If you are a novice and about to begin your debut in the world of visual arts as a painter, you may be overwhelmed by the hundreds of pigments that are conveniently available today.

If you are a novice and about to begin your debut in the world of visual arts as a painter, you may be overwhelmed by the hundreds of pigments that are conveniently available today. 

But here is one inside knowledge among the circle of skilled painters: have a small number of pigments that will meet most of your painting requirements.  Therefore, do not start your painting debut by buying all the pigments available, but focus instead on what you will paint.  From this point, you can determine the pigments that you will need.

In choosing pigments, a painter usually has three important things in mind: the properties of the pigment, the effects of mixing pigments, and the cost.  Cost has nothing to do with the emotions you channel into your masterpiece.  But it is one practical consideration.

Properties of pigments include hue, mixing properties, drying time, paint strength, permanence, and transparency or covering power.
The most important hue is, of course, white.  There are several pigments available. 

The most preferred is Titanium White.  It dries relatively fast and is the most opaque among the pigments.  The fastest drying white is the Flake, but it easily discolors.  The painter using it must remember to protect it with oil.  White pigments are also mixed with other colors.  For this purpose, the Zinc is considered to give the purest color mixes.  Unfortunately, it dries slowly and it is only half-opaque.  But if applied too thickly, it will crack.

Pigments can also be described based on their strength.  Some pigments are soft and flexible like Green earth, while others are tough and still stay flexible, like Umbers.  Some pigments are brittle like Cobalt blue, Cobalt violet, and Ivory black. 
The pigment’s permanence is also important.  This greatly affects the quality of the painting.  With poor permanence, you may end up with paints that are badly blended and spreads poorly.

Opaque color pigments, such as Naples yellow, Cadmium orange, Cerulean blue, Indian red, and Chromium oxide green, are often used in making those bold brush strokes on canvass.  While the transparent pigments, Dutch vermilion, Rembrandt rose, Ultramarine deep, and, Gold ochre are ideal for glazes.

When pigments are mixed, this may lead to discoloration and prove disastrous to your masterpiece.  For example, Cerulean discolors when mixed with Indian red or ivory black.  Mixing Ultramarine with Aureolin is also a thing to avoid.  Viridian and Cadmium yellow can only be mixed with the use of Zinc white. 

Whenever you use either Naples yellow or Cobalt violet, use a wooden or plastic spatula.  The metal one will cause chemical reactions that lead to discoloration.   When in doubt, experiment on an old canvass that you will no longer use.