Which type of paint is best for what

A. It really depends what you want to do and how technically proficient you are.

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Q. What are the main types of paint and what qualities do each possess
A. The four main varieties are watercolour, gouache, acrylic and oil.

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Watercolour paints are made of pigment ground with gum arabic and gall, thinned with water and applied on to damp white paper. The technique is particularly effective for creating atmospherically luminous, impressionistic washes of colour. Variation in tone and depth is achieved by building up successive layers of wash. White paint is not used in pure watercolour, patches of white paper being left to portray white objects and to give the piece a sparkle.

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For a long time watercolour was used mostly as a colour wash to fill in outline drawings or for preparatory studies for oil-painted work. In the late 18th century an English school of watercolourists, starting with John Robert Cozens, whose work exerted considerable influence on of J.M.W. Turner, grew up, and watercolour is thus also known as the English Method. Other major artists who have worked in the medium include John Constable, Edward Burra, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee.

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Gouache, also known as poster paint or body colour, is a watercolour to which a gum has been added, thus giving it more body. Unlike watercolour, however, where the paint soaks into the paper, gouache sits on top of the substrate (it can be used on canvas, too) and has much more opacity. Because of its nature, a degree of impasto - a thick-coated quality - can be achieved, but it lacks the subtlety of watercolour.

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It is one of the earliest forms of paint, having been used extensively by the ancient Egyptians. It was popular during the Rococo period in the 18th century, with artists such as Fran�ois Boucher making great use of it. It has always been more favoured in continental Europe than in Britain; one of the few British artists to work in it extensively was Paul Sandby (1725-1809).

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Acrylic paint - acrylic vinyl polymer emulsion paint - is very versatile, both in its potential use and the substrates on which it can be applied; it can be used on almost anything. Made from plastic pigment suspended in a water-soluble vehicle, it combines the wash effects of watercolour with the impasto of oils. Unlike oil paints acrylic dries quickly, which can be both an advantage or a disadvantage. Once they dry, they dry very hard and can't be manipulated at all, but this quality means that it is less affected by heat and other destructive forces than oils. One down side is that the appearance can be too plasticky - although that is sometimes the desired effect.

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A completely new medium, acrylic paints became very popular when first promoted in the 1960s.

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Oils are the most usual medium for large or important pictures, and the one that has traditionally been used in the most diverse ways, although this may now be challenged by acrylics. Oil paints can be used impasto or as luminous glazes and the paint can be almost sculpted by the deft use of the brush and other objects, such as a palette knife or even a thumb. It can, however, be a difficult medium to work in and it takes a great deal of practice to explore the range of possibilities. The substrate needs to be primed and the paint takes a long time to dry and requires a varnish to protect it. More often than not oils will be applied to a stretched canvas, but wood, cardboard, concrete and other materials are also used.

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Although oils have been used since at least Roman times, they first came to prominence as a fine-art medium in the 15th century and really took off during the Renaissance. Every major painter since then has used oils, often to the exclusion of any other method.

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By Simon Smith