There are two common types of paint used today. The first are water-based paints such as latex and acrylic paint, and the second are oil-based paints. The paint of choice will depend on the substrate to be painted upon and the desired end result. All paints have the same basic structure:
* Pigment – This is the part of the paint that is seen by the eye. The pigment gives the paint opacity and color.  The pigments of all paints contain a white base composed of titanium dioxide (TiO) or zinc oxide (ZnO).  Dyes are added to the pigment to attain the desired color.
*Binder – the binder is the glue that holds the paint together. This is usually a polymer that upon drying will polymerize to keep the pigments homogeneous and adhered to the substrate.
*Solvent – this is the bulk of the paint, it is used to keep the paint workable when it is wet. After paint is applied to a surface the solvent evaporates, the pigment and binder will coalesce together to form a uniform coating. The solvent is water for water-based paints, and an oil for oil-based paints.
There actually is no chemical bond between paint and an underlying surface. Paint adheres simply through physical forces like Van der Waals. When paint is first applied to a surface it goes on as a thick wet coating. As the solvent is allowed to evaporate out, the pigment plates which are attracted to one another stack up to form layers. The binder polymerizes essentially locking the pigment plates together. What remains is a uniform coating of binder and pigment. Anti-graffiti coatings make paints unable to adhere to the surface.