Importance of good quality art materials

It seems to be logical that in order to produce a good product (in our case a painting) that not only looks good from the artistic perspective but also lasts longer, one needs to know the quality of materials being used as well as what one is able to do with them. It is the same like saying that you want to play a piano but you do not have an idea of the sounds of each note. This is very important when it comes to selling artwork and you want to build up a reputation with clients. When going to the art store you might become more confused and lost in the ever increasing amount of products for sale and if you become over excited you might end up buying and spending money on things that either you do not need or else that are not of a good quality

Personally I give importance to primarily two things, the surface on what I paint and paints. As a surface I always prefer to use either cotton canvas or linen. Both of these need to be primed with a good quality primer. Most of commercial ready made canvases found in the stores are primed with what is known as "acrylic gesso" which most people think that it is gesso, however in reality it is not. This is simply an acrylic polymer and it might work well for painting with acrylics but it is not ideal to work with oils on it.  Real gesso consists of a glue such as rabbit-skin glue, chalk and other materials. Sometimes you will encounter problems like the paint seems to dry up on a badly prepared canvas or as if the the brush doesn't want to move on it. To avoid these problems you have two options, one is to buy oil primed canvases or else to re-prime it with an oil primer. The best oil primers are those based on lead, and it is the best because lead is flexible when dry and hence does not become brittle. It is also important to know that most of the commercial canvas panels have a life-time of approximately 20 years, so these might be good if you are a student and want to practice but not as good if you want to sell your work and want it to last.

The best way I found for myself to ensure quality of my paintings while at the same time enjoying the painting process is to prepare my own surfaces. By this I mean that I stretch my own canvases and preparing my own canvas boards. Most of the time I use linen that is primed for oils, to use for my landscape paintings. The good quality of the surface is nice to work on and allows me to be more creative in my techniques. To prepare canvas boards I usually use MDF board and PVA (archival grade) to stick the material. 

Good quality paints must also be of a priority if you want your work to last and also if you want to avoid more frustration when painting. Painting is already quite a difficult process leading to a lot of frustration and obviously we do not want to continue adding more difficulties by using low quality paints and surfaces. When it comes to paints, always buy artist quality grade and avoid buying student grade. Artist quality paints have more pigment in them and hence they are more intense and in the long run more economical then buying cheaper options. Always check the label and make sure that you have a pigment code (example: PB29) and an ASTM. If these two are not there so it means that paint is not of a good quality. Look at the lightfastness and make sure that you will have ASTM 1 or maximum 2. Paints that are not lightfast will fade within couple of years sometimes even months. A pigment that fades very quickly that is commonly used and that it is very expensive is alizarin crimson. It is still sold because there is demand for it as artists usually are not aware of these characteristics and they only look at the color and not the actual quality of the pigment. Permanent crimson was a recent improvement on the original crimson and it is permanent (Lightfast ASTM 1) as its name implies. You do not need to buy the most expensive brands to start with but at least start with an artist quality paint. Also you do not need to buy a lot of colors, you can easily work using a limited palette. For example the following palette will work well for most applications: Titanium white, cadmium yellow light, permanent crimson, ultramarine blue, phthalo blue, burnt umber and cadmium scarlet. If you want to paint landscapes you can add yellow ochre, Indian yellow, burnt sienna and Naple's yellow. 

Oil paints and even more acrylic paints, tend to darken with time and this is something that no one can do anything about it. Both natural and artificial lighting affect colour and hence it is very important to advise the buyer of your work about these issues and not to hang the painting exposed to direct sunlight or in places with high humidity.