First kind of paint you ever used?

**alesoun** · October 22nd, 2009, 07:35 PM

For me, poster paint. We're taught art (well, okay,- given crayons, pencils, paints, etc) here from nursery school until art becomes an elective in year 10.

After poster paint, oil. I only started using acrylics a couple of years ago when somebody gave me an "artist's acrylic kit" as a present and kick-started me painting and drawing again.

Da Vinci, if the brand name means anything to you. I think the kit probably cost about £5 for 12 colours, and I've upgraded each colour as I ran out.

Same with oils. My stepson gave me a "kit" of Bowmere oils that I'm upgrading as I run out.

I have a pretty expensive set of watercolours that I haven't even opened. Not because I dislike watercolours, but because I'd rather learn with cheapo stuff and start on the more expensive once I have a grip of the basics.

Maybe it's the Calvinist in me.....

Everything except poster paint and watercolour is now my favourite paint.

I just wondered which medium "hooked" you into art?

**Flake** · October 22nd, 2009, 07:55 PM

As I went through the same educational system, it should be no surprise that poster paint / gouache was the first. (although I learned a weird system of using poster paint layered with glues and varnishes..)

Later, poster / gouache with acrylic mixed in , then onto oil.

I like oil, feels comfy.

I keep trying watercolour but my brain just can't do it.

I'll try and edit this tomorrow with visual examples but it's 1am here..

**alesoun** · October 22nd, 2009, 08:07 PM

Poster paint is gouache? Not tempted to try gouache, then! Happy birthday, Flake!

**Flake** · October 22nd, 2009, 08:12 PM

Cheers Al.

Yeah, manufacturers would tell you different but gouache behaves more like poster paint than anything else you've tried.

**alesoun** · October 22nd, 2009, 08:14 PM

Nasty, grainy stuff! (Block or tube)

**rossipoo** · October 22nd, 2009, 09:22 PM

**Vermis** · October 22nd, 2009, 09:27 PM

Originally Posted by Alesoun

For me, poster paint. We're taught art (well, okay,- given crayons, pencils, paints, etc) here from nursery school until art becomes an elective in year 10.

Ditto. Poster paints all through playschool and primary school. Less so towards the end when we were expected to learn more ritin and rithmatik. In early secondary I can't remember if we had poster paints or acrylic. I do remember we had to buy our own (fortunately and unfortunately) cheap watercolour tins, for homework. I keep going back to watercolours every so often, trying different tubes and blocks and brands and qualities, but...

Originally Posted by Flake

I keep trying watercolour but my brain just can't do it.

Ditto again.

After a few years' hiatus for illness, I did GCSE art at a technical college. I can't remember much of that. Couple of posters and some dull clay sculptures, but no paintings spring to mind.

After dropping AS-level art like a hot potato, pretty much the only thing that 'hooked' me and kept me interested in painting was an introduction to Games Workshop's little pots of acrylic and miniature-painting articles. Those showed me a range of techniques adapted to 3D models - the first time I properly realised there were more ways of painting than puddling cheap watercolours around on a page.
Wargaming miniatures also reintroduced me to sculpting via epoxy putty. Somehow I turned out much better at that than I ever was or am at painting. If I say so meself.

Oils still intimidate me with their funky chemicals and drying times that are anathema to my goldfish-type attention span. I have a starter set I tried out a couple of times, with so-so results. They're, er, georgians.

But if we're talking 'which medium "hooked" you into art', not just painting: plain old graphite. As far back as I can remember I had a pencil in my hand.

We've run out of time, but tune in next week to hear that tale; also how I tried plucking up the courage to ask out Winnie Cooper, but was foiled at the last minute by a wedgie from my big brother Wayne.

**JJacks** · October 22nd, 2009, 11:48 PM

Originally Posted by alesoun

Poster paint is gouache? Not tempted to try gouache, then! Happy birthday, Flake!

I thought poster paint was Tempura. It can't be gouache; too expensive.

I tried crayola watercolors in school and since I tried to paint a lot, my mom bought me some better watercolors. After those got used up I stopped drawing for a million years and tried acrylics in college and was completely disgusted by my inability to do anything with them. Watercolor is my thing.

I'm ok with oils too.

**Pezz** · October 23rd, 2009, 01:33 AM

Do you count the crayola watercolor sets with the plastic bristle brushes?

Otherwise, probably a little Reeve's set of acrylics

. Good times. Now I use Golden and Winsor/Newton acrylics... and Winsor & Newton or Utrecht oils. I also paint on primed masonite and plywood or hand-stretched canvas... either a home made canvas board or over stretchers... still pimpin cotton duck though, too cheap for linen but boy does that shit feel good.

**Flake** · October 23rd, 2009, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by JJacks

I thought poster paint was Tempera. It can't be gouache; too expensive.

Having Googled it, it looks like this is yet another "depends what side of the Atlantic" thing.

Over here in the UK it's basically really cheapo gouache.

**CCThrom** · October 23rd, 2009, 08:46 AM

First paint in preschool/kindergarten would be tempera... I do believe that is what you are calling poster paint. Gouache IMO has some similar characteristics but is much nicer... not grainy at all. Edit: thanks for the clarification Flake, so here in the US poster paint = tempera (BTW - "tempura" is something completely different, mmm... deep fried veggies...) and gouache = opaque watercolor.

My first "real" paints were watercolors, and I've always had a fondness for them. A little later I inherited a set of oils and a set of acrylics, never really took to either. Studied more with oil than any other paint in high school and college... could never get my head around acrylics.

I found casein about 10 years ago, and I like them a lot... very compatible with watercolor. Though honestly, I've done very little painting at all since college, so now I'm trying to pick up those skills kinda late in the game.

**Ian J** · October 23rd, 2009, 11:22 AM

Anyone know the artistic classification of finger paints?

**Qitsune** · October 26th, 2009, 12:38 PM

Aside from poster paint in school, and pastels and oil pastels that my mom gave me and I could never do anything decent with: Caran D'Aches crayons that I used with a brush (rub the brush on the crayon and paint with the resulting color.) I pretty much thought myself watercolour painting that way when I was 12-13 and then I graduated to Ecolines ink with which I painted until I was around 23-24. Then I learned PS and acrylics. Acrylics didn't make much sense for a watercolourist at first, but it gives much more room for elaborate pieces and for corrections. I also never picked up a col-erase or verithin until my late 20's. Now I luuuuuuurrrrrv them.

**Psychotime** · October 26th, 2009, 02:47 PM

To answer your question: pencil.

To answer the name of the thread, I have no idea. But last year I bought some expensive acrylics by M. Graham and Co. for a class. After that, put em in a case and never used them again.

**Viridis** · October 26th, 2009, 05:30 PM

Finger paint is likely just tempera paint. Which is apparently also called poster paint. (More UK/US differences! Fun!)

Which was also my first paint, although once our preschool teacher had us finger paint with chocolate pudding. That was tasty.

I also used those really, really crappy watercolor sets that come with like 8 colors in a small case with a terrible brush.

For a long time I used acrylics to paint, but nowadays I've switched over to watercolor/ink and Photoshop as my media of choice. Sometimes I'll use Prismacolor pencils as well. It just depends on my mood. The one thing I do avoid is oils. I'm not nearly patient enough for them. Although a friend gave me a set of oils for free, so I should probably try them out sometime.