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Two decades ago I painted my apartment with artist grade titanium white acrylic. It still looks new. A temperament that I share with everyone on HN is a suspic
by Syzygies 4y ago
Two decades ago I painted my apartment with artist grade titanium white acrylic. It still looks new.
A temperament that I share with everyone on HN is a suspicion of convention. So many common practices are dumb that it's hard to see each one coming in advance. One is always on edge waiting for the next shoe to drop. I'm supposed to spend days clearing my apartment, so the bottom rung of the construction trades can come in using paint that only lasts four years, dabbing hanging peels back in place with their brushes? Why did I actually have to go through this once to see this is the poster child for "stupid"?
I've also never understood the fashion choice of "off white". Titanium white is brighter, a better lit room day or night. It can become a color mirror, where a corner looks red because a red object is nearby.
For anyone tempted to try this, the student grades have less pigment, and the most expensive brands have the most pigment. It would also appear in an art supply store that there's only one kind of primer, and mediums vary only by gloss. Going to the manufacturer's sites, there are variations intended to survive the outside wall of a building. One could probably wind up someone on a phone call, and get excellent advice on which products to use. On the other hand, I used what I found at Pearl Paint in NYC, and it held up fine.
- Syzygies 4y agoOnce I recognized that art supplies can substitute for construction materials, this opened up a world for me. For example, though miscommunication I had many holes to fill in some period kitchen cabinet doors in my house. The normal sequence would be filler, primer, cabinet paint. Instead I played with stiff acrylic modeling compound. I got the paint store to give me a sample of what they squirt into the paint, and I played around with the pigment and different mediums until the color and gloss was an exact match. Now I could fill each hole in one pass, no painting, and no one could find the hole afterwards.
- JohnFen 4y ago> I've also never understood the fashion choice of "off white". Personally, if it's a room I'm going to be relaxing in (bedroom, living room, etc.) as opposed to a work room, I strongly prefer an off-white over a bright white. It's more muted and relaxing.
- brookst 4y agoI think the argument is that you can produce a relaxing shade by using pure white and controlling the lighting / decor, rather than relying on paint color to subtract certain colors out. For instance, bright white paint + 2800k lamps may vibe similar to eggshell + 3200k lamps.
- JohnFen 4y agoI see. That seems like an overly complex solution to a very simple problem, though. Not to mention the unnecessary use of electricity.
- MichaelZuo 4y agoYour using electricity in either case, and they're both of the same complexity.
- JohnFen 4y agoWell, I'm only using electricity at night. During the day, the sun lights everything. But now that I say that, I realize that's not going to be the same for everybody. But adjusting the wall color through lighting is more complex than just having the walls be painted the shade you want.
- MichaelZuo 4y agoAll lighting adjusts the 'wall color'. It's impossible for it not to. There's no man made source that exactly replicates the sun.
- JohnFen 4y agoWell, sure, I'm speaking in approximations. My only point is that my personal preferences mean that a bright white room would drive me crazy. I could fix that with various methods, sure, but it seems to me the easiest and best solution is just to paint it a color I would prefer. I'm certainly not saying that anyone else is wrong for having tastes that differ from mine.
- _a_a_a_ 4y agoBecause it's the chromatic equivalent of happy hardcore techno. Sometimes you just not in the mood for that.
- johnohara 4y agoThe sad but interesting story of Pearl Paint. https://www.artistsnetwork.com/magazine/pearl-paint/ https://www.artistsnetwork.com/magazine/pearl-paint/
- daniel_reetz 4y agoThe primary ingredient in housepaint is rutile titanium dioxide particles, which have a very high refractive index. The particles are suspended in a carrier which, when drying, creates air voids. The air/TiO2 refractive index change, as light bounces around inside, is what gives white paint it's hiding/wall covering power. In other words, artist paint and house paint use the same base pigment. Almost all commercially available "white" housepaints are based on titanium dioxide pigment. The special thing about artist paint is the extraordinarily high concentration of pigment.
- jjeaff 4y agoI would think that high end construction paint also has more pigment. Not sure how it would compare, but I know painting a large area with artist grade paint could get exorbitantly expensive.
- dieselgate 4y agoWhy the negativity towards and when did painters become the bottom rung of construction trade? (Thought those were earth workers but I’m just kidding - question still remains)
- eternalban 4y ago> Pearl Paint in NYC, and it held up fine. I miss Pearl Paint. It was strangely fun to go up those stairs. [in case you're curious https://www.artistsnetwork.com/magazine/pearl-paint/ https://www.artistsnetwork.com/magazine/pearl-paint/]
- dmd 4y agoOh my god. Thank you for this. I haven't thought about that place in more than 30 years and now all these memories of going there with my grandfather are flooding back.
- eternalban 4y agohttps://www.vulture.com/2014/04/6-new-york-artists-on-the-closing-of-pearl-paint.html https://www.vulture.com/2014/04/6-new-york-artists-on-the-cl... I was shocked to find out it is closed (fairly recently actually). Last I felt this way in newyork was when they closed the art cinema close to lincoln center back in the day. (Don't remember the name now.)
- solarmist 4y agoDid you buy it by the tube? How many thousands of dollars did that cost?