I'm not necessarily a painter but I do enjoy dabbling from time to time and when I do dabble, I reach for the liquitex acrylic. I mean is there really any other brand out there? Liquitex puts out great products, paint and brushes (but does that explain the expense? - probably). If you are a student and you have a list that says to only buy 1 tube of white acrylic paint, do yourself a solid and buy 2 of the big guys. Trust me, you'll use white A LOT! Mixes well and washes off fingers easily - carpets, not so much.