Color Palettes and Craft Paint

 

I'm not sure if you follow me on instagram or not (artsyorange), but lately I've been on a bit of a painting binge. I say binge because I can....not....get....ENOUGH of painting lately. If I wasn't so blooming tired Sunday I probably could have cranked out a dozen. I did however, manage to finish 4 large paintings this weekend. Woohoo!!

Anyhoo...one aspect that is motivating this urge to create is my color palette. If you've taken an in-person class from me or my e-course you know that I am not brand picky when it comes to paint. I buy based on color. I was however, a tad obsessed with the thicker the better heavy body acrylic paints for the body of my work, with the backgrounds on occasion using the sample quarts from Lowe's.

I have a little confession to make though. A few weeks back I was buying Craft Smart paint for after school. I buy this paint because it is much easier to teach little hands with than the heavy body acrylics. It's also more cost effective. I glanced over at the smaller tubes of Americana paint and found some truly yummy colors. And thought....what the heck, they are $1.29 each. If I hate painting with it this type of paint I'll just put it in the after school art stash.

Well....let's just say that I am now LOVING these paints. And here's why. It makes me put on thinner layer of paint. And then layer...and layer and LAYER. When you layer paint, the layers under it illuminate through and you get an affect that has so much more depth. And the colors are so rich and gorgeous. Much better coverage than the Craft Smart brand honestly (which since that's what I knew was kind of a snob about painting with). As a whimsical painter I am not so much concerned with making things look 3 dimensional per say. But I do love for my colors to resonate on the canvas. Let's just say these colors are singing a lovely song. The painting above is not quite finished. You can tell this by the chalk reside awaiting removal by the secret wiper tool.

As far as palette goes yesterday I picked up a few more tubes of the Americana brand in the colors above. When I got home the above magazine tear out was on my art desk. Low and behold my brain had obviously wanted this color palette because I'd bought ALL but the Oatbran! Anyhoo...I have a rather large stash of all sorts of paints now. I guess being an artist lends itself to wanting to explore mediums of all kinds. At least I find this to be true.

So tell me...what's your favorite type of paint?