AIBU about using cheap artist paint? (Q for arty people)

[Anonymouse007]

Hi there,

I’ve recently been wanting to explore a childhood favourite of mine: art. I haven’t painted or sketched in years and want to learn a little bit before I jump in.

I’m interested in sketching and painting so have looked at some online artists and their advice, art, etc. I just had a few questions and was hoping some art-smart people here could help:

1. The Works sells acrylic paint sets for about £6 and £8 (20 pack) as well as single tubes, etc. Are they good enough or will I regret buying cheap paint because the outcome won’t be as good??

1. The Works also sell graphite pencils and sketching pencils for £2-£4. Would it be the same as buying some fancy branded ones? They look good enough to use and have a decent selection of pencil type.

1. Basically, if I buy my starter materials from The Works (canvases, brushes, etc.) then will that be OK or should I invest in slightly pricier stuff?

Artists: do you have experience with buying art stuff from a shop like The Works? Do you have recommendations that could help? Any other shops, brands or materials I should explore?

Any tips for an apprehensive learner?

Thank you

Start with the cheap stuff, the paint will be a little more watery. Don't stint in paper if you're painting, get something more sturdy or it'll flop.

Have fun with it!

Oh,and keep an eye on the MidlofLidl which sometimes has great stuff!

I'm also just starting out, I got some cheap watercolors from Amazon and they are really good for what I want - just to practice.

The Works, Lidl, Hobbycraft - all great value art supplies. As with many things, you pay for brand names with art stuff.

Those paint and pencil sets are perfectly good enough quality. I agree you want a fairly heavy paper so it doesn't buckle when you add weight to it - probably 140gsm minimum but it usually tells you on the pack of paper what it's suitable. Have fun!

Sometimes cheaper Acrylic paints separate, leaving small blobs of colour. It’s a bit trial and error, but if you happen to get a bad batch not much money is lost.
I buy cheaper acrylic paint for my DGCs as it doesn’t turn to brown mush when blended.
Cheap canvasses are a good buy.
Enjoy your creative adventure.

If you’re just starting out then I would go for the cheap stuff - once you get going you’ll get an idea what’s worth paying more for and what’s not, I think it’s a bit like buying make up tbh. If you’re painting something to hang up on the wall then more expensive paint may be good as the colour can last better and look better from far away/certain lights.

My DD likes to use oil pastel crayons things and those poly-whatever (fancy expensive) pencils to do her art with I know nothing about art but I know the paper is important!

How wonderful that you are taking up your childhood interest!
Cheap is fine for starting level. You are experimenting, exploring, enjoying the process. You can even find relatively inexpensive canvases and frames.
For pieces you want to sell or display (amateur art exhibition for example), I’d say supplies from an actual art shop are far better. The paint doesn’t separate in the tubes, the pigment is better, the ‘sheen’ is better, texture, everything. With display worthy pieces you also need to use a fair amount of paint. In my experience, custom made canvases can be pricey and framing is also very expensive.
Enjoy your hobby!

Buy the best brushes you can afford. It will make a huge difference.

I am an artist.

If you’re just having a bit of fun experimenting, by all means, go with the cheap stuff - just don’t expect miracles. It very much depends on your chosen medium and style as well. Personally, I use a wide variety of media and work solely in expressive abstracts - all of which is benefitted hugely by good quality materials. Check out kenbromley.co.uk the prices are reasonable and the quality generally good.

artdiscount.co.uk/

This place is good, don’t buy the cheap paint, or canvases, I’ve tried them and they don’t look good. Buy a small selection of good quality paint, and some art paper in a pad, for acrylic or oil whatever you’re using from an art shop. You will get a much better result that doesn’t put you off carrying on.

Cheap pencils are fine ! Look at the weight of the paper, at least 140gsm as pp suggested.

Have fun ! Look at an artist you like and try to copy their techniques first.

@Bigpaintinglittlepainting

I’m just checking this site out now! Thanks, and would you recommend a specific brand of acrylic paint on here or do you go for different ones?

also thank you everyone for your suggestions so far! I didn’t realise Lidl also had paint stuff so I’ll definitely keep my eyes peeled in future for any MidlofLidl goodies!!!

Thanks also for the tips about paper weight

It’s fun to learn something new like this!

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners

Great to see a fellow “beginner” in art! Would you mind sharing the brand of watercolours you bought? Just for research and comparison purposes!

I was very tempted to go for a set of watercolours, oils and acrylics from The Works just to start off. I may still buy a small set each just to try them out and see how they fare - will definitely post an update here if I do in case anyone else has the same questions

Just buy the cheapest from the art website it will be 100x better than anything from the works

for acrylics, your most valuable tool is a stay-wet palate. but don't buy one, you can make it from - an old plate + 2 layers of wet kitchen towel + one layer of greaseproof paper on top. squeeze out a little of your acrylics on the paper and it will stay wet & easy to mix all day. Much less wastage of paint and better colour mixing.

Depends on what you are doing..

Pencils for just sketching the under drawing - cheap as you like.

Pencils for doing actual finished pencil work - go budget student or higher end student range from somewhere like Hobbycraft (so the cheaper 'big name' stuff, not their own brand stuff) rather than crap like The Works sells.

I have some of The Works canvases, they are not generally of a quality I'd use to sell on, but for experimenting for your own purposes they are ok (do check MANY are damaged in store).

Paints - really cheap paints will not have the pigment quality or quantity and this will affect how you mix colours, so I would not use cheap paint, even to practice with.

I use budget artists/high end student stuff on the whole (System 3, Graduate, Pebeo) and get nice results and consistant colour mixing.

There is nothing worse than struggling thinking you can't do it when really teh materials you are using won't allow you to get the results you want.

@parietal
Thank you for that tip! Never heard of a stay-wet palette before but it sounds super straightforward 👍🏽

@WiddlinDiddlin
Thanks for that, I’ll keep it in mind and will probably use the PPs link to explore some of the brands you mentioned

Also, I have been googling so I’ve read a little bit but I wanted to speak to as many “real” artists as possible so could you tell me what sort of pencils you use for the main work? Not the basic sketching but the actual final work? Graphite, charcoal, etc.?

I don't really do just pencil stuff so Derwents artists range are good enough for me.

For coloured pencils I use Polychromos, but have tried a lot of the cheaper budget end of things as I sometimes produce colouring sheets/zentangle stuff and like to show examples done using the less expensive products.

Charcoal is too messy for me but its cheap enough to play around with.

I do a lot with alcohol marker pens (ProMarkers, Copics etc) and like to use a good quality Bristol board paper, or a Heavy Smooth watercolour/mixed media paper.

If you can afford it, a great way to try out new materials is to join a subscription box - we have Scrawlr and there are others - for £15 a month we have a box of stuff posted to us - last week it was water mixable oil colours, but we have had water colours, acrylics, marker pens, pencils - it also comes with other bits like papers to try and some inspirational ideas too.

Youtube is a fabulous resource for tutorials and crafting videos - though some of the presenters are better and easier to watch than others.

I do a lot of pencil drawings and I use graphite sets. Charcoal is fun and has lovely depth of shade, but it's messy. They are cheap enough for you to try both

I was given some acrylic paints from the works to paint some props for a production I’m helping with. The quality is really horrible (and I’m not a paint snob). I think it’d be worth spending a bit more, the works ones were weirdly chalky, like poster paints.
I often use seawhites for my paints, they’re cheap but much better quality.

I disagree that you're paying for brand names with art materials, there is a massive difference in the quality and consistency of their products.

Once you've used half decent acrylics you'll never go near stuff from the works etc again, and realize why people pay for the better stuff. Most of us make the mistake of thinking there's no point in getting good stuff as beginners, but it's a mistake, as experience is needed to use the cheap stuff well.

A lot of painting, even when you don't have a clue what you're doing, is about color mixing and brush strokes.
That gets compromised by paint that drags, and doesn't have even pigmentation etc.
In agreement with WiddlinDiddlin - splash out a little bit on System 3, Graduate or Pebeo, a reasonable brush or two, and heavier weight paper, because the more miserable the materials the greater experience is needed to get much out of them - not helpful when your starting out.

Hobbycraft do a Daler Rowney System3 acrylic starter pack for £11.60 ish. (If you know a student get them to register, and take with you for a 10% discount) It gives you everything you need to mix your own colors.

System 3 (and similar student level paints) have good amounts of pigment in relation to the amount of binder and other components, unlike most cheap and especially cheap Chinese paints.

Good balance of pigment means the smaller amount of paint you need to mix without loosing tinting strength.
In other words less paint will cover more, making it less costly than it might seem at first.
It can be easily thinned with water to create translucent washes without loosing its clarity and a little will go a long way.
Drys fast and evenly but not too fast to work with. Doesn't fade easily or change color a year later. There's a reason why it's loved by art students trying to buy as cheap as possible but within decent quality.

BTW if you cover any unused paint with clingfilm and smooth it down round the edges of the paint , it will keep for an suprising length of time.

Charcoal is cheap and can be sharpened or blunted for different effects, add white chalk and enjoy. Try gently covering the paper with charcoal and using an eraser to 'draw' with.
A good soft eraser is useful, a putty eraser worth every penny.

If you can get to a Cass art shop, they usually have a product try out table so you can test drive materials. What they're promoting changes frequently but they usually have half used tubes of student grade paint (and better) from demo's in a box in the back somewhere. Ask, they're mainly staffed by ex art students.

Buy a Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolour 'Half Pan' - roughly £2.30 from any artshop. It will give you a good idea of the difference between cheapy watercolour paints and the cheapest student quality ones.

If you want to get your head round graphite pencils, Pencils4artists do comparison tins.

@OneForkAtATime

Thank you for that detailed advice! I’ve just checked on Hobbycraft for the System3 starter pack (£11.50 for 6 x 22ml acrylic tubes) and it looks really good! Also found:

Pebeo 10 x 20ml acrylic tubes starter set for £14

Daler Rowney Graduate 10 x 38ml acrylic tubes starter set for £15

Artists Loft 12 x 12ml acrylic tubes starter set reduced to £3.50 (from £7)

I’m sooo tempted to delve right in as the first three names have popped up on here very favourably by PPs.

I also looked at the Half Pan watercolours. My current interest is in acrylics but I’m definitely going to check out watercolours next. I ordered some charcoal and graphite pencils so they’ve been an interesting start.

The closest Cass shop is about 40mins from me but will be keeping them in mind if
I’m in their area!

@Thingsthatgo
Thanks for describing The Works paint - that’s really what I wanted to know, what kind of result they’d produce. They’re soo tempting to buy sometimes because I generally love The Works for kids stuff but I guess for “proper” art it’s not as suitable! I would still buy their pencils, sketchbooks and some canvases just as a tester in the early days.