Materials

Whether you are beginner or an intermediate painter, the range of products available to you can be quite overwhelming.  “Buy the best that you can afford” isn’t strictly the best approach, for example kolinsky sable brushes are very expensive but just don’t work for me, I like my brush to have a little “bounce”.  I use Holbein Gold brushes, they are inexpensive but unfortunately are not available in the UK or Europe.  I also have some SAA Silver and Jacksons Studio brushes.

Below is a list of the “My” preferred materials, every artist has their own reference.

If you use this link to Jacksons, new customers get a 10% discount off their first order and it helps build my profile with them.

This is the Princeton Aqua Elite brush that we used in our classes onboard. Definitely a guest favourite

Jacksons Studio brushes are also a very good, reasonably priced brush

I use these Eradicator brushes to lift out, clean up and soften edges. They are a very useful tool. I have the small and the medium in my kit.

Magic Eraser sponges are a great tool for removing larger areas of paint. There is no need to buy art specific ones. Any that don’t have any chemicals in them are fine. These are like the ones I use in classes.

My go to Masking Fluid is Pebeo It is reliable, lifts off easily and doesn’t stain the paper.

I only ever use the Original - it contains latex. If in doubt, smell it, the original has a strong “aroma”

Most of the paints in my palette are Holbein This is mainly due to my being taught in the USA, where most of my instructors used them. But they are a very nice paint to use.

At the end of each class or painting when at home, I always clean my brushes, they may look clean, the water may appear clean when you rinse them, but clean them with this soap and you be surprised what colours come out. This is the brand I use Masters Brush Cleaner