Artist Oils vs Student Oils?

Artist Oils? Student Oils? What is the difference?

Lets Talk About the Paint

Paint gets divided up into different categories by paint manufacturers/brands.

Some brands carry different ranges and these are usually called Artist’s Oils and Student Oils (Though some just carry Artist Oils ).

What are Artist Oils?

These are the best quality oil paints a brand will carry. They will use higher quality pigments than in student oils and may contain different ingredients as well.

• They will probably be referred to as Artist Oils or have this somewhere in their label and description.

• Some colours will be available only in their Artist Oil range and not in their Student Oil range.

• They will be more expensive than student oils because of their better quality ingredients.

• The colours may have different lightfast ratings when compared to the student oils

• A colour may be available in both ranges but may be composed of different pigments - check labels.

What are Student Oils?

These are the cheapest and more affordable oil paints a brand will carry. They will use lesser quality pigments than in student oils and may contain different ingredients as well.

• They will probably be referred to as Student Oils, Graduate Oils or More Affordable Oils or have this somewhere in their label and description.

• Some colours available in their Artist Oil range may not be in their Student Oil range.

• They will be more affordable than artist oils because of their lesser quality ingredients.

• The colours may have different lightfast ratings when compared to the artist oils (the pigments for the same colour may also be different.

• A colour may be available in both ranges but may be composed of different pigments - check labels.

Which is Best?

This dependant on you the artist and your individual circumstances.

Things to Consider:

• How much do you want to pay or put towards paint?

• Is paint quality important to you?

• Are you after a particular colour that might be only available in one of the ranges?

If you are Starting Oil Painting

• What is your budget?

• How much are you prepared to put towards a starter kit of colours, mediums etc?

• Do you want to work with high quality paints from the start or test the waters with more affordable paint?

My Opinion

The best paint choice between artist and student oils is completely dependant on you as an artist. Each have their pros and cons but each are individually tailored to the student and the artist practitioner.

Which do I recommend?

I personally started with student oils and with not very much knowledge about what I was doing.

Having a better understanding about how I work as an artist has made me realise that I personally take ages to paint.

I leave long periods of time between painting so I feel I should have just bitten the bullet and purchased artist oils instead of student ones.

For the pigment power and due to how long I take to finish it seems sensible to create them from higher quality paints.

Also I like high quality art materials and would be prepared to buy them so artist oils are more of a fit for me.

Analysing how you work and how you progress through your art and your artists journey is important to establish your preferences in both your working practice and materials use.

So think hard about which would be best for you.

But what paint colours should you use? What colours should your beginners palette have? See the following article Beginners Oil Painting