Montana Spanish, German, loop, Belton, Valspar, halfords…
There are so many spray cans to choose from in Europe (well that includes us in the UK) it’s hard to know which paint to buy! In this blog post I will try to shed some light on the different types of paints available and what they are used for. No brand is sponsoring me (yet) so this will be an unbiased opinion.
Ok let’s separate them by shops and uses to start with.
Where to buy spray cans?
If you get a spray can from Halfords or any car body spray shop the paint will be very thin and not suitable for art. The reason it’s thin is to be used as a primer in multiple coats.
Next stop we have the typical home improvement shops like Home depo, B&Q or Leroy Merlin, that will sell a paint that is thick enough in most cases, but the cans are overpriced (2-3 times the price) and often will have some funky cap on them that will get blocked rendering the can unusable, and the spray pattern in medium and limited.
So that leaves 3 places: Art shops, Graff shops and online shops.
Most art shops will have good paints but they tend to be more expensive than most graff shops, though Cowling & Wilcox, Greatart and Jacksons have competitive prices.
Personally I buy my paint at Wildstyle Graffiti or at VIP either online or in the shop if I need it the same day or I need to check the colours.
Which spray cans should I buy and why?
There are 2 types of spray cans for artists: High pressure and low pressure.
High pressure paint are great for covering larger areas quickly, like the backgrounds or if you want to do some effects or simply you like/want to work fast. But it’s harder to control the cans for doing details. So any tall can (600ml and up) like coversall, Montana Ultrawide, Madmax, or any other burner cans will be great for that. They will typically come with a fat cap or ultra fat cap. You can put a skinny on them but it’s harder to control because the can is too tall, there’s too much pressure and also because of the extra pressure some paint will leak through the cap making a mess.
Some other high pressure cans like MTN Hardcore are great for just about anything and they have vibrant glossy colours, but compared to lower pressure cans, they are a bit harder to control.
Most spray cans available now will be low pressure. MTN 94 being my favourite because I’ve used them in very cold and very hot weather and they work well and also the colours stay in time, they don’t fade like other brands. Though as some artists have pointed out, they are not as vibrant as say Montana Gold or MTN Hardcore. Montana Gold and MTN 94 are the best cans when it comes to detailed work. You can also use them for backgrounds and a bit of everything. Molotow Belton is also a top paint, though they had a bad batch of paint lasting a couple of years, I think they are now back to normal and a good paint to use.
So to make it simple, I made a chart with what I think about these paints. I only displayed the ones I used, and this is my personal opinion and some will agree and others will disagree. As I always say, try them all out for yourself and see what you think. Though when trying a new brand, only try the White. Don’t use a can of Black and think it’s good. The White pigment is normally chalk or Titanium Dioxide which is not one that flows well, so it’s always best to use a can of White to determine how good the rest of the paint is. This is also true when using airbrush paints.
Remember this is what I think about these paints after years of use. No spray can is perfect but some come close.
My personal favourites
I mainly use MTN 94 for most of my work because it’s versatile. The can control with a skinny or ultra fat cap is in my opinion the best. The pigment is also of good quality and I can trust it for the commissions I do for my clients to last in time. The biggest drawbacks are that it’s a sticky paint (if you paint a large surface, your shoes will have a crust under them) and also the colours are not the most vibrant. MTN hardcore is probably the all around best, but the pressure is higher, and because I mainly paint details, it makes it a bit harder to use, but overall it’s a really good paint. NBQ is very similar to MTN94 as it’s low pressure, good quality and it’s cheaper, but sometimes cans will not go all the way to the end and get a bit stuck. Montana Black is a good opaque paint with decent details capabilities though it takes a while to get them going sometimes. Montana Gold was the first paint I used and even though this new formula is better, it smells a bit strong for indoor jobs, and it tends to drip when used with a fat cap to do thin lines (fine with a skinny) and I got a customer call back after the Gold shifted colour, and in cold weather, filling in a large area will result in a patchy finish. But both of these 2 paints are not as sticky as MTN94, so you can decide what’s most important to you.
Personally, the best for me is to use emulsion for big areas then 94’s or a mix of 94’s and Hardcore for the background.
Let me know your thoughts on instagram…
Olivier.