The Perspectives page of  The Blue and White offers students and staff an opportunity to express their thoughts about topics that affect our school, our community, or the world at large. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Apopka High School or The Blue and White.

As a member of The Blue and White and as an artist, I wanted to share my opinion on the highs and lows of art mediums. What makes them good or bad? Most importantly, what brands should you use if you’re interested in art. Keep in mind price range is subjective from what I have seen, you can always buy a more expensive product.

Oil Paint

Oil paint is not only extremely slow drying but extremely difficult to deal with. Although it was typically used by painters during the Enlightenment, it is normally used for heavily detailed paintings. Since you have to use paint thinner with oil paint, this art medium can be toxic. Prices range from $10 to 180$ usually being more expensive.

Watercolors

Watercolor is one of my favorite mediums. When working with it you are forced to let go and flow with the colors, they can be opaque or transparent by the amount of water used. Although some brands have extremely low quality, they can still be a bit pricey. The best watercolor brand is Winsor and Newton. 

Digital

I don’t enjoy digital art, but that’s just because I’m bad at it. It takes an enormous amount of work to just accomplish anything digitally. If you make a mistake, just go back and try again. A vast amount of people I know are extremely talented, and a lot of them make digital art. Although Procreate is a well-known app, it can be expensive, and IbisPaint is a free alternative. 

Crayons

In my opinion, crayons are a nice material, especially if you enjoy the texture. However, the waxy texture it makes can make it extremely difficult to layer or blend colors. Crayons usually are very cheap to get: they can be $1 to $20s. They are great for kids due to their easy use and low mess.They are typically not a first choice for a lot of people including me. The best way to use them is by scraping the top to give it a cleaner look unless you like the waxy texture.

Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint has its pros and cons. It dries quicker than oil but slower than tempera. Meanwhile, it is made from plastic and can’t be disposed of easily.  Cheap acrylic doesn’t tend to work well, as it cracks and dries darker or lighter than when you mix it and can fade over time. Layers are extremely easy and are best for painting on nearly any surface. 

Tempera

Tempera is a horrible medium, unless you’re a 5-year-old. The yucky egg mixture is cheap, but for a reason. You can’t build layers or texture because of the paint being washable. This is why it’s best suited for younger kids; typically made by Crayola. Not only is blending impossible but the drying time is extremely shortened making it nearly impossible to do anything. 

Gouache

My favorite medium to use is Gouache. Because it is a in between of acrylic and water time, it dries quickly but stays wet long enough to work with. In contrast to Tempra, it’s able to layer really well getting quite opaque. On the other hand by adding enough water you can get nice semi-transparent washes of color. The paint is long-lasting and easy to clean up. The only downside is that if you don’t use it, after a while it can get very dry, but you can just rehydrate it.

Charcoal

When working with charcoal you can get those rich values of extreme light to extreme dark. Although the mess tends to repulse people: it gets everywhere. The price range is $4 to $20, usually being on the more adorable side. I enjoy working with charcoal but I don’t usually want to go home looking like a coal miner.

Graphite

Graphite is a beautiful medium, it’s similar to charcoal but less of a mess. The darks aren’t as rich but the amount of detail is fantastic. Since it is in just normal pencils it can be quite cheap to get. It does smudge and can sometimes be a pain to work with, but an amazing place to start.

Colored Pencils

Colored pencils are a great medium, whether you’re just starting out or have been doing art for years. Usually, it’s seen as more of a child’s art supply, but many artists can create fantastic things with them. I personally don’t enjoy the texture they create on paper and find them difficult to blend. Being more affordable tends to draw people in. (Good brands to use: Prismacolor 12 for 14$, Faber-Castell 36 for 30$)

Clay

There are many different types of clay, the most well-known are air dry, oven bake, and kiln fire. Air dry will crack easily and can be quite fragile. It is a good start if you are interested in clay and doesn’t make as big of a mess as kiln fire. Oven bake is more sturdy and durable, it’s also easier to paint and makes very little mess. Overall a great one to use. Kiln fire is not only impressive but takes tons of time, either hand-building or throwing on the wheel. There tends to be quite a bit of mess, but the result is worth it.

Paper

Using the right paper is extremely important. It can change an artwork from messy, bleeding, and bumpy to smooth flowy, and neat. There is a reason paper exists for specific mediums; when using lots of water go for watercolor paper. It can get pricy, but using good paper is a necessity when creating art.

 Magazines 

Magazines are typically used in collage. You may think since it’s gathering other types of artwork it’s kinda like cheating. Obviously, the amount of time that goes into cutting out images alone takes so much effort. It’s a great way to show expression and mess with color combinations. The creation of mixing the different images is what makes it a new and unique work.

Markers

Markes are another good place to start. Now markers like Crayola don’t work too well, especially with blending. When you start to use other kinds of markers (alcohol) you start getting the problem of bleeding threw pages, although they can be blended well. The best way to build depth is by using colored pencils to add light shading on top of the markers. As well as being able to get extremely smooth lines when doing line work.

Pastels

Chalk Pastels. They are the WORST art supplies out there. Not only do they make the same mess as charcoal, but they’re not very pigmented, you can only get them in stick form which makes them extremely difficult to use. It’s just like drawing with chalk on paper, doesn’t that sound pleasant. Chalk pastels only use would be for adding color to clay figures which is still annoying to scrape the pigment off. Oils pastels on the other hand are a similar price, don’t make a mess, and are much easier to use. Extremely easy to blend as well as layer nicely without wrecking the paper. However, they don’t dry which makes them easy to smudge, which can be frustrating.

Art supply kit

Art supply kits are universally hated by the art community. Once you get labeled as the “art kid” in the family, everyone tries to buy this for you. Not only is the quality of these kits poor, but half the time the supplies don’t even work. On the other hand, it can be a good first material for someone to get into the art community as a kid.