Identifying Artists
Artists can be obvious to spot, but the obviousness can mean that there can be alot more to gleam. For example, different types of mediums leave different marks in different places, and this can reveal more to a knowing eye.
Amateur or untrained artists will have graphite smudged all the way down the side of their dominant hand, while professional and seasonal straits will only have a graphite smudge on the tip of their pinky finger on their dominant hand. Paint usually smudges onto the middle, ring and pinky finger of the dominant hand, and the thumb and index of the non-dominant. Paint can also smudge on the forearm of the non-dominant had from holding a palette. Paint on the chest indicates sitting down to work, while paint towards the waist means standing up.
As far as identifying a medium on someone, it's simple. Graphite is silvery, charcoal is powdery black and ink can stain a solid dark color. Oil paint is typically harder to get off than tempura or acrylic and is thicker. The difference between acrylic and tempura is that tempura is chalk-based, while acrylic is a plastic paint.
Also, if you should see any turpentine in someone's house next to a sink, it's a safe bet that they regularly work with paint, particularly oil paint. This is because turpentine is excellent at clearing off any oil-based paint, whereas soap is ineffective. It is used in treating wood, but then it wouldn't really be next to the sink.














