When you are a beginner starting out in the creative world, the world of art supplies can seem very daunting, Don't stress Art Shed is here to help!
There are so many mediums, brands and colours to choose from on the market, it is really hard to know where.
So let us look into building your paint colour choices for your ArtistTool Box.
To start and remember it's still down to personal choice our Art shed Artist has taken some of the guesswork out for you.
Here is our recommendation.

Acrylic Paint

There are many mediums to experiment with but I believe acrylic paint is the easiest for a beginner. Acrylic is forgiving, washes up in the water and dries quickly. For those artists who wish to lengthen the amount of time it takes for the paint to dry, it can be mixed with extenders or retarders. Extending the drying time of acrylic paints makes it possible to blend colours more easily with one another while working on an art piece. Those who paint model figures often use extenders or retarders, as do those artists who simply prefer acrylics over other paints but need a little more time to complete the work.

Acrylics can be mixed with a wide range of media. You can add a lot of textures and variety to your art by mixing other media into the paint. Some of the possibilities include sand, rice or pasta. Or, when the acrylic dries, you can use other media, such as charcoal, pen, and pastels on top of the paint.

What colours do I need to start out with?
 

With so many colours available, which ones should you buy when starting out?

We all know we can mix a rainbow of colours with red, blue and yellow, however, most of us like to squeeze the colour we need directly from a tube. The colours listed below make up a good basic palette and you should be able to mix all the colours you need.

• Cadmium Red - Cadmium red is a yellowish, warm red and relatively opaque.
•  Pthalo Blue -  is an intense, extremely versatile blue. It goes very dark when combined with burnt umber and, because of its high tinting strength, only a little needs to be mixed with white to create lighter blues. 
• Cadmium Yellow -  You can easily create a lighter yellow by adding white to this, though if you find you’re doing this regularly, consider buying a tube of cadmium yellow light too. Remember that if you want to darken yellow try adding its complementary colour, purple, rather than black, which tends to produce an olive green rather than deeper yellow.
• Titanium White -  An opaque, bright white with a strong tinting power (meaning a little goes a long way). Some manufacturers also sell a "mixing white", which is usually the cheapest and, as the name suggests, formulated to blend well with other colours.
• Mars Black -  A relatively opaque colour and should be added to other colours in small quantities until you've got used to its strength.
• Burnt Umber  - A warm chocolate brown that’s extremely versatile and likely to provide itself indispensable. It’s great for darkening the tone of other colours. Raw umber is very similar, but slightly lighter and cooler.
• Phthalo Green - Greens can be hard to mix consistently unless you’re meticulous to note the colours and proportions you used. Phthalo green is bright bluish green. Mix it with cadmium yellow to get a variety of shades of greens.
• Orange - Yes, you can make orange by mixing yellow and red, but if you’re mixing an orange often, you’ll save yourself time having it ready-made in a tube, so buy a tube of orange.
• Purple- It’s worth buying a very dark purple as you can waste a lot of paint trying to mix one.

 Other Useful Colours
 

• Paynes Grey - a versatile, transparent dark blue-grey made from a mixture of blue and black, often with some red.
• Yellow or golden ochre - a glorious, golden, yellowish brown.
• Titanium buff or raw titanium- a deep cream useful for mixing with burnt umber to create skin tones.
• Ivory Black, but only if you’re not squeamish about it being made from charred bones (it was originally created from ivory).

Phthalo who? Cadmium what?
 

Phthalo, Cadmium, Napthol, Titanium, and Dioxazine all refer to the pigment name that creates the colour.
Some artists don't use real cadmium colours because they are carcinogenic (and expensive).
 

Some of the brightest colours are made with cadmium, which is a poisonous heavy metal like mercury.
Many brands are now expanding their range to include Cadmium-free colour equivalents. 

If you're painting with children maybe the "hues" are the way to go.
 

If the bottle or tube colour reads Cadmium Yellow (hue) then it's okay.
That (hue) indicates that it is a paint made with a different pigment than the original, carcinogenic, version.
It could also mean that the colour is made from an old colour that is no longer made anymore, or it is a more light-fast version of the original.

It is a common misconception that you can't mix different brands of acrylics. Don't believe it!
That was only true in the very earliest days back when acrylics were first introduced 50 years ago. The formulations used by the different manufacturers have all become so similar over the years that you can mix brands with impunity now. 

So go ahead and experiment, remember art should be fun!
If you have any creations you or your little one would like to share with us please send them our way!
Or if you have a topic you would like to learn more about please let us know.

Plus, don’t forget you can watch video tutorials on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/artshedonline.
Happy creating! 

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