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Question: Which is the best type of paint for a beginner!? acrylic, oil, watercolor!?
I have to pick up some paint for a class and we have the option of acrylic, oil, watercolor or latex house paint!. I'm not even sure what the last one is, but I was wondering what the perks are of each type!. What is best for a beginner!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Acrylic!.
Acrylic can be thinned and used like watercolours, and it can be used thick like oils!.
Acrylic dries very fast, oils can take forever (japan drier speeds oils up and you buy it in building and normal paint stores, but oil will never dry as fast as acrylics do)
The speed at which acrylic dries is both good and bad!. You might want a water sprayer to keep it damp while on your pallet!.
Acrylic also cleans up with water, while oils need nasty solvents!.

Latex house paint is great for painting walls and so on but it does not have the body to try a lot of the oil type techniques with!.

So the best is acrylic!. You can use it for almost all of the different painting styles!.
If you buy the student quality instead of the fine art quality it is even fairly reasonable for cost!.

Buying acrylic gel medium reduces the cost even more because you use it like an extender for paint!. It is just the acrylic base without any colour in it and you mix it with your acrylic paints!. Very useful if you are trying to get that thick paint look some oil paintings have!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Strange options for a painting class!.!.!.I cannot see how watercolors can be taught along side acrylics and oils because they are so different in application and effects!. Watercolors are transparent and you have to learn how to use the white of the paper to create different colors and values (lights and darks)!.

Acrylics and Oils are similar in that they are a thick opaque paint!. Mixing colors is going to be very different with these two!. The vehicle for oil paints is oil!.!.!.slow drying, cleans with turpentine, stinks and can be very expensive!. Acrylics have a plastic base!.!.!.dry fast and clean with soap and water if you catch it before it dries!.

also, watercolor paper can be cheap (or high if you buy by the large sheets) at least cheaper than buying canvas or canvas board for acrylics and oils!.

Look at examples of oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings on the internet!. See what each can do and that may lead you in a particular direction!.

Good luck!Www@QuestionHome@Com

acrylic would be best for a beginner, its easy to use, easy to mix and its cheap!.
oil paint is more difficult and way expensive, its hard to clean up and it's just something you shouldn't use unless you have experience in painting!.
watercolor is rather cheap but its hard to use, you have to be very careful when using it or you will mess up and its hard to fixWww@QuestionHome@Com

I think watercolor cuz if you mess up you can pick the paint back up with water and start over, acrylic and oil once you put it on a canvas that's it! My favorite is watercolor you can do so much with it!Www@QuestionHome@Com

acrylic, definatley!. oil is way too expensive and watercolor is too difficult!. so go with acrylic for your first paintingsWww@QuestionHome@Com

watercolour, because it won't stain like acrylic will!. not sure about oil much!.Www@QuestionHome@Com