ABSTRACT
Pupils at all levels of ability need plenty of opportunities to experiment with paint: to explore different consistencies of paint and its behaviour, resonances of different colours, possibilities for mark-making or drawing in colour, and to discuss discoveries. Paint is an extremely versatile art medium. Different kinds of paint can offer different qualities of fluidity, opacity and transparency, vibrancy and texture. Ready-mixed paints are very useful and versatile, although they may be too runny for the pupils working on a vertical support. Cromar paint is acrylic-based rather than water-based, which means that colours will not run into each other, although they can be blended; colours are particularly pure and vibrant, and do not fade with time. Some watercolour techniques, however, can be applied to other types of paint — for example, making colour washes. Watercolours may be used to produce a translucent effect, rather than for opacity straight from the 'pan.
