Are some Acrylic paint brands better than others?

I have used many different brands of paint in my Paintings and in my Acrylic Painting Lessons. I have a preference for the thicker paints with more color pigment in them. Some of my favorite brands of Acrylic paints are Liquitex, Blick, and Utrecht because of their thick consistency and color. It pays to spend the extra dime when it comes to some of the shades of color. I have asked my students to purchase higher quality paint when purchasing brown or blue. I have noticed that some of the less expensive brands have more white or less pigment in them. It is difficult to make your own black by mixing brown and ultramarine blue when the colors are lighter than the more expensive brands. No matter what brand you purchase all paints will be trying to dry and get thicker as time goes on until they dry to the point where they are unusable. The brands I listed can be purchased at an art store online. I do not recommend mixing water into the tube of paint. You can add water to the paint you have on your palette, but do not put this back into the original container. Tap water can sometimes introduce bacteria into your paint. I can tell when this happens because the paint develops a foul odor. I really have not figured out how to counteract this. I usually toss paint that has developed an odor.

I do not recommend craft paints in bottles or paints that have less pigment in them, appearing lighter in color. I have Artist friends who have used the craft paint for their paintings.  In my Acrylic Painting Classes, we recycle our leftover paint into airtight containers. If you mix all the colors together it makes varying shades of grey and works great to paint rocks in future paintings.   Check out my original Paintings for sale at http://www.dkboljat.com/home.html

Painting helps me see things differently

A Small part of my "Crater Lake" Painting

Are you an Artist, specifically a Painter? How long have you been Painting? I have been Painting since 2004, I became a professional Artist in 2005. I am a Painting Instructor at the Sherwood Center for the Arts in Sherwood Oregon. I noticed when I started painting, I started really seeing the trees, leaves, branches and more. I started taking notice of the beauty around me. Where I might have commented previously on a beautiful sunny day, I now notice beauty in every day. I think as I painted my mind's eye was on the lookout for new subjects to paint. I soon found myself really noticing the bark on trees or clouds in the sky.
Water has always intrigued me and painting it was more fun than I could have imagined. I am just wondering how many other artists out there have noticed that they literally see things that they have been creating in more detail than before they started creating Art. I really enjoy the fact that it has raised my awareness of the world I live in and the beauty I might have taken for granted before I picked up a paintbrush.
The two trees on the left are a small part of my Two Trees painting. I was inspired to paint the Beautiful bark on the trees. You can check out my art for sale and learn more about Acrylic Painting Lessons  at http://www.dkboljat.com/home.html