remember that a lot of watercolour quality also comes down to the quality of the paper. not all water colour papers are made equal. I personally preferred using tubes of watercolour as opposed to the dried palettes. It was easier to come across artist grade watercolours as opposed to standard grade. Artist grade paint will have a higher amount of pigment and tend to be more vibrant because of it. The little dried palettes are great for traveling with and standard grade stuff Is fine for that I always found. But the paper is important in this case. Don't want it warping or bubbling up. It's also important with watercolours to be patient some times. Let layers dry before putting more on. Also if you're able it can be good to use masking tape to tape down the paper you're working on as you're working on it. It can help keep the paper stretched. Hope my ramblings helped a little!
Thank you so much, I'll keep this in mind! I bought a watercolor sketch pad from Hobbycraft, and I think it's pretty good (but I know very little about painting, so I could be wrong). I had no idea watercolors came in tubes, I'll try to find some!
