Painting: What Medium is Best for Beginners?
Painting. Who didn’t love it as a kid? Making colorful messes. Smearing vibrant hues all over the paper (and walls). For adults, painting can be a great hobby for relaxation or even a form of therapy. If you’re thinking about diving back into it after retiring from your childhood career as an artist, you may find yourself wondering where to start. The great thing about painting is that there are more styles and mediums than Baskin Robins ice cream flavors. Some can be more challenging than others, but each has pros and cons (though none tastes as good as Baskin Robins).
While every type of paint has its good qualities, some are more approachable for beginners than others.
Watercolor
When you were a kid, watercolors may have been what you started out with. The funny thing is, it can actually be a pretty difficult medium to master. The likely reason your parents and elementary art teachers had you work with watercolors was because it was affordable and cleans up with water.
While watercolor is a beautiful and inexpensive medium, the drawback is that it is unforgiving. Watercolor paint is so thin and translucent that it becomes hard to cover up mistakes. You can try rubbing water onto the canvas to remove unwanted paint but it doesn’t always come cleanly off. Sometimes, painting with watercolors can feel more like a practice in painting with stains. On the plus side, watercolors dry fast, are inexpensive, and provide soft, blended colors.
Acrylics
If you want the opposite of watercolor, maybe try acrylics. This is another popular one for children because, like watercolors, it’s inexpensive and water soluble. However, the benefits don’t end there. Acrylics are thick and dry fairly quickly, so it’s easy to cover up mistakes with layers. Acrylics can also be used on a variety of surfaces so you can use them for various craft projects too. Another great benefit: acrylics don’t have a toxic odor nor do they require much additional mixing.
The fast-drying qualities of acrylics can also be a disadvantage because it limits how much time you have to blend colors. If that becomes a problem for you, you can purchase mixers called retarders which slow the drying process. Some art stores also sell slower drying acrylic paints, though they are not as popular. Lastly, acrylics tend to darken when they dry, so the color you put down may not be the exact end result.
Oils
Oils may seem intimidating at first but can be a pretty rewarding medium. One of oils’ best qualities is how it looks. Oil actually refracts the color pigment in the paint—providing its stunningly beautiful appearance. It also retains its color after drying.
On the downside, oils can be a challenge because they often require the use of additional oil mediums that need to be mixed in and can sometimes be toxic—requiring good ventilation. Oil paints can be more expensive than watercolors and acrylics, but if you enjoy learning more technical skills, then oils will be right up your alley. They also don’t dry as fast as acrylics, but that can allow for more blending time. The dry time can be a huge plus to oil painters because it allows plenty of time to refine and re-mix to achieve perfect color tones. There are expert painters who will argue that the slow-drying nature of oils makes it the true beginner’s medium.
Which is right for you?
While you can get started with any medium, acrylic is a great starting point for beginners because of its ease of use and because it’s so forgiving of mistakes. The quality of the picture may not equal that of oil paintings and the colors won’t be as soft and subtle as watercolors, but if you’re looking for the easiest way to get started, give acrylics a try. No matter what medium you choose, painting is a wonderful skill you won’t regret learning!