If you have recently visited a Melbourne art supply store you know there’s an overwhelming amount of stuff on display. Choosing the right art supplies is often difficult, especially if you are a novice at buying your own supplies.
If you are interested in buying acrylics, which is just one medium, you have a whole array of colors, brushes and surfaces to choose from. For someone who is a newbie, the key is to buy only a limited number of supplies. The reasons why you should only buy limited stock are:
- The more material you own the more problem you have getting acclimatized with all of those.
- Instead of having to deal with dozens of tubes, you know you can create classy looking pieces using a few tubes only.
- You can have a more organized storage space. When there isn’t much to store you can concentrate on what you have and make the most of it.
Guide to buying acrylic paints
You basically chose a paint color based on your personal taste and the availability of the paint. All artists see a color differently. What may appeal to one might not appeal to another.
There are colors which are considered standard in all of the manufacturers range. However at times color with the same name would differ from one brand to another. It could be slightly lighter or darker.
Expert advice is to not use more than eight colors at a time. The starter it should comprise of standard warm and cool palette of primary colors.
- Warm colors include vermillion red or scarlet, Aquamarine blue and Ochre yellow or burnt sienna
- Cool colors include sky blue or Prussian blue, alizarin red and lemon yellow
- Other choices would include any shade of brown and a bright white color
Each of these colors can be tint by adding a bit of white. This can also bring out the warm and cool tone of the color. As any artist know that you can do a great deal with just these colors only. These can be mixed to achieve another color and give a better vibrancy based on the right mixing technique.
The variation between red and blue can also be stretched to include purple and not just one hade of purple but a great many shades. Another question which you might wonder about is whether you should buy student quality paints or artist quality paints. In case of acrylic paints the difference in both the qualities is based more on the viscosity of the paint then on the quality. Artist’s quality paints are more viscous and therefore have a better vibrancy and a thick buttery texture which can be stretched to suit the artist’s work. For someone who is just starting paints which are less viscous and more fluid would work well. As you build up on experience you can choose more viscous paints.
Make sure you visit Melbourne’s top art supply store for the best acrylic paints.