Howard's Art Supplies & Frames

ACRYLICS, WATERCOLORS & OILS

Why do some Paints Cost More Than Others?

There are three qualities of art paint.  Oils, acrylics, and watercolors all come in Artist, Student and Economy grades.

The artist grade paints come in the greatest number of colors and cost the most per volume.  The contain pure pigments and no extender.  But they also cover the best and give good value for money.  Student grade paint labels sometimes contain such words as "Hue" or "Azo".  These words tell you that the pigments, such as Cadmium Yellow are not actually present, but instead there is a substitute which has the same apparent color.

Student grades have an extender added.  Extender is fascinating stuff.  you can add the same volume of extender as of the artist grade paint, and after mixing it in, the color looks the same!  Now, it clearly isn't going to cover as well as the undiluted paint.  However, for many applications, this doesn't matter a lot.

Within each medium (oils, etc) you can combine artist and student grades, but remember you may be adding extender to a better grade of paint. and the Hues and Azos don't act the same way as their genuine pigment sisters.

So which one should you buy?  Always but the best you can afford, and at least try some of the next grade up.  You'll find out why they cost more...because they are BETTER!

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