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Art Supplies Buying Guide and Tips
Submitted By: david in Arts Tips category
 Buying good art supplies is very important because the quality of art materials used, reflects in your paintings. Being an artist is expensive since art materials don’t come cheap. But don’t be disheartened! These days, there is a wide range of art materials in the market that suits every kind of budget. These supplies come in varying quality and price range. So you can choose items that that fit your requirement and budget. Buying art materials will depend on the medium you choose to paint with. But the fundamentals of art supplies are almost the same for different mediums. Below are some basic art supplies buying guide and tips that will help you get started.
Art Supplies Buying Guide and Tips
Paint – Buying good quality paint is vital to make a great painting. Any color is comprised of 3 substances i.e., pigment, binder and filler. Pigments are the intense colors which is the most costly part of any paint. Binders are used to bind the pigments together. Fillers are the most useless substance that just adds bulk to the paint. Cheap paints have less pigment and more filler thus reducing the intensity of the paint there by affecting the quality of your painting. Costly paints on the other hand have more pigment thus produce better results. Students and amateurs can settle for cheaper varieties of paints but professional artists should try buying good quality paints.
Brush – There are many kinds of brushes for different mediums of paints. Buying good brushes can be complicated and confusing. Firstly, know what medium the brush is made for. There are different brushes for oils, watercolor and acrylic. Further, brushes are categorized by its shape – mainly, round brushes and flat brushes. Brushes also have numbers assigned to them, with the size increasing in ascending order of numbers. Also, brushes come with either natural or synthetic bristles. Natural hair brushes are costlier than the synthetic brushes and work well on certain mediums of paint. So pick brushes based on your requirement, budget and medium.
Painting Surfaces – Again, depending on the medium of paint you’ll need to choose your painting surface. There are canvases that come in different grades and quality. Canvases are mainly used for oils and acrylic. Then, there are papers that come in various textures, colors, weight and qualities. Drawing papers are generally used for watercolors, pastels, charcoal and sketching. Cheap papers usually gets creased and tears easily.
Palette – Always buy a big palette since it gives you ample space to mix colors.
Sketchpad – A good artist always carries a sketchpad with him/her. In case an idea for a painting strikes in your mind, a sketchbook comes in handy to quickly put it down on paper.
Pencils – Likewise, pencils come in handy to make a quick sketch of an idea. Pencils are also used as a main medium to paint. Art pencils come in different grades. H and B are grades that determine how soft the graphite used in the pencils are. They are further categorized by numbers. 5H is harder than a 2H pencil while a 6B is softer and darker than a 2B pencil.
Finishing Tool – In case of oil or acrylic, varnishes are used to finish the painting. It not only protects the painting but also adds brilliance to the painting. But before you use it, you need to ensure that your painting is dry. In case of charcoals or pastels, one needs to use a fixative to seal the paint.
By keeping these art supplies buying guide and tips in mind, you can undoubtedly buy the right art supplies just like a Pro!
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