Using Quality Materials

I'd like to discuss the difference between using artist quality acrylic paints vs craft grade or student grade materials. I was taught in college to always use the best quality paint whenever possible, and it wasn't until I started working as a professional artist that I truly understood the reasoning behind it all.

The difference between good acrylic paint and bad acrylic paint is fairly straightforward. Lesser quality paint tends to have more filler than pigment.So when you paint you'll notice that you may have to go over an area several times to get opaque coverage, whereas with artist quality paints it may take only one pass. The fillers become obvious when the paint is dry, as it usually has a chalky finish. Light fastness is another obvious difference.The term lightfastness describes a pigment's ability to resist fading when exposed to low or moderate light. Low grade paint has less pigment in it to begin with so it tends to fade significantly quicker than a quality paint.

At the end of the day it doesn't mean that an artist has to use the most expensive paint on the market. It means that an artist should maintain a standard of quality when selling their art, even when it's online.