A Case for Student Grade Paint
Hashim Akib (Ep.50) uses both professional and student grade colors in his work.
When he first got started, he could tell he was being precious with his paints. That’s not how he wanted to work. Student grade paints were the solution.
Student grade paints were less expensive, which meant he bought more of them, and felt less stress about using them.
Through that use, he figured out some best practices.
First, he could use them in combination with professional grade. For example, he’d do the bulk of his painting with student grade and then finish it off with artist quality paints on top.
He noticed that no one cared. Not his gallerist. Not his clients.
Second, he uses them neat, which means he doesn’t mix a ton of water into his student grade acrylics. This ensures that he will get the most coverage possible.
Third, he knows he’ll need to use a few layers. Student grade paint has less coverage from their professional grade counterparts.
Fourth, he knows which colors work best in student grade and which don’t.
For example, Akib uses artist quality pigments for his lighter pigments like yellow, orange and white. But for his darker tones like blue, green and deep violet, he has found student grade options work great.
Put it to Practice:
Guests on the show highly recommend using the best materials you can afford. But part of that equation is the understanding that you are USING the materials. If you can afford professional grade paints, but then feel super precious about using your materials, this is holding you back more than you might even realize.
The only way to get better at painting is to paint. A lot. If you’re counting every squeeze of paint into the palette, you’re going to have a harder time learning and learning quickly.
Switching all or in part to student grade paints may be a solution for you. Yes, student grade paint will handle differently. It won’t have as good of coverage and it isn’t as strong from a mixing standpoint. But when made by a quality manufacturer, they have the same lightfast as professional paints.
So if you try student grade paints and they free you up to paint more paintings, it’s worth keeping with them until you learn how much paint you need to create your best work.
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