Pans of watercolor paints come in many sizes
All paints are not created equal even if they're made by the same manufacturer. Acrylic, oil and watercolor paints differ in price and quality even within the same manufacturer's line. All of these paints come in both student grade and artist's grade, which is more expensive.
Student Grade Paints
Student grade oil, acrylic and watercolor paints contain pigments in lower concentrations and have fewer color selections. Because the colors are made with a lower concentration of pigments when mixing, the resulting hue is not as vibrant as is the artists grade. While student grade oil and acrylic paints do come in tubes, student grade watercolor paints come in pans containing buttons of pigment which are diluted with wet brush.
Artist Grade Paints
All three types of paints come in artist grade, which contains a full load of pigment so the colors are more vibrant and can be used to blend more hues. In addition, these tubes of paints come in a much larger variety of hues and shades of hues so less blending is necessary.
A Note About Acryclic Paint
Standard acrylic paints are made available in different formulas for student and artist grade paints. There are also thin and vinyl paints available. Thin acrylic paints are looser and pour more quickly than standard acrylic paints and are used to cover larger surface areas. Polyvinyl acetate colors also called vinyl acrylics are quick drying and applied in thin layers which can be peeled away. Because they are fragile in nature, vinyl paints are not recommended for professional work. Generally they are are used for school projects and work well for the classroom setting.
A Note About Watercolor Paints
Watercolor paints come in both transparent and opaque forms and come in both artist and student grade. While both are used with water, the opaque watercolor paint, called gouache, can block out area while transparent colors allow the colors beneath them to show through.
