Painting can be done in a number of different ways, and over the centuries a multitude of mediums have been developed and used. These mediums can completely change the final outcome of the painting, and artists typically use the medium that they are most comfortable with.
Choosing the right medium for painting is quite a personal thing, but all budding painters should give all the mediums a try to find the one that really suits their style of painting. Fortunately, most of these are easy to access and can be found at most art shops.
Watercolour
Watercolours are among the most popular of all the mediums because the painter has access to a wide range of colours. Watercolours can be difficult to work with, especially for those that are new to it, and it can be fairly frustrating at first to get everything to work as intended. Once a colour has been chosen and added to the canvas, there is very little that the painter can do to change it, so it’s important to have a firm idea of what’s being painted.
Acrylic
Next are acrylic paints, which are just as popular as watercolours, and a little more forgiving to work with, although they can create effects that are quite similar. What’s extremely appealing about acrylics paints is that the painter can add layers of paint and texture to their paintings until they find a look that works for them. It’s even possible to add water to give the work a sort of matte appearance, something that has become more and more popular in the last few years.
Oil Paints
Oil paints became popular during the 15th century and replaced tempura, which had been the most-widely used medium at the time. Oil paint dries slower and is made of different pigments that are mixed with oils to create a unique painting medium that has been used for some of the most famous paintings of all time.
Due to the fact that the oils take a really long time to dry, artists were able to change their paintings by adding more layers to the canvas that they’re working on. It also makes it that much easier to correct any mistakes that are made, something that’s simply not possible with a lot of different painting mediums, and the artist can start work again after their favourite show or a few rounds of mobile pokies in New Zealand.
Pastels
Pastels make use of pigments which are similar in many ways to oil paints, which are created by mixing the pigments with some kind of binding material. Pastels have been used since the 18th century and remain extremely popular throughout the world today. There are many different kinds of pastels available on the market, and each one offers a different final outcome, depending on the binding agent that’s used. Some artists use a special kind of pastel that involves sponges that can create a softer but extremely attractive painting, which is known as a pan pastel.
