If you have decided to choose painting as a hobby for your spare time, BRAVO! To your choice. It is a great hobby and has been a medium to express your feelings with paints on a canvas. But it is not all glitters and gold. You have made up your mind to paint, you know what you want to paint, you have the canvas ready for what you want to paint on it, but what are you going to paint on it with? What kind of paint? If you check an online supply store there will be a huge collection of paints for you to choose from, but it is up to you what you want. If you have started to go easy on yourself with a custom canvas by numbers kit you are in luck because custom paint by numbers kit has specified and suitable paints for you. But if you are choosing to paint the traditional way you must be sure what kind of paint is suitable for your masterpiece.
When you are buying paint you must be aware of the fact that the paint you are buying is non-toxic and of good quality but the most important factor is cost. They must not burn a hole in your balance sheet.
Let’s look at some paints that are good to be used on a canvas and the ones that must be avoided.
Acrylic paint:
Acrylic paint is probably the most used paint in the world. It is a very suitable paint to be used on the canvas. It dries quickly and is easily soluble in water. If you are painting with acrylic paint all you need is a primed canvas and brushes. It can be used in thick as well as thin form. Thick acrylic paint is easily handled as compared to the thin one that is more like watercolor. It can be repainted once it dries.
Oil Paint:
Oil paint and canvas are made for each other as they go way back in history. Oil paints are available in many forms like traditional oil paint, water-soluble, and oil pastels. This paint dries slowly allowing the painter more time to work on the painting. It can be over-painted once dried without disturbing the previous paint. They are more preferred by painters because they have rich colors and the originality of the picture lasts for a long time.
Watercolor:
Watercolor is great for beginners as it is easy to paint and cost-efficient, plus the paint can be rewetted and removed. All of these are solid points if you are painting on a paper, not in case of a canvas. They are good as far as giving little tweaks to your painting but as if you are choosing to paint the entire picture with watercolors, think again because they dry irregularly and are not elegant when used on the canvas.
Considerable recommendations:
Gouache, tempera, and latex paint are also great to be used for painting on canvas. Now you know what your options are and what you must avoid for a beautiful painting.
Happy Painting!
