What Paint Do Professional Painters Use? (2024)

FAQs

What Paint Do Professional Painters Use? ›

Professional painters frequently utilize premium paints, such as Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, for their work. Sherwin-Williams is widely regarded as one of the top paint brands, providing a broad range of premium quality paints, including environmentally friendly options.

Latex paints come in interior and exterior varieties, making them a versatile choice for any painting job. Popular latex paint brands include Benjamin Moore Aura®, Sherwin Williams ProClassic® Interior Acrylic Latex Enamel, and Behr Premium Plus Ultra® Interior/Exterior Paint & Primer in One.

Professional painting artists often use Golden or Liquitex. However, some artists mix their own paint using pigments and additives and some purchase tube colors. The answer to this question also depends on the artist's painting techniques.

While there are plenty of options to choose from, there are several mediums that are popular with painters all over the world: acrylic, watercolor, oil, gouache, and ink. These five paint mediums are the most versatile and allow artists the greatest flexibility when trying to create a certain look or style.

Famous Painters

Both oil and acrylic paints have been used to create some of the most memorable artistic works in the world. Some famous artists who have worked with oil paint include Rembrandt, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.

Many professional painters opt for top-of-the-line paints, like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, known for their durability and excellent coverage. Famous worldwide, these well-established brands come in various colors and finishes.

Sherwin-Williams outperforms Behr in terms of coverage. Since both are thicker paints, a gallon does not cover as many square feet as some thinner brands. However, a can of Behr may only cover 250 square feet, but most Sherwin-Williams products would cover at least 300.

Disadvantages: because acrylic paints dry quickly they cannot be easily blended to create the 'wet in wet' technique that is popular with oil paints. For this reason, a finished acrylic painting can look harsh compared to a finished oil painting.

If you like a more fluid heavy body paint, Golden is the way to go. If you want more texture, Liquitex Heavy Body is the way to go in my opinion.

Artists' paints are banded into price brackets known as 'series' numbers in a grading system that runs between 1 and 5. 'Series 1' paints are the cheapest and 'series 5' are the most expensive. Student ranges will very rarely contain any series 3, 4 or 5 paints.

What is the most realistic paint in the world? ›

Artist Leng Jun's Oil Paintings Are Considered The Most Realistic In The World. People say that art should not be confused with reality. However, this Chinese artist makes it difficult to differentiate the two with his realistic oil paintings that are incredibly lifelike.

A palette is a thin, flat piece of wood that artists use to hold and mix their paints while working. Often ovoid in shape, the palettes have a thumb hole that allows a painter to hold it securely with one hand while painting with the other.

Benjamin Moore costs slightly more than Sherwin Williams house paint when comparing similar products. As mentioned prior, both companies carry different lines of interior and exterior paint like Cashmere, Emerald, or Duration.

Eggshell Paint

Eggshell finish, perennially popular with professional and DIY painters alike, has a low-sheen reminiscent of flat or matte, but it is infinitely more durable than its namesake.

When comparing Valspar paint vs. Sherwin-Williams, Sherwin-Williams is the better paint brand. Sherwin-Williams' products tend to be more expensive than Valspar paints but have a better formula that is often thicker, requires less coats, and is more durable in the long run.