Okay. So over the last four years, I have accumulated a whole lot of art stuff. After graduating from school, I decided to grow my creative interests. That's when I seriously started exploring art. Four years through and I have multiple paint set of various mediums, sketchbooks and brushes. The list goes on and on, thanks to friends for very thoughtful and useful birthday gifts :)

Today I thought I'd look back and list them out and see what I've created with them. It's a lot so this is just the first part. Let's begin: In this post, I cover the paint mediums.

Watercolors : Tubes, Cakes and Sheets

Watercolors are my choice of creative weapon. I love loosening up with them. I started out watercolors in the cake form then moved on to the tubes and only recently I have the sheets as well.

Tubes : Artist's watercolors by Camlin (set of 24)

Artwork

This set has 24 colors and that's quite a large range for me. So tubes last for a very long time since it's in tubes and one can work of the color concentration of the pigment easily. These aren't as concentrated as sheets so they work quite well on various range of papers and I haven't really found any defects in them. I love using the watercolors cause it's quite easy to work in gradients and develop layers. I enjoy losing control over them. The painting above is created using these tubes.

Cakes : Koi watercolors (set of 18)

Artwork

So I painted this one using these cakes and it was a long time ago when I started using watercolors. And this is a very special painting for me as well.

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Note: The artworks don't necessarily define the paint mediums because that is affected by so many factors like paper thickness, the concentration of paints etc. I'm including these artworks to simply give you an example.

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This set of paint is worth its price and also lasts very long. Colors are simply beautiful and the cakes don't really break even though it has been more than 3 years since I started using them. The only thing I don't like about cakes is the mixing of colors. I usually use one brush, so when I sweep on the cake to get the other color especially lighter color, the darker color stays on and ruins the lighter color until cleaned. I don't know if I'm being able to explain that. Other than this, I love these colors.

Sheets : Viviva color sheets (set of 16)

These are perfect for painting when you're traveling. This literally fits right into a pocket. I wouldn't say much about them because I was gifted these on my birthday this year and I haven't used them that much to form an opinion. But I must say the colors on these sheets are very concentrated and beautiful so they must last long. These are quite expensive though. But it is the best art supply for traveling. I haven't painted an entire painting with just these but I will soon do that.

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Gouache Paints by Bianyo (set of 12)

Artwork

It's only been like two months since I tried this medium and I 100% love them. The Gouache paint comes in tubes. These were the only cheaper ones that I could find to try. But I must say they completely surprised me. Even though they are cheaper, the colors are vibrant and are of good quality. Gouache and watercolors are quite similar. In this painting, I've used both watercolor tubes and gouache as well. The background of deep blue and flowers are done in gouache while the boots and rest are painted with watercolors.

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Photocolors by Camlin (set of 12)

Artwork

Photocolors are these liquid ink type of medium. These colors have quite unique transparency to them. They immediately brighten up my paintings. They dry quickly so they don't blend as easy as watercolors as you can see in the painting above. But they have their own quality and aesthetic appeal to them.

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Acrylic Tubes by Camlin (set of 10)

Artwork

I am not well versed with the acrylic medium as I have only tried it a couple of times. But it is definitely one I want to learn well. In this painting, I tried contrasting colors with no technique. I find them a bit difficult then watercolors though. Acrylic on canvas is a dream for me. Maybe I should make that my thing to do before 2019 ends. What do you say?

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Poster colors by Faber Castell (set of 15)

Artwork

Poster colors remind me of my school days. I don't use them quite as often now but when I feel like changing mediums I go to them sometimes. To me, these feel like a lower version of acrylics minus the shine.

All these mediums have different qualities and I more often than not, mix them. And there are so many other mediums that I have yet to explore and learn. Do leave any suggestions and thoughts on mediums mentioned or not in the comments below. I'd love to read them.

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