As you are all no doubt aware, Michael's has recently stopped carrying Delta Ceramcoat paints, apparently in favour of Martha Stewart paints. Since I use these paints extensively, this is very troubling for me. There are no other good Canadian distributors to fall back on.
I decided to go to Michael's and audition for a replacement for the stalwart Charcoal Gray. Never let it be said that I enter into these things with a closed mind.
Delta Ceramcoat
My go-to paint, now sadly much harder to get. Excellent coverage, great range of colours, easy to use.
Craft Smart
Not a particularly dark gray, more of a medium gray. Good consistency but average coverage. Probably would need two coats for any serious work. Also, the range is not as extensive as I'd like. Overall, medium to low quality filler.
Martha Stewart
The bottle design sure soaked up a lot of money, I have no doubt. The paint has a nice consistency and good coverage. The only downside is that the range is very limited. They only have 2 greys and they're both quite light. Definitely comes across as a paint designed to be marketed to people with a good-sized budget and not a lot of familiarity with acrylics, who are mostly buying based on look and feel.
Folk Art
Super-heavy poster paint, basically. Well suited for hand to hand combat. Not suitable for anything requiring more finesse than a sledgehammer.
The Verdict
I guess I'd better pick an online distributor and just learn to live with shipping costs.
I decided to go to Michael's and audition for a replacement for the stalwart Charcoal Gray. Never let it be said that I enter into these things with a closed mind.
Fig. 1 : The contenders. L-R: Delta Ceramcoat; Craft Smart Dark Gray; Martha Stewart Dark Gray; Folk Art Wrought Iron.
Delta Ceramcoat
My go-to paint, now sadly much harder to get. Excellent coverage, great range of colours, easy to use.
Craft Smart
Not a particularly dark gray, more of a medium gray. Good consistency but average coverage. Probably would need two coats for any serious work. Also, the range is not as extensive as I'd like. Overall, medium to low quality filler.
Martha Stewart
The bottle design sure soaked up a lot of money, I have no doubt. The paint has a nice consistency and good coverage. The only downside is that the range is very limited. They only have 2 greys and they're both quite light. Definitely comes across as a paint designed to be marketed to people with a good-sized budget and not a lot of familiarity with acrylics, who are mostly buying based on look and feel.
Folk Art
Super-heavy poster paint, basically. Well suited for hand to hand combat. Not suitable for anything requiring more finesse than a sledgehammer.
The Verdict
I guess I'd better pick an online distributor and just learn to live with shipping costs.
1 comment:
You may consider writing to Michael's and offering your feedback about the discontinuation. Your voice may be the only one they hear, or it may be multiplied by 10,000.
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