(Drum Roll Please…)

If you’ll recall from where we left off last time; we have pigment and we have binder. Here comes the answer you’ve been kept in suspense over. The primary factor in different grades of paint is the ratio of pigment to binder.

Binder comes in several differing forms, some runny, some thick, some sticky, and some jelly-like. Regardless the type, binder is generally much less expensive than pigment which is often derived from pure and sometimes rare elements. Thus paint with more binder and less pigment in the mix will be less expensive to manufacture than one with a lot of pigment, and less binder.

This ratio is called the Pigment Load.

Lower grade paints have a low pigment load, which makes them less expensive. The very best grades of paint have a high pigment load ratio. This applies to virtually all paints on the planet—watercolors, acrylics, oils, exterior paint, you name it!

Though there are varying costs for the different types of binder, delivery and storage method; the biggest difference between ‘cheap’ and quality paint -between inexpensive and quite costly, is usually all about the pigment load ratio. Of course at the upper end, the source, rarity, purity and type of pigment become primary factors in the price of the paint.

Acrylic Paint Grades

Artist (grade) acrylics have a high amount of pigment and contain little to no fillers which make them a top of line product. An artist can paint on a variety of surfaces with this grade of acrylic. Paper, canvas, and wood panels are just a few to mention.

Iridescent, pearlescent, interference, and metallic (grade) acrylics are a mix of conventional pigments with mica particles with a veneer of titanium dioxide. This combination of elements creates the lustrous shimmer of precious metals and mother-of-pearl.

Student (grade) acrylics have, sometimes, as little as half the amount of pigment of artist grade acrylic but have a high amount of filler. They are much economical than artist grade but do have some limitations to them. The biggest limitation to them, that I can see, is the lack of range of colors.

Incidentally, there’s no reason at all to spend the extra shekels on the higher-grade paints until you’ve used student grade to ‘flesh out’ an image on your prepared surface. It generally takes several applications to fill in for the absent pigment anyway, so if you like the way a piece is turning out you can always get the artist grade to go over and complete the painting.

Gouache (grade) acrylic has a couple similarities to the traditional gouache such as it’s opaqueness and matte finish, yet unlike the traditional it’s waterproof once dry.

Craft (grade) acrylics has a lot of the same characteristics of student grade acrylics. It’s a great economical choice to paint on everyday items such as wood, metal and fabrics to spruce them up. The another great benefit of craft paints over student grade is the great variety of colors available.

Exterior (grade) acrylic, our last but certainly not least. Although I was kidding about exterior grade acrylic paints earlier they are often used as artistic medium and are available in in several grades or pigment load levels themselves. As is apparent by their name they are formulated to withstand outdoor conditions. Exterior acrylic can adhere to a variety of surfaces to create murals, signs, and accentuate any architecture features. Think about it for a moment; exterior acrylic paint is seen more than any other grade of acrylic paint. I’m not speaking of the homeowner’s annual or biannual preventative coat. The murals in public outdoor venues are definitely viewed on a much larger scale than the masterpieces in art museum collections or small galleries.

Did that help clear up any ambiguity regarding the differences in grades of acrylic paint? Hopefully you now have a much better understanding of the differences as well as some creative ideas about how to use the various grades of acrylic based paints. More options to add to the mix when devising the creation of your vision. Enjoy!

Tags: acrylic paint, artist grade paint, binder, fluid grade paint, gouache, pigment, student grad paint

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 6:21 pm and is filed under Educational, Products. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.