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Which Paints Not to Buy (and Why)


What Paint Tubes Should You Avoid? Common Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Paintings.


If you want brighter colors, cleaner mixes, and better results in oil or acrylic painting, choosing the right paint tubes matters more than you think. Some paints may look appealing on the shelf but can lead to muddy colors, weak coverage, or disappointing results. Here’s a practical guide to the mistakes artists often make when buying paint — and how to avoid them to create more vibrant, professional-looking artwork.


Une personne qui regarde un tube de peinture dans un magasin de matériel d'artiste.

Avoid Paint Tubes Without Technical Information


The first red flag when buying paint is the label. Avoid paint tubes that provide little or no technical information about their composition. When a manufacturer leaves out important details, it’s often a sign that the paint is lower quality and may not perform well.



Avoid Paint Tubes with Multiple Pigments (When Possible)

Whenever possible, it’s best to avoid paint tubes made with multiple pigments. Instead, prioritize single-pigment paints whenever you can, for two essential reasons:

  • First, replacement becomes much more difficult. If your store runs out or a specific colour is discontinued, it can be nearly impossible to recreate the exact same shade when it comes from a complex blend of pigments.

  • Second, there’s a higher risk of “muddy” mixes. When you start combining paints that are already made from multiple pigments, the mixtures can quickly become dull, unpredictable, and less vibrant. For clean, luminous colour mixing, single-pigment paints remain the gold standard.


Avoid Colors That Already Contain White


A common trap is buying colors that already include white in their formulation.


Be especially careful with tubes that list PW6 (Titanium White) or PW4 (Zinc White) in their pigment composition.


  • These pre-whitened colors often make your final mixes look flat, muted, or less vibrant than expected.

  • Be extra cautious with yellows: avoid yellow paints that contain PW6. When you use these for mixing greens or oranges, the added white can dull the resulting colour instead of keeping it bright and luminous.


For more control and cleaner results, it’s always better to start with pure pigments and add white yourself only when you actually need it.



Deux jaunes en tube — à gauche sans blanc pour un pigment pur, à droite avec du blanc PW6 pour un jaune plus clair
Two yellow paint tubes — on the left, without white for a pure pigment; on the right, with PW6 white for a lighter yellow.

Stop Working Without a Color Mixing Reference Notebook


To avoid wasting paint and losing your color recipes, don’t rely on memory alone. Using a reference notebook is essential for:

  • Keeping accurate notes of your color mixtures.

  • Recording the exact paint tube names used for a specific painting.

  • Keeping a reference color for your future painting sessions.


Artist Notebook

This notebook will save you time and prevent you from wasting paint

  • note the exact colors you used for each of your art works,

  • keep all your color recipes together, so you never forget them,

  • keep all your inspirational photos and images with artist name and website information in one place for fast and easy reference.


So stop wasting time and paint trying to remember how to recreate a colour.

Get this practical artist's notebook, created by an artist for artists.


This notebook helps you free your mind of these details so you can concentrate on your creativity.



You can use these link depending on your location:




Grid method for drawing free guide

How to enlarge all your drawings to scale without doing any calculations



How to guide to enlarge your drawings to reproduce a subject on a canvas with precision, without knowing how to draw and without having to take out your calculator.








https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbcFXY868OU
cliquez sur l'image pour partir la vidéo

You can download the free guide – How to decode a paint tube


👉 **Download the free guide**


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