My Favourite Materials

All paints and brushes are not created equal!

I have seen many students starting out with paper, brushes and paints bought cheaply at a stationary store, I have seen them try to paint a sky with a number 4 brush, and witnessed the disappointment when it didn’t work.

One of the best pieces of advice I received when starting out was “buy the best paint, brushes and paper that you can afford”. I soon learned that wasn’t strictly true, I certainly use good paper, I use Arches 300lb (640gm) NOT (cold press). I tried kolinsky sable brushes, they didn’t work well for me, I now use Holbein Gold brushes or SAA silver, both very reasonably priced. My paints, all artist quality, are from various manufacturers. Each one chosen for the way it handles and mixes with others. I use primarily Holbein but also have Sennelier, Horadom Schminke, Daniel Smith and Mission paints on my palette. My palette is a Mijello Studio Palette, it holds pretty much every colour I use. I also like to use ceramic palettes for mixing on, the paint stays fluid longer and is easy to reactivate days later. My go to masking fluid is Pebeo Drawing Gum Original, not the latex free.

Another great piece of advice that I got from American/Canadian artist Anne Abgott is to use a brush appropriate to the size of the area that you are painting. Sounds obvious right? It’s amazing how many people don’t, myself included sometimes!

In the UK the only supplier for most of my paints is Jacksons Art Supplies, they also ship to the USA and Canada.