It looks like a painting. It feels like a painting. But, is it really a painting?

 A guide to buying art, written by an artist.

Advances in technology and paint formulation have lead to artworks that are very stable and archival, and paints that are easier than ever to buy, store, and use effectively. But the technology and availability of art materials and mediums mean that it is easier than ever to buy an artwork that may not be painted to last - or may not even be painted at all.

Art is more accessible now than it has ever been. Paintings used to be the commodities of the wealthy, who commissioned them, bought them, and traded them the way that celebrities collect cars and jewelry. Painters worked for the wealthy, creating works of art because they would sell, not because that was the subject matter they wanted to paint.

Artists are much more autonomous now; they paint what they want to paint because they can. Galleries exhibit their works alongside the works of other artists who choose their own subject matter and accept commissions only if they are interested in doing the work. Life is much more fun as an artist today.

Is this painting plastic? A guide to the different types of paint today.

Paint types have also multiplied over the past 50 years. Acrylic paint made its big debut in the 1960's, and ever since, artists have been able to paint with what can be compared to liquid plastic. Acrylic paint is safe, stable, permanent, easy to use, quick to dry, and available in almost endless colors. It can be glossy or matte, watery, or thick, and can be controlled by many mediums. It can be made to look like a watercolor, or painted on a canvas to look like an oil painting. If you are buying a painting on canvas, you should know if your painting is an oil or acrylic.

Some more modern advances in paint include oil paints that are water-soluble, (by Windsor and Newton , and Holbein, among others,) and paints that stay wet until they are heated (Heat-set paints by GENESIS.) These "exotic" paints are a little more specialized, so if you find an artist working in these you can probably safely assume that they have the training and the expertise to know what they are doing.

The dizzying array of artists' materials available today has a slightly more insidious side, however. Because materials are more readily available and less expensive, anyone can paint anything they want. Artists can paint a canvas in oil paints, decide they hate it, gesso over it with acrylic gesso, and start over again with acrylic paints.

Wait a minute - acrylic paint over oil? Can you do that?

The answer is no; acrylic paint of any type over oil paint will not adhere; the oil will continue to dry under the already dry layer of acrylic paint, and the painting will start to break down in a matter of months. But if the painting is already sold, the artist may never have to find that out - it's the buyer's problem now.

Although the latex-over-oil is an extreme example, there are many other ways that the variety of materials can make the art buying process very difficult. Jackson Pollock, well known for his "action paintings" - non representational paintings done by splattering or dripping paint on a prepared canvas - is guilty of misuse of his materials.

Pollock used house paint for many of his works. Most artists' materials are rated for permanence, and if used properly should last decades, sometimes centuries. House paints are intended to keep their color for 5 to 20 years. After that, they may start to flake, change color, and break down. Imagine being the curator in charge of making sure that Jackson Pollock's paintings, using house paint, are still hanging in the museum 100 years from now!

A good painting should be done with good materials, and a sound knowledge of how to use them. Oil paintings should be buttery, and done on canvas or a board. If you look at the back of the canvas, it should be clean with no oil marks or pinpricks of light. They are most often glossy, although there are mediums available to achieve a more matte finish.

Acrylic paintings can be done on paper, canvas, or board. Acrylic is a much more forgiving medium, so light shining though the canvas, or paint on an unprepared section of canvas, shouldn't be as much of an alarm.

Watercolors, sketches, pencil drawings, and pastels can also be done on a paper or board. In order to display these delicate works, most often on paper, they should be framed under glass. The frame, mat and glass protect the work from moisture, wrinkling and buckling, UV damage, and many other factors that would cause paper to break down over time. When buying these works, be sure to weigh in how much a frame is going to cost you so that you can display your new purchase.

Is this painting really a painting? How to tell (and when to ask) if your painting is a print.

In the past, you could tell if a work of art on a wall was a framed print or a painting by looking very carefully. You could hold a magnifying glass up to the piece, and if there were little dots from the printing press, you knew that your painting was a print.

Printing has gotten a lot more sophisticated, and there are dye-sublimation printers that will look as great as the original piece. There are no dots visible, even under a magnifying glass.

Artists can have giclees printed from their original pieces, and put the print on paper or canvas. They can demand hundreds of dollars for limited-edition giclees. The can sell the original work plus hundreds of pieces that look just like it, with the luster, richness and feel of a painting on a stretched canvas. Some artists, like Thomas Kincaid, even pay other artists to put little daubs of paint on areas on the canvas, to give it the texture of a painting. Other manufacturers print the gicle on canvas that already has the texture of brushstrokes. All this printing technology makes it very difficult to walk up to a painting - on canvas or on paper - and tell if it is really a painting.

If the painting is labeled as a "limited edition gicle," it is not the original piece. Some galleries exhibit these alongside original works, and it is easy to mistake them for an original. A gicle is a great way for a popular artist to make money, and they are just as attractive, and in most cases, just as permanent as the original. While a gicle is not better or worse to own than an original painting, and can often be a great way to buy a work you couldn't otherwise afford, it is important to be aware of what you are buying.

Was this painting done in a sweatshop? How to tell if your painting is a copy.

When I worked at the High Point Furniture Market, I walked into many showrooms and saw dozens of pieces of art. They were expertly done: large, glossy, buttery, beautiful oil paintings. Many were signed. They were all for sale at much lower than they would have gone for in a gallery. I finally asked if they were very well-done gicles.

"Absolutely not. These are oils. They are one-hundred percent done by hand."

So what's the catch? How did this furniture manufacturer get such talented and prolific artists to let go of such large works so that they could use them to accessorize their showrooms?

These paintings had been outsourced. Mostly in the furniture industry, the paintings are bought and sold for fractions of what they might be worth in a gallery and are billed as "wall décor." They are originally from artists who license their work to be reproduced. The images are sent to China where people are paid a few dollars a day to copy the paintings. The canvases are then allowed to dry, varnished, and then rolled up and shipped to the States where they are stretched and sold in furniture stores and flea markets as accessories.

Poorly done art, mass-printed art, and copied art - how can an art buyer be sure that they are getting a good work of art in today's marketplace?

The first thing to remember is your reason for buying the art. If you are a collector who wants art as an investment, you'll want an original piece. Even if it's done with house paint, you'll be willing to take the extra care to make sure the piece doesn't degrade. If you're someone who wants a pretty piece to hang over the tub in the bathroom, you'll be okay with the $20 print, because the moisture of the bathroom is going to damage the piece over time anyway. And if you're on a tight budget and need something big and bold to hang in the living room, the local furniture store may be able to sell you a great painting - even if they can't tell you exactly who painted it.

Art is wall décor, accessories, and business. It is also an ideology, a creative spark, or a message and voice in an otherwise utilitarian world. I can't really articulate what the difference is between a work painted and shipped from China , and a work that is stretched by hand and painted from a photo hanging in my sunny studio. I do know that there is a difference. And I think, based off the number of galleries and successful artists today, that a lot of other people feel it as well.