The quality brands and suppliers of paint to artists will generally list the following specifications:

1) The name of the manufacturer and usually the common name for the color: e.g "Scarlet Red"

2)A list of the pigment/s that have been used and the color index name/s or number/s.

4) The amount of paint within the container measured in volume.

5)The address of the manufacturer and their contact details.

6)Also contained is data concerning the device used to keep the pigment cohesive, this is gum arabic when dealing with watercolor or gouache paints and acrylic polymer emulsion for acrylic based paints.

U.S.A based paint manufacturers have the added data of how compliant with ASTM Standards the paint is. Examples of such ratings are ASTM D4236 and D5098, it is up to you to consider how much you need this information and what they denote.

Also be aware of the manufacturers grading system, the higher the letter or number the more expensive the paint.

 The size guide has a basic starting point of 0 and can rise to as high as 30, however as there are many manufacturers and multiple brush styles, no size guide has ever been universally accepted and so investigation is required to ensure that you get exactly the brush you want.

 The smaller artistic brushes are based on multiples of 0 (00,000,etc.) and the more 0’s then the more intricate the brush.

 When choosing the brush that is right for you it is advisable to think off the measuring system as a guide to help you choose rather than a sure-fire system. Choose a supplier that you are happy with and seek out professional advice, as they can tell you how different the brushes will be from one another. The measurement of the handle is also part of the issue. Brushes can have either long or short handles and this will aid or detract from accessibility, you must be aware of your own needs before starting to paint and make sure that you are aware of how heavy the brush is, how delicate the tip is and how it will aid in your performance.

Here is a basic size guide:

Each of the major paint types give different results and have great differences in the end effects. Choosing the best medium to work with can make your art vibrant and alive.

 There are many more types of paint that could be used but amateur artists stick mainly to acrylic, oil and water based paints whilst pastel and the increasingly popular watercolor pencil give a degree of flexibility when it comes to drawing, they give the feel of a painted surface while keeping the fluidity of drawing. Other examples of different mediums are tempera, encaustic and gouache and other more specific paints that are used when painting on silk or other fabrics which use heat to keep them fast.

A brief list of the major paints:

Acrylic: This is a quick drying paint which can be slowed down by adding water-spray to a canvas or other retarding agent, giving you more freedom with time. They can be painted over as they dry waterproof and will not disturb the lower layers, however once they dry they cannot be changed and no amount of water will change this. Can be used thickly like oil based,impasto, or thinly like watercolors. Can be used as a glue for collage or for murals due to its water resistant nature. Difficult to remove from a brush if dried on except when diluted then the colors will appear darker.

Oil: A very slow drying paint allowing for tonal work and shading and allows the artist to cover more canvas area at the same time. Once dried over-painting layers is no problem and the intensity of the colors will remain steadfast with age. Can be used either as a thick or thin glaze, and the beauty of working with one of the great mediums draws many artists to oil. Only dangers with oil based paints are that the area must be well ventilated as there are solvents involved and once a piece is complete it will take several months before a varnish can be applied. Cleanup of brushes requires white-spirit or similar solvents.

Watercolors: Applying water to the brush and the watercolor block or pan they are a great medium as they can be lifted off canvas by simple re-wetting. Due to the transparent nature of watercolors a mistake will be glaringly noticeable and due care and attention should be given to your brushstroke and how to use tone as colors will be lighter when dry than when applied. You must also use the natural white of the canvas for a color as no white is made true enough. If a watercolor paint becomes dried then simple wetting the block will bring it back to life.

Pastels: No time can be wasted when using pastels. You will generally need a greater range of colors than you would with the other mediums as you will mix the colors on the paper and not with a pallette. A wide range of colors and degrees of pastel softness exist but softer pastels can become smudgy and making the color fall away from the support, which can be remedied by spray on fixative agents, overlaid tracing paper or a framed mount, these all aid in pastel work. The greatest help of pastels is that no brushes need cleaning and no studio to clean. They can also be blended with turpentine if oil-based and also scrapped of to reveal the layers underneath, commonly known as sgraffito.

Other considerations are cost and toxicity. In cost, watercolors are the cheapest and are easily replaced. The only supplies needed are basic color sets and simple brushes to use, paper and a board if you need to stretch the paper. Pastels and acrylic are next with price but Oil paints are more costly and some colors can be very expensive. Choose your medium wisely!

The next point is toxicity. Oil based paints require solvents; however there are now low-odor versions and even water-based oil paints. Pastels, especially soft ones can leave a lot of dust and you should be aware of how much dust they shed, don’t blow loose dust off your canvas. Some pigments like Cadmium Red are poisonous but can be bought in non-toxic hues. In all cases make sure that children are nowhere near solvents or paint fumes and keep the area you work in well ventilated.

The choice of your perfect medium can be trial and error and you should experiment, mix the different styles and paint mediums, seek guidance online or from local accredited colleges. See what’s out there and what works for you and you can create great art in no time.

Always remember that to get the best out of your paintbrush, use a different brush for different paints, oil colors and water based paints should never be on the same brush and could make a mess of work you are doing. Always use separate brushes for solvents and cleaning products.

 Don’t let the paint stand on the brush and be allowed to dry, as this can damage the bristles and the paint may never wipe off. Treat them delicately when cleaning, don’t crush the bristles with your fingers when you are trying to get the paint out, just keep rinsing it, this should remove the excess paint. Some brushes can be softened by a cleaning oil such as natural bristle brushes, and synthetic brushes. They can also be reshaped after washing and by soaking in hot, not boiling, water.

 To ensure you get the best results before washing you should take a clean cloth to your brush and wipe off any excess paint and gently squeeze the bristles towards the tip to coax the paint out, but be aware that too hard and you damage the bristles.

 Rinse the brush in clean oil or turpentine for oil based painting and lukewarm water for water-based, never apply hot water as this can damage the bristles.

 Once this is done wipe once more to ensure that all paint is gone and then wash the brush gently with soap and lukewarm water, dabbing the brush with a miniscule amount of soap and working up a lather, you should repeat this until you can see no more color. With several uses you may find the brush is stained but repeat the cleaning process to ensure that the paint is gone.

Rinse the brush in lukewarm water to get rid of all the soap and shake the brush, after this, using your fingers you should reshape the bristles into the perfect shaping. This can be achieved by placing the tip in tissue/toilet paper.

Leave the brush to dry at room temperature and stand the brush on the handle, never on the bristles, as this is damaging. If you are afraid of toxicity (and we all should be) then use gloves and protective clothing and keep yourself safe.

 Following these guidelines you should have your wonderful brushes for many art sessions in the future.

1) Use of poor quality supplies

It would be a shame to invest all of your time into creating a masterpiece only to have your colors fade within a year. Or even worse the paint flakes off the canvas due to the typical humidity in your house. It is better to spend a little extra time to prime your canvas or select one that is pre-primed for you. When looking at paints look to reputable manufactures that have quality color practise and stand behind their product. This will keep you paint looking the way you have indented.

2) Use of color

The artist has a wide array of colors to choose from, more colors exist now than at any other time of the history of art, but that doesn’t mean that you have to squeeze every one onto the canvas. Take the time to choose your colors and choose those colors that will blend together and create a feeling of harmony. Some artists choose conflicting sets of tones in their work but the color scheme should always be present before you set your brush to the canvas.

3) Tone Scheme

When you are choosing your colors and are beginning to paint think; how to do these colors work together in the viewer’s eye? The tone should flow harmoniously from one color to the next, moving from a shocking orange to a deep green may keep your audience awake but it might make them feel sick. Just remember that there are many tones of any color that you want and knowing which tone scheme to use can turn a painted canvas into a masterpiece.

4) Center Focus

The greatest temptation for any budding master is to put the main focal point smack bang in the center of the canvas, marking it out as a bull’s-eye to draw the eye in. This can make a picture disjointed and the central figure(s) dull and lifeless and unconnected with the scene around them. The entire scene should be one piece and all the characters, main figures included, should be alive within the canvas. If you only draw the eye to the centre then why should people bother to look around?

5) Realism or Duplicate?

There is a great art movement which attempts to accurately portray the world with such authenticity that it feels as if you are looking at a photograph. If you are a realist then carry on like this, but if you want to take what you see and transform it then don’t just trace every outline or sketch every cloud, allow your artistic hand to be inspired by any reference aids you have, such as photographs, but don’t be a slave to them, it’s your art that people want to see, not just to look out of a window.

6) Putting the brush down

All artists are their own worst critics and some never know when they have finished. The point at which you step back and seal the work as is, can take some doing but you must judge independently of yourself, a task that can bring many artists to a standstill, and say this is the finished piece. Too much paint on the canvas and too many finishing touches from an artist can ruin a work of art. Know when enough is enough.

If you can follow the steps mentioned above you will make swifter progress towards fine art and may see your work displayed alongside the masters.

• Mix Point

The mix point is simply the point at which the paint and air mix. The choices available for this are Internal or External. When using External mixers, the simplest and most uncluttered of them all, both the paint and the air are mixed outside of the airbrush. Whereas with an Internal Mix the paint and air are mixed inside the airbrush, or rather at the tip, and this creates a more controlled and professional finish.

• Trigger

The most basic and accessible airbrushes use a single action mechanism which means that by the simple pressing of a trigger only the flow of air is controlled and you will find that the cheaper brands of airbrush are built with this.

Dual or Double action airbrushes allow for greater control and allows the user to perform a multitude of tasks. The dual trigger separates the control of air flow and paint flow so that the two can be set independently. Firstly the user sets the air flow and then can adjust the paint flow as they see fit. This is the most common design of airbrushes and is very common amongst artists for the control that a dual trigger provides. The most important thing to remember is always begin with air and end with air.

• Feed System

There are two main types of feed system for airbrushes. The first is gravity feed which put simply means that a reservoir sits on top of the airbrush and uses gravitational pull to aid in the flow of paint. The other common type is bottom feed, which means that air pressure passes over a paint reservoir mounted on the underside of the airbrush and draws the paint up.

The brand name airbrushes do have some advantages. Generics that are out there may seem like the easy option and may look like the best deal on the market but they can be dubious and certainly need to be investigated thoroughly before any purchase and finding replacement parts for these can be difficult. You are more likely to be able to repair one if it should fail. Most name brands also sell replacement parts that will save you from buying a new generic airbrush every time a small part fails.

These are some of the decisions that may arise when choosing the right air brush kit for your job, it is necessary to investigate it thoroughly. The intricate nature of airbrushes makes them prone to damage if mishandled and must only ever be used by competent individuals. When buying your airbrush always make sure to choose supplies from recommended distributors and ensure that you always do your research when it comes to buying the best for the job that you undergo.

• Prime pigment or hiding pigment
• Inert pigment or extender pigment

• The first type is known as organic and
• The second is known as inorganic type.

• Natural and
• Synthetic.

Normal paints available in the market also contain certain other chemical substances. These paints are available in form of tubes or in other packing material. These substances can affect the quality of the paintings. Therefore many artists prefer to make their own paints by mixing the base substance and pigment. The process is not very difficult, provided you learn it properly once. An artist can produce oil paints by mixing linseed oil and a pigment. The color of the paint depends on the color of the pigment which is being used.

Then there is another kind of paint used extensively by the artists for paintings. It is known as acrylic paint. There is an emulsion known as the acrylic polymer emulsion. This emulsion is binds the acrylics. To produce acrylic paint the acrylic polymer emulsion is mixed thoroughly with water and a colored pigment is also added to it. The acrylics have a tendency to dry up rapidly. This is a limitation on the mixing time. It dictates that very less mixing time is available to mix the base, pigment and acrylic polymer emulsion.

There are pigments like watercolor and Gouache. These pigments are mixed with base like Gum Arabic. Gum Arabic is a medium for watercolors. It helps in bringing more transparency and also assists in increasing the drying time. The use of pigments was increased when the acrylic and oil paints were used extensively. This was around 20^th century. Since then pigments have been used with numerous bases to produce paints of different colors and types.

As the 20^th century rolled in, number of different colors were introduced and with it the need for a palette. Previously, the artists did not have much option to choose from. The only colors that were available to them were black, white, red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange and other earth tones. However, this shortage of colors never hindered the progress of the artists. They combined these colors to produce some of the unique paintings of all times.

Experienced artist will tell you that they do not need to look towards their palettes when they are painting. The reason is that they know where a color lies on the palette. They have arranged the colors in a way that they are comfortable with them. This is the main purpose of a palette. Mostly the artist arranges the colors on their palettes in two ways.

• In the first type of arrangement the artist arranges all the colors according to his convenience and in the frequency in which they are used. Once the artist gets used to the arrangement of the colors, he will not need to look towards his palette to know where the colors are.
• The other style that most of the artists prefer is the arrangement of colors according to spectrum. In this type of arrangement the colors are arranged with as reds then oranges followed by yellows, greens, blues and violets and then finally browns, blacks and white.
• The last style observed by artists is the arrangement of cooler colors on one side and warmer colors on the other.

But the bottom line of all this discussion is that no matter what combination of colors the artist is willing to adopt he must take his convenience into consideration. The colors on the palette are not arranged for style rather the arrangement is for the convenience of the artist. Some of the artists refer to the palette as the keyboard of a piano or a computer. This is due the characteristic of the keys on the keyboard to be arranged in a particular order. When a pianist or a typist uses the keyboards they do not need to look where the keys lie, rather their fingers fall on the right key automatically. Same is the case with an artist and their palette. Once the artist gets accustomed to the arrangement of the colors on the palette, they can increase their speed of painting.

1. Washes. Flat wash is a watercolor technique. It is the most basic technique. To produce it the area of the paper which is required to be covered using the wash is wetted and then pigment is added to it. The pigment is applied onto the surface top down. The surfaces are sloping and the bands overlap horizontally. The wash is left to dry up after it has been completed. Then there is a technique used known as graded wash and in this technique the pigment needs to be diluted with water. Thus more dilution is required for each of the horizontal strokes. As a result there is a gradual fade out of the wash.
2. Glazing. It is somewhat similar to washes. The pigment used is thinner. It is applied over dry washes. In this way the tone and color of the underlying washes is adjusted. Certain pigments which are ideal to be used for glazing are:-
   1. Rose madder
   2. Cobalt blue
   3. Auroline

        These pigments are transparent and are also non-staining.

3. Wet in Wet. In this process a wet paper is used on which a pigment is applied. Existing washes is one place where this technique can be employed, provided the washes are dried thoroughly. Wet in wet technique makes soft marks and these can be applied to your painting for subtle backgrounds.
4. Dry Brush. The opposite technique of wet in wet is the dry brush. Pigment is loaded onto a brush and dragged on dry paper. Very hard edged marks are produced. The marks produced are also very crisp. Centre of interest is the place where these marks should be applied.
5. Lifting Off. After the pigment has dried it can be lifted off and also dissolved. For this technique it is advised to avoid staining colors like blue and yellow. The process is simple and produces hard edged shapes and lines.
6. Dropping in Color. In this technique color is introduced to a region of the painting which is wet. Then it is permitted to feather out and bleed without any interruption. It at times produces results which are unexpected. The color gradations produced are quite vibrant and interesting. A pigment is mixed on the palette to achieve this.

To achieve the best desired results for these techniques of art and watercolors, the artists can use various kinds of art supplies. Each has its own distinct mark and effect on the type of painting it is being used for.