We wish we had been able to participate in this live because there was so much interesting information shared! We were just discussing fluorescent colors and fading in the work of Basquiat, which were in the form of oil paint sticks (probably industrial marking crayons). We kind of want to stick up for light-duty stretchers as a product category, because there are some quite good ones, and they allow the artist to key out the frame to restore tension (which isn't easy with fixed joints). Anyway, we've subscribed so we don't miss future streams. We'd love to participate in something like this in the future!
Hi! I believe Blick is already in contact with Clara via email, so feel free to follow up that way about future collaborations! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
@blick_art Nice to see you here! Usually I see you in Scott Sava’s streams. You should REALLy be doing sponsored videos with Art Prof! Like seriously! These guys and their community are similarly as awesome as Scott & Donna.
I know you folks at ArtProf try to stay positive, and I appreciate that attitude a lot. That being said I've really enjoyed these last couple of streams where experienced consumers of art supplies are discussing the negative aspects of some of the items out there. I feel like you folks are doing a great job keeping the subject light, and you're also discussing WHY the item isn't good, which really can help someone looking to purchase.
I'm so happy you like these more recent spicy streams! They're actually a relief for us- I think most artists gripe about their materials or certain artworks from time to time, and we're certainly not an exception! 😂 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
10:09 I’ve been using a wooden palette for over a year because I wondered why I had it lying around the studio in the first place and tried it out one day. It’s very lightweight and you save cleaning time because you never clean it. You put the same colors in the same spots each time you use it. When the piles of dried paint get too tall you cut them off with a knife. Though having your dried paint always there is a little neurotic, like saving your fingernail clippings
The pile of fingernail clippings metaphor is really vivid, haha. Although I do the same with oil paint, saving all the shavings in a pile. Now I feel a little weird about that. 😅 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
You have to treat the wood pallet with multiple layers of linseed oil before using them. You use them for oil and you don't clean them much. Put the colors in the same spots over and over. They scape off the same way the glass ones do.
wooden palettes are prepared by oiling. with the same oils you use for oil painting. oiling and drying and oiling and drying. creating a surface where the paint doesn't sink in. and over time it develops a patina from the oil and oil paint. it ages like an oil painting in a sense and reflects the work put into the oil paintings
Fan brushes are great with oil and cold wax. I don’t use them for marks. I use the tips only for blending with a light touch. Great for atmospheric paintings
i love my wood palette! its easily cleaned after every use, same with my glass palette. ive had it almost a year and it still looks brand new! it's a matter of caring for your tools.
Some Hue paints are fantastic. You have to look at the pigment in it though and use it according to what the pigment is and not the color. I still buy single pigment Hue colors. Like Alizarin Crimson is one where the hue paint is better because the original isn’t lightfast.
Palettes- for acrylic I just use a cheap glass frame from a hobby store that I spray paint a neutral gray on the underside. For gouache and watercolor- porcelain plates are so nice
Wow, never thought to spray paint the back of the glass, mine is just a piece of grey paper, I'll have to try your way! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I'm so glad everyone was upset by The Master's Brush Cleaner too because my mouth dropped open when I saw that one mentioned! I had brushes that had dried on acrylic paint stuck to them because I was lazy about washing them in time. I pretty much thought that they were ruined forever. I cleaned them with that brush cleaner, left it on overnight just to try and deep condition them, and they were LIKE NEW. I am a believer.
cadmium hues exist because they are not toxic (heavy metal), or pigments like real ultramarine, which use extremely rare pigments. Also, some favorite and lovely pigments are discontinued because the companies that manufacture them have no industrial need for them, the volume needed by the art community is too small compared to industrial paint uses. My husband uses fan brushes all the time for making trees. I use one to make the best splatter drops, too!
i dont worry about the metal at all, youd literally have to eat an entire tube to have ant effects. as for lead im not worried either, its main effects are found in young children and babies, so keep it away from children pr dont use it if children re in the house.
You asked about my palette..... I'm really messy so I ended up with mud on my solid palette. I now use the plastic palettes with all the little dents from Jerry's Artorama. I got one as a freebie and fell in LUUUUUV!!!!! They clean easily and solved my mud problem! I don't use oils though, so I don't know how they work with oils.
I am known for using the most random things as palettes-- so I'll have to give these a shot instead of the old window panes & refrigerator shelves I find in the trash! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I love florescent paint! But I don't sell or take my paintings too seriously either. I never actually tried seeing if they glow. I just like how satisfying it feels when I pour and mix with other colors.😅
Missed the live stream but one suggestion on the brush organizer bit I use WHILE painting...I bought a swim noodle and slid it over the leg of my easel and cut slices in it and the brushes I am using frequently I stick into the slots I cut to have them handy.
The Masters Brush Cleaner, Conditioner, and Preserver. Follow their directions and it works MIRACLES on absolutely battered brushes. And a little goes a long way!
I use the masters cleaner too. I’ve tried just regular cleaning but I feel the masters really keep my brushes in good condition. And I’ve just invested in expensive brushes so I don’t want them to get destroyed so I’ll keep buying masters. Like you said a little goes a long way I still have so many months of usage out of one tub!
I used a canvas brush organizer through college to go back and forth, college to home. They worked fine for me. If you fold the top flap over too close to the brush tip, you can bend the brush but if you fold the flap over with extra space to account for the brush tips, the folded over canvas protects the tips. My organizer also rolled into a cylinder after you folded over the top so it became even stiffer to keep the brushes safe. I also used a wooden palette since I had to move with my supplies a lot. It didn’t soak up the paint if you use it after oiling it. After a couple of uses, you don’t even really need to keep oiling because the continuous use keeps the wood conditioned.
Omg that messy yogurt container with brushes mixed in everywhere would drive me NUTS. I LOVE my brush organizer; it sits on my desk and I can easily see and find the exact brush that I want to use without even thinking about it. Having to search for the brush I want would waste way too much time.
That's so funny, I feel like I have the problem searching for the right brush with a brush organizer. Must be a way we spatially map things in our brains or something. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I love palette paper because I can save the paper and when the paint dries I can use the colors as a guide for color matching and mixing for a new painting if I liked the way a combo of colors turned out. Idk I like them a lot more than a palette because I like being able to keep the paper and look back at the colors used. I keep them in a binder lol
I always ordered stretcher bars from Blick. Once I started having quality problems, I started making my own, which is quite the process.I hated pre-gessoed canvas because of price and having to put 2 additional sanded coats to get the surface I like for oils. I buy 6 foot rolls of canvas and 1 gallon pails of gesso. I'm typically painting 40"x 30" or larger these days. I like the flexibility of building the exact size I want. I like the light weight wood pallet with the large thumb hole .I got anti - trumpian hands. I use a store bought, trace it out on a large sheet of lam-board and make a half dozen of them. Coat them heavy with clear acrylic. I always stand-up and paint, so these pallets work well. I cover with saran wrap when I stop painting so the paint doesn't dry and get wasted. Yet ever so often I still must scrape and start over. Thats why I have several clean ones on hand. I did use glass as a beginner sit down painter. No, once you figure the wood ones out, the way to go. Hell, design your own with whatever holding devise hole thing fits you. Cut it out of gray plastic, whatever. Please stop setting down to paint unless you're disabled. Get your entire body into it. And quit holding that damed brush like a freaking pencil! I typically purchase 6.75 ounce tubes of low series hues for grayed out tones and 1st coats of paint. I purchase 1,25 high series cads, cobalt .... that I need high quality pigment. Why would you waste good pigment on greyed tones and 1st coats? I mean yes, some receding tones you do want that quality pigment. I had the standard wood paint box for my paints and brushes. Gawd I hate that. I go to Traders Joe's and buy the perfect size coffee can for my brushes and I hate Trader Joes coffee. LOL I use a 3 tear table on rollers. Got my paint, can of brushes, mix mediums, slung haphazardly all over 1st tear. More paint on second tear, along with rolls of paper towels and saran wrap, straight edges and misc tools. On bottom a got Mineral spirits turp. linseed oil ....... The fan brush works great once they get fairly dirty and use it real dry. I hate dirty pallets knives. I clean my oil brushes with full strength dish soap. I use pro grade gesso. I water down the first two layers and full strength additional sanded layers depending on tooth I'm after for the piece. WTF palette paper? LOL The most Iv'e paid was $45 for a nice set of 3 signature brushes on sale and ell worth it. I love my cheap fake horse hair brushes as much as my expensive ones. If painting large, a good 2', 3'' and 4" Wooster from Lowes is excellent. Take good care of them, they last for ever. I never ever ever buy artist brushes unless on sale.
13:05 I wanna chime in on hue paints bc Lauryn is right that some colors are extinct, like the beloved Quinacridone Gold. Others are hues of more fugitive colors like Alizarin Crimson. And as always hues are cheaper than their genuine counterparts. The main problem with hues is when they don’t tell or aren’t honest about what’s in the paint. Most cadmium red hues are a mixture of pyrrol and naphthol reds, so they have good to great lightfastness (the naphthol reds are a tad fugitive, especially when diluted). But for example, Winsor & Newton won’t share what’s in their Cadmium-free orange, which tests by Kimberly Crick show contain a fugitive red pigment that fades the color to a pale yellow. It’s also true that they don’t behave or handle similarly-cadmium hues tend to be more transparent genuine cadmium, cobalt hues have higher tinting strength than genuine cobalt, in watercolors manganese blue hues tend not to granulate, etc., so the genuine one is preferred for its properties beyond just the color (hue). Even Alizarin Crimson hues have yet to capture that rich, deep, luscious crimson without being either too brown or too purple. However, I wouldn’t say that they’re a no-go completely. I see hue pigments as more akin to convenience mixtures (like sap green), and I think the “too many pigments” thing is kinda… untested? The important thing is that the manufacturer doesn’t use fillers to mimic the handling properties-usually because it never works and because that’s what makes the paints dull faster, e.g., using calcium carbonate (chalk) to make cad hues more opaque. Otherwise, if the paint has a high chroma, you should be good to use it as you would a single-pigment paint. All things considered though there are plenty of single-pigment alternatives to consider before going for a hue, especially in the reds category. Lots of excellent reds out there. Blue alternatives are a little tougher because blues are so unique though. But yeah even though I avoid hues I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with them.
Thank you so much for your knowledgeable comment!! I love talking with painters like this because little details are brought up that I might not have considered by myself. I am going to be paying way more attention to the colors I'm using from now on, haha! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I use to be a groomer and grooming scissors come in a little leather case, and I have found that case is absolutely PERFECT for my brushes, it has little pockets for the scissors. It's super easy to put 2 or 3 brushes in each pocket, it doesn't bend the bristles, AND it zips so it protects my brushes from all the random stuff in my bags
It might be a very unpopular opinion, but I don't hate canvas board that much (besides the warping, that's the worst part). I do prefer mdf or other smooth wood and the very unpopular part is that I actually like the flatness of them with no frame at the back. People seem to be crazy about gallery canvases and such chunky surfaces, but it's just too much if it's not used properly imo. Might as well go all flat against the wall if there's no purpose for the extra dimension. I just use nails above and under to "trap" them in place. It works and I like the look of it
As a Kinder &1st grade teacher for 30+ years I tried to get art lessons into our schedule. (We didn't have an Art teacher.) I often used super cheap paper plates for paint for a group of children. I just didn't have a lot of time to prepare or clean up afterwards. Usually there wasn't much/any paint left at the end of the lesson. I would refill during the lesson if needed. When it was clean-up time, I often let the interested children of the group mix/"play" with the remaining paint on the plate. (Color Theory 101?!) Then I could just collect/pile all the plates on top of each other & throw in the trash. With 5-6yr olds, time I spend cleaning up while they're in the room can be time wasted..There is only so much they can successfully clean - even with training. I've also found baby wipes can eliminate the long line (& time) of paint-wet hands waiting to be washed. Most can clean up their hands & their table space w/ a baby wipe and we can go on to the next lesson...
Yep, I also have used the paper plates with younger kids learning painting. Definitely really helpful without a lot of time on your hands! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I have a brush roll for watercolour brushes, but would never be bothered to use anything like a stand. I have the roll so I can use an anti moth oil as the darn things eat anything sable, and they somehow get into boxes anyway, and I just get left with a handle. Everything else goes into an old house plant pot.
I've literally removed dried acrylic from brushes with the master’s soap. I heard from a general’s rep that it’s based on hair care products meant to remove hair dye, so it conditions the bristles as it removes pigment.
I use freezer paper or even wax paper for a palette and put it on top of a paper plate. You can use a solid color paper plate in any color. (Party supply store or Michaels) I like white or a dark one (blue) for a dark painting but tan/ light rust works well also & plates come in gray if you like the gray of the palette paper. The color plate gives you an idea of how your paint colors will look on an under painting. The plate doesn't get paint on it so they last forever & are easy to pick up/hold.
It took me a long time to figure out how to use the fan brush effectively. They're great for grass, hair and fur. You can get very firm ones and wreck them if you want a high-texture brush for faking detail. If anything, they're LESS fiddly because you're FAKING detail, not wasting time using a one-hair brush doing accurate detail. I don't see a downside. Pro tip: they are easy to over-use and make a painting look repetitive. Know when to put it down and you're good ;)
@@artprof you can use it to paint the whole painting too because it has a very small thickness at the edge that allows you to more control of the amount of paint over the canvas, more control once you learn how to use them.
Devil's advocate on the brush organizer - pretty useful for transporting brushes and keeping the bristles from getting crunched. I use one that is stiffer than the one in the photo. Brushes never get bent.
Hobby Lobby used to (still does?) sell canvas brush roll ups for about $5 (several years ago). They came with approx 12 cheap brushes too and the whole thing came in a plastic tube (that would protect it for travel, too). They were a great bargain buy. You can also buy plastic travel brush boxes with foam holders if you really want to travel with brushes and make sure they don't get bent. There's also the bamboo brush roll ups.
I do love the foam brush holders. Someone here once told us about a tip where you can cut slits into a swimming pool noodle to hold your brushes and my mind was blown! 🤯 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Canvas boards -- I restarted painting when I retired. Hadn't painted in 45yrs! I figured they would be good for practice and my skill level needed Lots of practice. They did help me learn some things (after I did prepare the pre-primed ones w/ 2-3 coats of Gesso) but they were also frustrating. Now I have found them good to use for experimenting with textures ex. to "play" or explore making leaves, snow, animal fur, curly hair, lighting, shadow colors, etc. They're sort of like a sketch pad for exploring paint. Sometimes I make 4-9 boxes/tic-tac-toe lines and use each space for different experiments before I put it on a current painting. They've also helped me better tune into what size would be good for a particular painting. They helped me (or perhaps I'm just using up the multi-packs I bought when I started?).
Oh yes, I had a professor who used those canvas boards for mark making experiment swatches as well. It seemed to work well for her! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I sometimes use the wooden hand held pallets. I can't sit still while oil painting because I have to pace in every direction, look at it from every angle. When I want to put paint down I want it at the ready without having to look away from the canvas. However for larger projects I use a glass palette and it is awesome. The sound of a pallet knife tapping the glass as you mix a color is so satisfying.
That's true, if you're a very mobile painter, wooden pallets make a lot of sense. Even when I'm working on a large piece, I'm pretty sedentary, so I'm glass all the way! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Usually when it comes to spending art supplies, I always say splurge over budget. However, who in the world would pay $800 or $900 dollars for an expensive brush?!🤯
When I started getting more serious about my watercoloring about 5 years ago, I bought a starter set of Holbein (generally agreed to be very high quality) and a number of the colors were "hues." While of course the hues are cheaper, bc less expensive pigments are used, (cobalts and cadmiums always cost more,) but I wouldn't say that the pigment blend used in hues from quality paint makers is always going to look that much duller. I didn't notice that much difference (but I was still early in my painting journey and gone on to using other palettes.) The big difference and what you're paying the bigger bucks for is archival quality & high lightfastness and this is why cads & cobalts are still a staple in quality paint colors. Will the hues look as vivid after decades of hanging on the wall as the paint colors made from cads & cobalts? Probably not. And will it be something that anyone but artists and fine art experts will notice? IDK. 🤔 Cad & Cobalt-free paints haven't been out long enough to really have the "test of time" tell the story.
Sometimes the problem isn't the material, is the person not knowing how to use them. Case in point, stretcher bars, wooden palettes. Who doesn’t know to look at pre-made canvases and see what they do right. Then follow suit. Its not magic. . And no you can't take ordinary wood and just miter it for stretcher bars. Use your eyes and look at the differences in the profile. Wooden palettes have been used by artists for hundreds of years. Obviously they work . If it absorbs oil, you didn't season it. You don't have too, it will happily absorb your expensive linseed oil until it seasons itself. 😅
You're right-- these materials will always be someone's cup of tea! I think any material can be pulled off by the right artist :) - Mia, Art Prof Staff
@@artprofI should have added that wood palettes are really for oil painting. For acrylic, I love the sta wet palette. But I've seen plenty of people who just use paper plates. 😂
I started using Murphy Wood oil on my brushes and it is a game changer. I paint with acrylic or occasionally watercolor. It also takes it off surfaces and skin-lol.
Maybe acrylic and oil is different, but I want to protect my watercolor brushes. If my brush point gets messed up, I get to buy a new $20-50 brush. I will never not put my brushes in a brush organizer to protect them when I travel (and to keep my cats out of the brushes that I'm using at home). I usually have only one or two brushes out at a time (having really nice larger brushes that have a point that can go from the width of a 0 round to a 20 round depending on how you use it, means you don't need many brushes). So my brushes that I bring with me when I'm out will always have one of those plastic protectors on them as well as being in an organizer. Brushes are an investment with watercolor, and can last decades if you care for them correctly. I have many brushes that are 20 years old at this point (I got them about the time that I started painting). Ah, just got to the expensive brush bit. You pay for the point (the quality of the very tip of the brush). I have like 3 brushes that I use consistently, and they are all above the $20 price point, one of them was $50. In watercolor, you want the flexibility of having a large load of color in your brush and being able to make a tiny little line. I understand not doing that for acrylic (my acrylic brushes are pretty much all under $5), but you do need an amount of precision with watercolor if you paint a certain way.
Paper palettes are convenient for art teachers. You just throw them on the table, and go, then fold and toss at the end of class. The freezer paper is a great idea for my home artwork, though.
The palette point is one that I completely agree with. Honestly I prefer to use palette paper which I then down the line use as material to collage into later pieces. Also hard disagree on the plastic palette knives. I love my metal palette knives but I’ve also been using the plastic ones for quite a while now and I’ve managed to use the same main plastic knife for over a year now. Definitely not as good as the metal ones but they get the job done when need be. Any stains on them can be removed with alcohol or turpentine
I use the glass and back board of a photo frame and then secure it with electrician tape - very cheap and works great for oil paint - cleans like a dream plus you can create different sizes without paying a lot of money. I too love Alzerinan Crimson esp oil paint.... I've tried the alternative nah AC all the way. Plus I never had any issues with it so far. Hues not a fan off either and don't get me started on Water Soluble Oil Paint 😂
I buy pre-stretched canvas or lately, cradled wood because I have disabilities, chronic illness and a small space. Doing my own canvases and framing is not possible.
Michaels has great pre-stretched canvases! IMO much better to go with those than to try to use those lightweight stretcher bars. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I use the wooden palette; I have the big one. It's what I started out with. Taught myself following Helen Van Wyk's videos; took my cues from her. I have since made several glass palettes in many sizes fitting the ceramic trays. I agree, glass is easier to clean, etc. With the wooden palette, I'm mixing my colors right where I'm painting; whereas, going down to the table to mix or pick up a color, I've already lost my place on the canvas. I've broken the connection, in other words. I've noticed my paintings are better than those done from a glass palette--they're warmer, more cohesive. Wood palettes are hard to clean but I've learned to scrape off everything at the end of the day and start anew. I set the scraped-off paint aside or wipe it onto a canvas meant to be an abstract or as a ground for another painting--the paint is not wasted. I love The Masters Soap. It's the only soap I've found that gets my brushes clean. It can also renew forgotten oil brushes by rubbing the soap into the bristles then covering with foil and letting it set a couple days. It can take a few applications, washing in between, to restore them. It's gentle to the brush hairs to boot. To prevent the canvas boards from warping, size the backs with matte medium or archival glue If framing, fill the void with archival foamcore. Have it framed at Michaels with the 70% off coupon. Go to the Michael's framing counter beforehand to look over and choose the frame you'd like to use. Make note of 'The Collection' in which your frame comes from (Modern Simplicity or Rustic Casual, etc.), write down the frame ID from the back or end of the frame display piece ('MS3-7' or 'RS1-11') and watch for the 70%-off coupon for that Collection. Go in with your art, frame info and coupon. Place your order and it'll be ready in two weeks, give or take a day or two. I've tried to use a fan brush but I've only been successful once. They're used a lot in Tole Painting as a dry-brush effect for painting hair or say, dandelions; however, once paint is on the bristles and you've taken a swipe, your brush is no longer dry. Grumbacher gouache is good, too. I've picked up some Artists' Loft at Micheals, a set for $5, but I haven't tested it yet. That's all I can remember... Thank you.
I'd love to try out a wooden palette someday! I've been using a glass palette which has worked just fine so far, but if I ever need to swap it out I might try something else. Thanks for the canvas board tips, and for watching!! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
The best paintings in history were painted using wood palettes. To prepare it for oils, apply oil to create a glossy finish. It's simple to clean. Doesn't absorb oil from the paint because the wood is already saturated. It's important to get one that matches your hand and body for long painting sessions. Another advantage to having our palette on our arm is we can move away from the canvas more often to avoid perspective errors that come from staying tooclose.
as far as pallettes i just use a ceramic and or even a stone pallette, though it is usually irrelevant as I wrap it with tin toil so that I dont have to clean it
Cheap canvas boards? Paint the back of them to seal the back from moisture which causes them to warp and give their front another coat or two of gesso. Simple as that.
I’m pretty consistent with brish care as a good brush will last for years even decades if you really care for them. Pumice (in brush cleaner) will destroy your brushes. For oil I use Jack Richeson linseed oil soap. It works very well & can be left on overnight if you’ve neglected or too much paint in your ferrel. I’ve rescued a very good Rosemary sable brush I missed, which the oil paint dried and I thought was hopeless, using Murphys’s oil soap (coating it and soaking for a couple days) followed by good cleaning with the richeson lindseed oil soap. For water color brushes I use german goat milk soap. I have a wide variety of brushes ranging from pricy (Rosemary & Co., Winsor Newton Series 7 ) to cheap craft. Lately I’ve have been saving some money when Trekell has a good sale (which is fairly often) and find them to be great, hold their shape & snap and take a beating.
Such a current fad for fluorescent paints. I was so tempted and spoke to one of my main paint vendors ( NovaColor ) and when Kathleen Bradford's latest show included fluorescents-- I was sure there was a magical shield finish. But no-- besides museums and paint stores having special glass in their windows... not really. I'm not even a big selling artist .. but no... I'll try my best with color theory , but would only play in sketchbooks.. sadly. Not with the investment of good paints to me
I use the Master's as well, I've restored a gunked up brush with dried in acrylic paint/medium deep in down near the ferrel. and it lasts nearly forever. Cheap gesso is ok but thin and too translucent. But it's awesome for paper crafting/art. Reeves brand is generally bad...
IDK, I'm nowhere near as fancy as any of you guys. I just tape plastic onto a hard surface and call that a palette. Now when it comes to mark making tools I'm all over the map. My favorite is silicone. I'll buy gel insoles, cut them up, and repurpose them for acrylic sketches.
Your resourcefulness is a valuable skill! Even though Clara and I are used to some fancy art supplies now, so much of art making is easily DIY- we did a few streams on this during the pandemic, maybe we can share tips! artprof.org/resources/art-supplies/creative-diy-home-art-supplies/ -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Girls, your conversations just crack me up! I absolutely love your pod casts. I might actually have a go at the fan brushes. And I have a passionate dislike of anything Reeves! All their paints are terrible! I used to get a box of 25 small tubes of Reeves acrylic paints from well-meaning friends every Christmas for 6 years running and I had to put a stop to it. Just couldn't cope!
My largest kolinsky sable brush is a size 8 round. They're Rembrandts, and I think that size 8 cost me like $25. Anything above a size 8, I use squirrel (if I'm not using synthetic)
I don't think these supplies are a waste. Like the plastic pallet knives, I don't believe they are supposed to replace a metal pallet knife, and I use them for viscous impasto paints (acrylic). They are totally different tools. The canvas boards are awesome for practice, and they take up far less space than stretched canvas. I prefer, for practice, canvas sheets or canvas in an art journal style book. Having a great fan brush is awesome, especially for abstracts and first scenes. My daughter bought me a quality one about 30 years ago, and I still use it. Hue paints are great for practice, and as long as they are single pigment, they are a great alternative to the more toxic paints, and they cost less, too. Yes! They are different! Learn to use them accordingly! The heavy metals issues for health are really very real. I haven't used oil paints for many years, and although I miss them, I take care of my health over any art. Breathing paints and solvents can and do absolutely have adverse health effects, especially if you chip or sand your paints when dry, as many do. Cover your skin and wear an N95 or use non-toxic paints. I use a brush organizer made with a bamboo placemat with elastic woven through it. I roll it up and it protects my brushes. Only a fan brush shouldn't be kept in one. My others are all great in my roll-up organizer, and there's no single place for a certain size brush. Brush cleaner is great for some paints and sucks for others. I like Dawn dishwashing liquid. I've used it for years and nothing better, IMHO. Pumice damages brushes! Especially natural hair brushes!!! Student grade gesso is fine, as long as you get a good quality with plenty of pigment, in fact some "student grade" gessos are better than some of the professional grade lessons. I've had some professional that was crappy, and others that were excellent. Making your own with uncolored house paint is often best. Add baking soda &/or powder that is finely ground for tooth. I mix my own when I can. Do some homework on the chemistry to get it right! I love playing with the chemistry of art supplies and with some of the best results. For pallets, meat trays (white granite ware) and those black barbecue sheets for fish, meat, etc. is wonderful for a pallet. The barbecue mats are my favorite! Dry paint easily peels off the Teflon coating and it wipes pretty clean, even when dry. Kolinsky sable brushes are amazing! If you've never used them, you should give them a try. I have a couple that are very old, and they do not paint the same as other brushes. Mine weren't $900, but they were $15-20 many years ago. They are absolutely amazing to paint with. Once you've used them, you won't want to go back! Watercolor kalinsky brushes and those fir acrylics and oils hold paint loads very differently, and release paint differently, too. Kalinsky natural brushes are incredible, and are worth every penny when painting professionally. They take some getting used to, but the flow is absolutely amazing, and despite best efforts of brush companies, they cannot replicate a natural kalinsky brush. They don't even come close. I don't think I would pay $900 for any brush, but a couple hundred? Absolutely! They are that good! I have a few that cost that much, and I take care of them. They last a very long time, their spring is amazing, they carry paint in a way other brushes cannot. You gals need to try great quality, natural Kalinsky brushes. You don't know what you are missing!!! Great reviews and opinions, though! I view art supplies like this... there are no rules! Do what works for you, even if you use old credit cards, cardboard, junk mail, fingers, toilet paper rolls, paper towels, tools, whatever! There are no "wrong" art supplies! Do what works for you! If you want a great paint, single-pigment and highly pigmented paints, or limited pigments, work best, and mix the best without getting muddy. Avoiding toxins is a very real concern! Don't risk your health by using toxic chemicals. There are good alternatives that do not risk your health! Have fun! Create! Take care of your tools, whatever you use! Good tools do not necessarily cost a lot, but some of the best tools do. You can find some excellent quality brushes that aren't $900, but there are some very special brushes, like those for ink calligraphy, that cost even more, and for that purpose, they cannot be beat. Definitely do some homework, shop prices and buyer beware. That said, I wouldn't buy any expensive brushes without touching them and holding them in my hands, with 1 or 2 exceptions. Excellent quality brushes are necessary for certain techniques and smoothness of paint flow, which affects the quality of your paintings with some techniques. Anyhow, great stuff, but I also use Q-tips, foil and other items in my paintings. It simply depends on what I am painting. Certain marks and flo requires certain tools. I hope you will get together with someone who can show you some quality brushes and how to use them! It's hard to believe that you guys teach art and haven't had that experience! Seriously, see if you can do some brush comparisons! You won't be sorry! That $800 brush in the ad you showed looked like a rip off though, honestly. There are brushes out there that are absolutely worth more money, and precious few (I can think of 1) are worth that much, a d that is an ink brush made by hand specifically for ink calligraphy with a rare, hand made ink.
Instead of Cadmium Red, I use Scarlet Lake (Jackson's Professional Oil Paints), and instead of Cadmium Yellow Light and Cadmium Yellow Medium I use Bright Yellow Lake and Yellow Lake (also Jackson's Professional). They are single pigment, and cost a fraction of the price of the Cadmiums...
I bought the DL hand cleaner as you recommended in another video. It cleaned nothing. I mostly paint with acrylic, but during a home project, I got some oil spray paint on my hands. I thought, yeah, I'll use that DL cleaner. That and a wire brush got my hands clean. I don't get it.
Note that our recommendation was D&L hand cleaner was for specifically oil paint; spray paint is a totally different thing altogether in terms of cleanup. -Prof Lieu
I used stretched canvas but I switched back to canvas board. You do have to use the more expensive gesso to get a good surface. I have some oil canvas board I painted in oil that are 50 years old, still good. If they ever wear out you can take it off the board and Mount it on new board or switch to canvas frame. I use fan brushes too, they do a better job than other brushes for some paint strokes you need to do. Took me a while to learn how use them. I use it every painting I paint. They also make thin plastic knifes now and I used them to do entire paintings ( no brushes)They make excellent textured paintings.
Ooh I like fan brushes for texture as well! I think knives & spatulas are SO FUN when it comes to oil painting-- they always have unexpected results :) - Mia, Art Prof Staff
@@artprof I like anything that will add good texture to my paintings, key is don't overdo and it must proper for what your painting and it must be good.
Re the round brush--sellers get a big $ penalty if they go out of stock. Some sellers will jack the price so high that no one will buy it if they can't get replacement stock. So it may not be about quality! 😊
Yeah, $800 or even $100 is a lot for a single brush. Some of my favorite brushes for acrylic are a cheapo set of Royal & Langnickel taklon brushes from Walmart. I actually bought two more sets in case they discontinued them lol. The set I've been abusing for about four years are still doing what I need them to. If they'd improve the ferrules just a little using a slightly thicker and finer metal with a better crimp they'd need nothing else. As for Gesso...I don't use it to prepare much of anything unless it literally has nothing on it to begin with of course. I tend to use Gesso for other things, though. I do use canvas panels but usually they're already pre-gessoed (so they claim) yet I wind up coating them with a few layers of grey acrylic anyway. Palettes: plastic or glass for me. This abstract/surrealist painter that was a friend of my mother's had a studio in her basement for a while and I once saw him using aluminum foil for a palette. In between sessions he'd fold it a certain way to keep the paint from drying. I also saw him draw with burnt sticks and sticks dipped in BIC pen ink...so a foil palette didn't shock me too much. I like to try to work in a way that nothing gets wasted, so, at times I'll make sure to mix my acrylics on some kind of low or high density polypropylene material, that way whatever I don't use that dries up can be peeled off and used for some other mixed media project. Glass can work that way too but tends to bind in some cases making it harder to peel.
glass is heavy. wood pallets are easy to hold for a long time. I wasn't under the impression that you had to clean them. just scrape the paint off and let it dry.
I recommend Turner design gouache if you can find it. It’s $7 per tube and comes in 25ml tubes and is comparable to Windsor Newton. It’s artist grade and is an old Japanese brand that actually helped Golden develop their acrylic paints back in the day. I agree that Reeves is a crime against humanity and should not exist.
These are the $3 brushes I love! www.michaels.com/product/all-purpose-synthetic-bristle-brush-set-by-artminds-10130708?michaelsStore=1276&inv=1 Well, they used to be $3, but that was before inflation. Now they're $4. :] -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
That's not watery even in watercolour some pigments are softer some are stifer In winsor and newton gouche I had some colours very loose some very stiff The same with some paints unless they add things to equal it out
M Graham is my favorite gouache. Great smith highly pigmented. Not recommended for stay wet palettes. I use all the high quality brands Holbein Windsor newton etc
I've been wondering about using fugitive paints, especially fluorescent and making the fade part of the art piece. My inspo is faded plastic childrens toys and older playgrounds. I wouldn't use them for anything I wanted to stay
Now your concept is an excellent reason to use fluorescents! They would be quite interesting for something durational. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Watch our video on worst drawing supplies: ua-cam.com/users/live_QATD5hncGY?feature=share
We wish we had been able to participate in this live because there was so much interesting information shared! We were just discussing fluorescent colors and fading in the work of Basquiat, which were in the form of oil paint sticks (probably industrial marking crayons). We kind of want to stick up for light-duty stretchers as a product category, because there are some quite good ones, and they allow the artist to key out the frame to restore tension (which isn't easy with fixed joints). Anyway, we've subscribed so we don't miss future streams. We'd love to participate in something like this in the future!
That would be so cool. Nice to see that you've found this awesome channel, Blick.
@@MariaRevArt We're glad to be here! Nice to meet you!
Dick Blick has so many great products and top notch customer service!
Hi! I believe Blick is already in contact with Clara via email, so feel free to follow up that way about future collaborations! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
@blick_art Nice to see you here! Usually I see you in Scott Sava’s streams. You should REALLy be doing sponsored videos with Art Prof! Like seriously! These guys and their community are similarly as awesome as Scott & Donna.
I found fluorescent colors to be nice when making other colors by mixing.🧑🎨
I know you folks at ArtProf try to stay positive, and I appreciate that attitude a lot. That being said I've really enjoyed these last couple of streams where experienced consumers of art supplies are discussing the negative aspects of some of the items out there. I feel like you folks are doing a great job keeping the subject light, and you're also discussing WHY the item isn't good, which really can help someone looking to purchase.
I'm so happy you like these more recent spicy streams! They're actually a relief for us- I think most artists gripe about their materials or certain artworks from time to time, and we're certainly not an exception! 😂 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
10:09 I’ve been using a wooden palette for over a year because I wondered why I had it lying around the studio in the first place and tried it out one day. It’s very lightweight and you save cleaning time because you never clean it. You put the same colors in the same spots each time you use it. When the piles of dried paint get too tall you cut them off with a knife. Though having your dried paint always there is a little neurotic, like saving your fingernail clippings
The pile of fingernail clippings metaphor is really vivid, haha. Although I do the same with oil paint, saving all the shavings in a pile. Now I feel a little weird about that. 😅 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
You have to treat the wood pallet with multiple layers of linseed oil before using them. You use them for oil and you don't clean them much. Put the colors in the same spots over and over. They scape off the same way the glass ones do.
Ahh, I'd be hopeless, I'm lazy about seasoning my own frying pans. 😂 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
wooden palettes are prepared by oiling. with the same oils you use for oil painting. oiling and drying and oiling and drying. creating a surface where the paint doesn't sink in. and over time it develops a patina from the oil and oil paint. it ages like an oil painting in a sense and reflects the work put into the oil paintings
Very similar to seasoning a cast iron pan! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Fan brushes are great with oil and cold wax. I don’t use them for marks. I use the tips only for blending with a light touch. Great for atmospheric paintings
i love my wood palette! its easily cleaned after every use, same with my glass palette. ive had it almost a year and it still looks brand new! it's a matter of caring for your tools.
Yeah you clean it after every use foos like me often forget to that 😂😂 but I do love my wood pallet
Some Hue paints are fantastic. You have to look at the pigment in it though and use it according to what the pigment is and not the color. I still buy single pigment Hue colors. Like Alizarin Crimson is one where the hue paint is better because the original isn’t lightfast.
Palettes- for acrylic I just use a cheap glass frame from a hobby store that I spray paint a neutral gray on the underside. For gouache and watercolor- porcelain plates are so nice
Wow, never thought to spray paint the back of the glass, mine is just a piece of grey paper, I'll have to try your way! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I'm so glad everyone was upset by The Master's Brush Cleaner too because my mouth dropped open when I saw that one mentioned! I had brushes that had dried on acrylic paint stuck to them because I was lazy about washing them in time. I pretty much thought that they were ruined forever. I cleaned them with that brush cleaner, left it on overnight just to try and deep condition them, and they were LIKE NEW. I am a believer.
Hahaha yes I’m so scandalous!! -Prof Lieu
cadmium hues exist because they are not toxic (heavy metal), or pigments like real ultramarine, which use extremely rare pigments. Also, some favorite and lovely pigments are discontinued because the companies that manufacture them have no industrial need for them, the volume needed by the art community is too small compared to industrial paint uses. My husband uses fan brushes all the time for making trees. I use one to make the best splatter drops, too!
Yes, I have a number of hue paints myself to replace the beautiful extinct pigments I love. 🥲 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
If I could pick a Cad it would be red. Other than that I’m using the hues.
i dont worry about the metal at all, youd literally have to eat an entire tube to have ant effects. as for lead im not worried either, its main effects are found in young children and babies, so keep it away from children pr dont use it if children re in the house.
You asked about my palette..... I'm really messy so I ended up with mud on my solid palette. I now use the plastic palettes with all the little dents from Jerry's Artorama. I got one as a freebie and fell in LUUUUUV!!!!! They clean easily and solved my mud problem! I don't use oils though, so I don't know how they work with oils.
I am known for using the most random things as palettes-- so I'll have to give these a shot instead of the old window panes & refrigerator shelves I find in the trash! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I use canvas boards for artist book covers. Made a 30-foot-long accordion book with the decorated canvases for the covers.
Great idea!
What a great idea, can’t wait to try that!
I love florescent paint! But I don't sell or take my paintings too seriously either. I never actually tried seeing if they glow. I just like how satisfying it feels when I pour and mix with other colors.😅
Missed the live stream but one suggestion on the brush organizer bit I use WHILE painting...I bought a swim noodle and slid it over the leg of my easel and cut slices in it and the brushes I am using frequently I stick into the slots I cut to have them handy.
Great idea!! -Prof Lieu
Sometimes “hue” indicates that they’ve replaced the toxic part. Not always a lower quality.
The Masters Brush Cleaner, Conditioner, and Preserver.
Follow their directions and it works MIRACLES on absolutely battered brushes. And a little goes a long way!
I am about to do my annual deep clean of my brushes and I'm really looking forward to using this! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I use the masters cleaner too. I’ve tried just regular cleaning but I feel the masters really keep my brushes in good condition. And I’ve just invested in expensive brushes so I don’t want them to get destroyed so I’ll keep buying masters. Like you said a little goes a long way I still have so many months of usage out of one tub!
I used a canvas brush organizer through college to go back and forth, college to home. They worked fine for me. If you fold the top flap over too close to the brush tip, you can bend the brush but if you fold the flap over with extra space to account for the brush tips, the folded over canvas protects the tips. My organizer also rolled into a cylinder after you folded over the top so it became even stiffer to keep the brushes safe.
I also used a wooden palette since I had to move with my supplies a lot. It didn’t soak up the paint if you use it after oiling it. After a couple of uses, you don’t even really need to keep oiling because the continuous use keeps the wood conditioned.
I can only go so far in my week/month without hearing the melodious sound of Clara's diabolical cackle. 😄
Hahaha, blessed by the Clara Cackle. 😂 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Omg that messy yogurt container with brushes mixed in everywhere would drive me NUTS. I LOVE my brush organizer; it sits on my desk and I can easily see and find the exact brush that I want to use without even thinking about it. Having to search for the brush I want would waste way too much time.
That's so funny, I feel like I have the problem searching for the right brush with a brush organizer. Must be a way we spatially map things in our brains or something. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I would love a tutorial on how to make the effect of fluorescent paint using non-fugitive colors. Great content, thanks! Love this channel.
That would tutorial be such a dream to make! ❤️ -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Yes. This would be greatly appreciated
I love palette paper because I can save the paper and when the paint dries I can use the colors as a guide for color matching and mixing for a new painting if I liked the way a combo of colors turned out. Idk I like them a lot more than a palette because I like being able to keep the paper and look back at the colors used. I keep them in a binder lol
That's a great idea! I should start doing this too, it seems so helpful - Mia, Art Prof Staff
This is genius
Fluorescent paints are a learning curve but a must when doing psychedelic, UV reactive art.
Oooh yes they are very good for art under a blacklight! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I always ordered stretcher bars from Blick. Once I started having quality problems, I started making my own, which is quite the process.I hated pre-gessoed canvas because of price and having to put 2 additional sanded coats to get the surface I like for oils. I buy 6 foot rolls of canvas and 1 gallon pails of gesso. I'm typically painting 40"x 30" or larger these days. I like the flexibility of building the exact size I want.
I like the light weight wood pallet with the large thumb hole .I got anti - trumpian hands. I use a store bought, trace it out on a large sheet of lam-board and make a half dozen of them. Coat them heavy with clear acrylic. I always stand-up and paint, so these pallets work well. I cover with saran wrap when I stop painting so the paint doesn't dry and get wasted. Yet ever so often I still must scrape and start over. Thats why I have several clean ones on hand. I did use glass as a beginner sit down painter. No, once you figure the wood ones out, the way to go. Hell, design your own with whatever holding devise hole thing fits you. Cut it out of gray plastic, whatever. Please stop setting down to paint unless you're disabled. Get your entire body into it. And quit holding that damed brush like a freaking pencil!
I typically purchase 6.75 ounce tubes of low series hues for grayed out tones and 1st coats of paint. I purchase 1,25 high series cads, cobalt .... that I need high quality pigment. Why would you waste good pigment on greyed tones and 1st coats? I mean yes, some receding tones you do want that quality pigment.
I had the standard wood paint box for my paints and brushes. Gawd I hate that. I go to Traders Joe's and buy the perfect size coffee can for my brushes and I hate Trader Joes coffee. LOL I use a 3 tear table on rollers. Got my paint, can of brushes, mix mediums, slung haphazardly all over 1st tear. More paint on second tear, along with rolls of paper towels and saran wrap, straight edges and misc tools. On bottom a got Mineral spirits turp. linseed oil ....... The fan brush works great once they get fairly dirty and use it real dry. I hate dirty pallets knives.
I clean my oil brushes with full strength dish soap. I use pro grade gesso. I water down the first two layers and full strength additional sanded layers depending on tooth I'm after for the piece. WTF palette paper? LOL The most Iv'e paid was $45 for a nice set of 3 signature brushes on sale and ell worth it. I love my cheap fake horse hair brushes as much as my expensive ones. If painting large, a good 2', 3'' and 4" Wooster from Lowes is excellent. Take good care of them, they last for ever. I never ever ever buy artist brushes unless on sale.
Glass pallette or big grey or white tile... never understood those wooden things
My guess is wood is better for plein air painting? -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I like that mechanics hand cleaner called Fast Orange. I've used the smooth version. It works very well for cleaning your brushes.
Thanks for the tip! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
That brush cleaner is great for watercolour and gouache.
13:05 I wanna chime in on hue paints bc Lauryn is right that some colors are extinct, like the beloved Quinacridone Gold. Others are hues of more fugitive colors like Alizarin Crimson. And as always hues are cheaper than their genuine counterparts. The main problem with hues is when they don’t tell or aren’t honest about what’s in the paint. Most cadmium red hues are a mixture of pyrrol and naphthol reds, so they have good to great lightfastness (the naphthol reds are a tad fugitive, especially when diluted). But for example, Winsor & Newton won’t share what’s in their Cadmium-free orange, which tests by Kimberly Crick show contain a fugitive red pigment that fades the color to a pale yellow.
It’s also true that they don’t behave or handle similarly-cadmium hues tend to be more transparent genuine cadmium, cobalt hues have higher tinting strength than genuine cobalt, in watercolors manganese blue hues tend not to granulate, etc., so the genuine one is preferred for its properties beyond just the color (hue). Even Alizarin Crimson hues have yet to capture that rich, deep, luscious crimson without being either too brown or too purple.
However, I wouldn’t say that they’re a no-go completely. I see hue pigments as more akin to convenience mixtures (like sap green), and I think the “too many pigments” thing is kinda… untested? The important thing is that the manufacturer doesn’t use fillers to mimic the handling properties-usually because it never works and because that’s what makes the paints dull faster, e.g., using calcium carbonate (chalk) to make cad hues more opaque. Otherwise, if the paint has a high chroma, you should be good to use it as you would a single-pigment paint.
All things considered though there are plenty of single-pigment alternatives to consider before going for a hue, especially in the reds category. Lots of excellent reds out there. Blue alternatives are a little tougher because blues are so unique though. But yeah even though I avoid hues I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with them.
Thank you so much for your knowledgeable comment!! I love talking with painters like this because little details are brought up that I might not have considered by myself. I am going to be paying way more attention to the colors I'm using from now on, haha! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I use to be a groomer and grooming scissors come in a little leather case, and I have found that case is absolutely PERFECT for my brushes, it has little pockets for the scissors. It's super easy to put 2 or 3 brushes in each pocket, it doesn't bend the bristles, AND it zips so it protects my brushes from all the random stuff in my bags
Omg brilliant!!! -Prof Lieu
It might be a very unpopular opinion, but I don't hate canvas board that much (besides the warping, that's the worst part). I do prefer mdf or other smooth wood and the very unpopular part is that I actually like the flatness of them with no frame at the back. People seem to be crazy about gallery canvases and such chunky surfaces, but it's just too much if it's not used properly imo. Might as well go all flat against the wall if there's no purpose for the extra dimension. I just use nails above and under to "trap" them in place. It works and I like the look of it
Nothing wrong with that at all! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
As a Kinder &1st grade teacher for 30+ years I tried to get art lessons into our schedule. (We didn't have an Art teacher.) I often used super cheap paper plates for paint for a group of children. I just didn't have a lot of time to prepare or clean up afterwards. Usually there wasn't much/any paint left at the end of the lesson. I would refill during the lesson if needed. When it was clean-up time, I often let the interested children of the group mix/"play" with the remaining paint on the plate. (Color Theory 101?!) Then I could just collect/pile all the plates on top of each other & throw in the trash. With 5-6yr olds, time I spend cleaning up while they're in the room can be time wasted..There is only so much they can successfully clean - even with training.
I've also found baby wipes can eliminate the long line (& time) of paint-wet hands waiting to be washed. Most can clean up their hands & their table space w/ a baby wipe and we can go on to the next lesson...
Yep, I also have used the paper plates with younger kids learning painting. Definitely really helpful without a lot of time on your hands! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I have a brush roll for watercolour brushes, but would never be bothered to use anything like a stand. I have the roll so I can use an anti moth oil as the darn things eat anything sable, and they somehow get into boxes anyway, and I just get left with a handle. Everything else goes into an old house plant pot.
The brush roll is totally useful-- I'd rather spend money on that then wake up to moth-eaten brushes. - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I've literally removed dried acrylic from brushes with the master’s soap. I heard from a general’s rep that it’s based on hair care products meant to remove hair dye, so it conditions the bristles as it removes pigment.
Interesting, I wonder if hair care products would work similarly then? -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I use freezer paper or even wax paper for a palette and put it on top of a paper plate. You can use a solid color paper plate in any color. (Party supply store or Michaels) I like white or a dark one (blue) for a dark painting but tan/ light rust works well also & plates come in gray if you like the gray of the palette paper. The color plate gives you an idea of how your paint colors will look on an under painting. The plate doesn't get paint on it so they last forever & are easy to pick up/hold.
Wow, that's so smart, I have to try this! 🤩 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
It took me a long time to figure out how to use the fan brush effectively. They're great for grass, hair and fur. You can get very firm ones and wreck them if you want a high-texture brush for faking detail. If anything, they're LESS fiddly because you're FAKING detail, not wasting time using a one-hair brush doing accurate detail. I don't see a downside. Pro tip: they are easy to over-use and make a painting look repetitive. Know when to put it down and you're good ;)
Yeah, there's a definite "look" to paintings that overuse the fan brush. Learning when to stop is half the battle! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
@@artprof you can use it to paint the whole painting too because it has a very small thickness at the edge that allows you to more control of the amount of paint over the canvas, more control once you learn how to use them.
Devil's advocate on the brush organizer - pretty useful for transporting brushes and keeping the bristles from getting crunched. I use one that is stiffer than the one in the photo. Brushes never get bent.
Hobby Lobby used to (still does?) sell canvas brush roll ups for about $5 (several years ago). They came with approx 12 cheap brushes too and the whole thing came in a plastic tube (that would protect it for travel, too). They were a great bargain buy.
You can also buy plastic travel brush boxes with foam holders if you really want to travel with brushes and make sure they don't get bent. There's also the bamboo brush roll ups.
I do love the foam brush holders. Someone here once told us about a tip where you can cut slits into a swimming pool noodle to hold your brushes and my mind was blown! 🤯 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Canvas boards -- I restarted painting when I retired. Hadn't painted in 45yrs! I figured they would be good for practice and my skill level needed Lots of practice. They did help me learn some things (after I did prepare the pre-primed ones w/ 2-3 coats of Gesso) but they were also frustrating. Now I have found them good to use for experimenting with textures ex. to "play" or explore making leaves, snow, animal fur, curly hair, lighting, shadow colors, etc. They're sort of like a sketch pad for exploring paint. Sometimes I make 4-9 boxes/tic-tac-toe lines and use each space for different experiments before I put it on a current painting. They've also helped me better tune into what size would be good for a particular painting. They helped me (or perhaps I'm just using up the multi-packs I bought when I started?).
Oh yes, I had a professor who used those canvas boards for mark making experiment swatches as well. It seemed to work well for her! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I sometimes use the wooden hand held pallets. I can't sit still while oil painting because I have to pace in every direction, look at it from every angle. When I want to put paint down I want it at the ready without having to look away from the canvas. However for larger projects I use a glass palette and it is awesome. The sound of a pallet knife tapping the glass as you mix a color is so satisfying.
That's true, if you're a very mobile painter, wooden pallets make a lot of sense. Even when I'm working on a large piece, I'm pretty sedentary, so I'm glass all the way! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I couldn’t believe it! I have been mixing my own greens as homework from my mentor and I somehow managed to make a neon green! So interesting!
I was taught to use styrofoam meat trays.
Usually when it comes to spending art supplies, I always say splurge over budget. However, who in the world would pay $800 or $900 dollars for an expensive brush?!🤯
We will have to find that person who does and interview them, hahaha. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
When I started getting more serious about my watercoloring about 5 years ago, I bought a starter set of Holbein (generally agreed to be very high quality) and a number of the colors were "hues." While of course the hues are cheaper, bc less expensive pigments are used, (cobalts and cadmiums always cost more,) but I wouldn't say that the pigment blend used in hues from quality paint makers is always going to look that much duller. I didn't notice that much difference (but I was still early in my painting journey and gone on to using other palettes.) The big difference and what you're paying the bigger bucks for is archival quality & high lightfastness and this is why cads & cobalts are still a staple in quality paint colors. Will the hues look as vivid after decades of hanging on the wall as the paint colors made from cads & cobalts? Probably not. And will it be something that anyone but artists and fine art experts will notice? IDK. 🤔 Cad & Cobalt-free paints haven't been out long enough to really have the "test of time" tell the story.
Sometimes the problem isn't the material, is the person not knowing how to use them. Case in point, stretcher bars, wooden palettes. Who doesn’t know to look at pre-made canvases and see what they do right. Then follow suit. Its not magic.
. And no you can't take ordinary wood and just miter it for stretcher bars. Use your eyes and look at the differences in the profile.
Wooden palettes have been used by artists for hundreds of years. Obviously they work . If it absorbs oil, you didn't season it. You don't have too, it will happily absorb your expensive linseed oil until it seasons itself. 😅
You're right-- these materials will always be someone's cup of tea! I think any material can be pulled off by the right artist :) - Mia, Art Prof Staff
@@artprofI should have added that wood palettes are really for oil painting. For acrylic, I love the sta wet palette. But I've seen plenty of people who just use paper plates. 😂
I started using Murphy Wood oil on my brushes and it is a game changer. I paint with acrylic or occasionally watercolor. It also takes it off surfaces and skin-lol.
Maybe acrylic and oil is different, but I want to protect my watercolor brushes. If my brush point gets messed up, I get to buy a new $20-50 brush. I will never not put my brushes in a brush organizer to protect them when I travel (and to keep my cats out of the brushes that I'm using at home). I usually have only one or two brushes out at a time (having really nice larger brushes that have a point that can go from the width of a 0 round to a 20 round depending on how you use it, means you don't need many brushes). So my brushes that I bring with me when I'm out will always have one of those plastic protectors on them as well as being in an organizer. Brushes are an investment with watercolor, and can last decades if you care for them correctly. I have many brushes that are 20 years old at this point (I got them about the time that I started painting).
Ah, just got to the expensive brush bit. You pay for the point (the quality of the very tip of the brush). I have like 3 brushes that I use consistently, and they are all above the $20 price point, one of them was $50. In watercolor, you want the flexibility of having a large load of color in your brush and being able to make a tiny little line. I understand not doing that for acrylic (my acrylic brushes are pretty much all under $5), but you do need an amount of precision with watercolor if you paint a certain way.
Paper palettes are convenient for art teachers. You just throw them on the table, and go, then fold and toss at the end of class. The freezer paper is a great idea for my home artwork, though.
True, classrooms are a great place to use paper palettes! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
The palette point is one that I completely agree with. Honestly I prefer to use palette paper which I then down the line use as material to collage into later pieces. Also hard disagree on the plastic palette knives. I love my metal palette knives but I’ve also been using the plastic ones for quite a while now and I’ve managed to use the same main plastic knife for over a year now. Definitely not as good as the metal ones but they get the job done when need be. Any stains on them can be removed with alcohol or turpentine
I use the glass and back board of a photo frame and then secure it with electrician tape - very cheap and works great for oil paint - cleans like a dream plus you can create different sizes without paying a lot of money.
I too love Alzerinan Crimson esp oil paint.... I've tried the alternative nah AC all the way. Plus I never had any issues with it so far. Hues not a fan off either and don't get me started on Water Soluble Oil Paint 😂
How do you tell pure colors from hue from the packaging? Does it actually say it is anhue?
Yep, it should say on the paint bottle/color title! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
Michael's stretched canvases are always off by at least 1/4 inch which is a problem if you are using a frame.
I buy pre-stretched canvas or lately, cradled wood because I have disabilities, chronic illness and a small space. Doing my own canvases and framing is not possible.
Michaels has great pre-stretched canvases! IMO much better to go with those than to try to use those lightweight stretcher bars. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I use the wooden palette; I have the big one. It's what I started out with. Taught myself following Helen Van Wyk's videos; took my cues from her. I have since made several glass palettes in many sizes fitting the ceramic trays. I agree, glass is easier to clean, etc. With the wooden palette, I'm mixing my colors right where I'm painting; whereas, going down to the table to mix or pick up a color, I've already lost my place on the canvas. I've broken the connection, in other words. I've noticed my paintings are better than those done from a glass palette--they're warmer, more cohesive. Wood palettes are hard to clean but I've learned to scrape off everything at the end of the day and start anew. I set the scraped-off paint aside or wipe it onto a canvas meant to be an abstract or as a ground for another painting--the paint is not wasted.
I love The Masters Soap. It's the only soap I've found that gets my brushes clean. It can also renew forgotten oil brushes by rubbing the soap into the bristles then covering with foil and letting it set a couple days. It can take a few applications, washing in between, to restore them. It's gentle to the brush hairs to boot.
To prevent the canvas boards from warping, size the backs with matte medium or archival glue If framing, fill the void with archival foamcore. Have it framed at Michaels with the 70% off coupon. Go to the Michael's framing counter beforehand to look over and choose the frame you'd like to use. Make note of 'The Collection' in which your frame comes from (Modern Simplicity or Rustic Casual, etc.), write down the frame ID from the back or end of the frame display piece ('MS3-7' or 'RS1-11') and watch for the 70%-off coupon for that Collection. Go in with your art, frame info and coupon. Place your order and it'll be ready in two weeks, give or take a day or two.
I've tried to use a fan brush but I've only been successful once. They're used a lot in Tole Painting as a dry-brush effect for painting hair or say, dandelions; however, once paint is on the bristles and you've taken a swipe, your brush is no longer dry.
Grumbacher gouache is good, too. I've picked up some Artists' Loft at Micheals, a set for $5, but I haven't tested it yet.
That's all I can remember... Thank you.
I'd love to try out a wooden palette someday! I've been using a glass palette which has worked just fine so far, but if I ever need to swap it out I might try something else. Thanks for the canvas board tips, and for watching!! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
How do u clean the glass?
Usually a paint scraper! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
The best paintings in history were painted using wood palettes.
To prepare it for oils, apply oil to create a glossy finish. It's simple to clean. Doesn't absorb oil from the paint because the wood is already saturated.
It's important to get one that matches your hand and body for long painting sessions.
Another advantage to having our palette on our arm is we can move away from the canvas more often to avoid perspective errors that come from staying tooclose.
as far as pallettes i just use a ceramic and or even a stone pallette, though it is usually irrelevant as I wrap it with tin toil so that I dont have to clean it
Cheap canvas boards? Paint the back of them to seal the back from moisture which causes them to warp and give their front another coat or two of gesso. Simple as that.
100% agree, except for fan brushes, fan brushes rock.
Hahaha, fair enough! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I’m pretty consistent with brish care as a good brush will last for years even decades if you really care for them. Pumice (in brush cleaner) will destroy your brushes. For oil I use Jack Richeson linseed oil soap. It works very well & can be left on overnight if you’ve neglected or too much paint in your ferrel. I’ve rescued a very good Rosemary sable brush I missed, which the oil paint dried and I thought was hopeless, using Murphys’s oil soap (coating it and soaking for a couple days) followed by good cleaning with the richeson lindseed oil soap. For water color brushes I use german goat milk soap. I have a wide variety of brushes ranging from pricy (Rosemary & Co., Winsor Newton Series 7 ) to cheap craft. Lately I’ve have been saving some money when Trekell has a good sale (which is fairly often) and find them to be great, hold their shape & snap and take a beating.
Thanks for the tips, I'll have to try this with my own hardened brushes! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
21:18 in a lot more time lol I love my fan for grass or using it as a dry brush!
Such a current fad for fluorescent paints. I was so tempted and spoke to one of my main paint vendors ( NovaColor ) and when Kathleen Bradford's latest show included fluorescents-- I was sure there was a magical shield finish. But no-- besides museums and paint stores having special glass in their windows... not really. I'm not even a big selling artist .. but no... I'll try my best with color theory , but would only play in sketchbooks.. sadly. Not with the investment of good paints to me
I use the Master's as well, I've restored a gunked up brush with dried in acrylic paint/medium deep in down near the ferrel. and it lasts nearly forever. Cheap gesso is ok but thin and too translucent. But it's awesome for paper crafting/art. Reeves brand is generally bad...
Yes, I've also found Master's can save an almost dead brush! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
IDK,
I'm nowhere near as fancy as any of you guys. I just tape plastic onto a hard surface and call that a palette.
Now when it comes to mark making tools I'm all over the map. My favorite is silicone. I'll buy gel insoles, cut them up, and repurpose them for acrylic sketches.
Your resourcefulness is a valuable skill! Even though Clara and I are used to some fancy art supplies now, so much of art making is easily DIY- we did a few streams on this during the pandemic, maybe we can share tips! artprof.org/resources/art-supplies/creative-diy-home-art-supplies/ -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Girls, your conversations just crack me up! I absolutely love your pod casts. I might actually have a go at the fan brushes. And I have a passionate dislike of anything Reeves! All their paints are terrible! I used to get a box of 25 small tubes of Reeves acrylic paints from well-meaning friends every Christmas for 6 years running and I had to put a stop to it. Just couldn't cope!
I use murphy’s oil soap or just dawn dishwashers soap.
Yes, I've also used Dawn, and it's so helpful! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
My largest kolinsky sable brush is a size 8 round. They're Rembrandts, and I think that size 8 cost me like $25. Anything above a size 8, I use squirrel (if I'm not using synthetic)
I don't think these supplies are a waste. Like the plastic pallet knives, I don't believe they are supposed to replace a metal pallet knife, and I use them for viscous impasto paints (acrylic). They are totally different tools.
The canvas boards are awesome for practice, and they take up far less space than stretched canvas. I prefer, for practice, canvas sheets or canvas in an art journal style book.
Having a great fan brush is awesome, especially for abstracts and first scenes. My daughter bought me a quality one about 30 years ago, and I still use it.
Hue paints are great for practice, and as long as they are single pigment, they are a great alternative to the more toxic paints, and they cost less, too. Yes! They are different! Learn to use them accordingly! The heavy metals issues for health are really very real. I haven't used oil paints for many years, and although I miss them, I take care of my health over any art. Breathing paints and solvents can and do absolutely have adverse health effects, especially if you chip or sand your paints when dry, as many do. Cover your skin and wear an N95 or use non-toxic paints.
I use a brush organizer made with a bamboo placemat with elastic woven through it. I roll it up and it protects my brushes. Only a fan brush shouldn't be kept in one. My others are all great in my roll-up organizer, and there's no single place for a certain size brush.
Brush cleaner is great for some paints and sucks for others. I like Dawn dishwashing liquid. I've used it for years and nothing better, IMHO.
Pumice damages brushes! Especially natural hair brushes!!!
Student grade gesso is fine, as long as you get a good quality with plenty of pigment, in fact some "student grade" gessos are better than some of the professional grade lessons. I've had some professional that was crappy, and others that were excellent. Making your own with uncolored house paint is often best. Add baking soda &/or powder that is finely ground for tooth. I mix my own when I can. Do some homework on the chemistry to get it right! I love playing with the chemistry of art supplies and with some of the best results.
For pallets, meat trays (white granite ware) and those black barbecue sheets for fish, meat, etc. is wonderful for a pallet. The barbecue mats are my favorite! Dry paint easily peels off the Teflon coating and it wipes pretty clean, even when dry.
Kolinsky sable brushes are amazing! If you've never used them, you should give them a try. I have a couple that are very old, and they do not paint the same as other brushes. Mine weren't $900, but they were $15-20 many years ago. They are absolutely amazing to paint with. Once you've used them, you won't want to go back! Watercolor kalinsky brushes and those fir acrylics and oils hold paint loads very differently, and release paint differently, too.
Kalinsky natural brushes are incredible, and are worth every penny when painting professionally. They take some getting used to, but the flow is absolutely amazing, and despite best efforts of brush companies, they cannot replicate a natural kalinsky brush. They don't even come close.
I don't think I would pay $900 for any brush, but a couple hundred? Absolutely! They are that good! I have a few that cost that much, and I take care of them. They last a very long time, their spring is amazing, they carry paint in a way other brushes cannot.
You gals need to try great quality, natural Kalinsky brushes. You don't know what you are missing!!!
Great reviews and opinions, though!
I view art supplies like this... there are no rules! Do what works for you, even if you use old credit cards, cardboard, junk mail, fingers, toilet paper rolls, paper towels, tools, whatever!
There are no "wrong" art supplies!
Do what works for you!
If you want a great paint, single-pigment and highly pigmented paints, or limited pigments, work best, and mix the best without getting muddy.
Avoiding toxins is a very real concern! Don't risk your health by using toxic chemicals. There are good alternatives that do not risk your health!
Have fun! Create! Take care of your tools, whatever you use! Good tools do not necessarily cost a lot, but some of the best tools do. You can find some excellent quality brushes that aren't $900, but there are some very special brushes, like those for ink calligraphy, that cost even more, and for that purpose, they cannot be beat.
Definitely do some homework, shop prices and buyer beware.
That said, I wouldn't buy any expensive brushes without touching them and holding them in my hands, with 1 or 2 exceptions.
Excellent quality brushes are necessary for certain techniques and smoothness of paint flow, which affects the quality of your paintings with some techniques.
Anyhow, great stuff, but I also use Q-tips, foil and other items in my paintings. It simply depends on what I am painting. Certain marks and flo requires certain tools.
I hope you will get together with someone who can show you some quality brushes and how to use them! It's hard to believe that you guys teach art and haven't had that experience!
Seriously, see if you can do some brush comparisons! You won't be sorry!
That $800 brush in the ad you showed looked like a rip off though, honestly.
There are brushes out there that are absolutely worth more money, and precious few (I can think of 1) are worth that much, a d that is an ink brush made by hand specifically for ink calligraphy with a rare, hand made ink.
Doesnt the pumice get embedded in the bristles?? I have a dedicated Gesso brush for the specific reason that I can't get all the grit out!
I always use throwaway cheap brushes for gesso too, I just expect it won't be the same afterwards! - Mia, Art Prof
So enjoyable, thank you.
Instead of Cadmium Red, I use Scarlet Lake (Jackson's Professional Oil Paints), and instead of Cadmium Yellow Light and Cadmium Yellow Medium I use Bright Yellow Lake and Yellow Lake (also Jackson's Professional). They are single pigment, and cost a fraction of the price of the Cadmiums...
I bought the DL hand cleaner as you recommended in another video. It cleaned nothing. I mostly paint with acrylic, but during a home project, I got some oil spray paint on my hands. I thought, yeah, I'll use that DL cleaner. That and a wire brush got my hands clean. I don't get it.
Note that our recommendation was D&L hand cleaner was for specifically oil paint; spray paint is a totally different thing altogether in terms of cleanup. -Prof Lieu
I use curd soap to clean all my brushes, which we used to use in my father's workshop and I still have some of his brushes in use today.
Curd soap has come up a few times, I'm looking forward to trying it! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I use my fan brush for blending mainly.
I used stretched canvas but I switched back to canvas board. You do have to use the more expensive gesso to get a good surface. I have some oil canvas board I painted in oil that are 50 years old, still good.
If they ever wear out you can take it off the board and Mount it on new board or switch to canvas frame.
I use fan brushes too, they do a better job than other brushes for some paint strokes you need to do. Took me a while to learn how use them. I use it every painting I paint.
They also make thin plastic knifes now and I used them to do entire paintings ( no brushes)They make excellent textured paintings.
Ooh I like fan brushes for texture as well! I think knives & spatulas are SO FUN when it comes to oil painting-- they always have unexpected results :) - Mia, Art Prof Staff
@@artprof I like anything that will add good texture to my paintings, key is don't overdo and it must proper for what your painting and it must be good.
Re the round brush--sellers get a big $ penalty if they go out of stock. Some sellers will jack the price so high that no one will buy it if they can't get replacement stock. So it may not be about quality! 😊
Interesting, I had no idea! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Yeah, $800 or even $100 is a lot for a single brush. Some of my favorite brushes for acrylic are a cheapo set of Royal & Langnickel taklon brushes from Walmart. I actually bought two more sets in case they discontinued them lol. The set I've been abusing for about four years are still doing what I need them to. If they'd improve the ferrules just a little using a slightly thicker and finer metal with a better crimp they'd need nothing else.
As for Gesso...I don't use it to prepare much of anything unless it literally has nothing on it to begin with of course. I tend to use Gesso for other things, though. I do use canvas panels but usually they're already pre-gessoed (so they claim) yet I wind up coating them with a few layers of grey acrylic anyway.
Palettes: plastic or glass for me. This abstract/surrealist painter that was a friend of my mother's had a studio in her basement for a while and I once saw him using aluminum foil for a palette. In between sessions he'd fold it a certain way to keep the paint from drying. I also saw him draw with burnt sticks and sticks dipped in BIC pen ink...so a foil palette didn't shock me too much. I like to try to work in a way that nothing gets wasted, so, at times I'll make sure to mix my acrylics on some kind of low or high density polypropylene material, that way whatever I don't use that dries up can be peeled off and used for some other mixed media project. Glass can work that way too but tends to bind in some cases making it harder to peel.
The only thing I use lightweight stretcher bars for is fabric panels which are preprinted.
glass is heavy. wood pallets are easy to hold for a long time. I wasn't under the impression that you had to clean them. just scrape the paint off and let it dry.
The Master's Brush Cleaner works good for sable watercolor brushes, but I think Murphy's Oil Soap is probably better for oils...
Fan brushes work great for glazing ceramics. (Not the super-thin ones though...should be more like a mop-fan)
I've heard fan brushes are good for blending.
You two are fabulous! Part 2 on awful supplies will be most welcome!!
Hey !
Canvas boards are easy to frame.
they work good for plien air.
better than 1/8 hardboard and gesso.
Thanks for the tip! - Mia, Art Prof Staff
I recommend Turner design gouache if you can find it. It’s $7 per tube and comes in 25ml tubes and is comparable to Windsor Newton. It’s artist grade and is an old Japanese brand that actually helped Golden develop their acrylic paints back in the day. I agree that Reeves is a crime against humanity and should not exist.
What are the $3 good brushes Lauryn mentions?
These are the $3 brushes I love! www.michaels.com/product/all-purpose-synthetic-bristle-brush-set-by-artminds-10130708?michaelsStore=1276&inv=1
Well, they used to be $3, but that was before inflation. Now they're $4. :]
-Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I like to use ceramic plates as pallets.
Thank you for the advice and warnings in this video! Also I am entering the raffle that ends today. Thanks!
Put your brushes in an empty pringles can for travel. It helps keep from bending the bristles.
Thanks for the great and super accessible tip! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Rosemary’s brushes U.K., best brushes ever, no middle man, available world wide. Very reasonably priced.
Thanks for the rec! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
The Windsor Newton gouache single tubes are ok but I got their beginner set and it was much more watery
That's not watery even in watercolour some pigments are softer some are stifer
In winsor and newton gouche I had some colours very loose some very stiff
The same with some paints unless they add things to equal it out
I love round brushes but I just discovered this artist Tommy Kim, he uses a fan brush(and others) and his paintings are very nice.
Oh wow! Tommy Kim's paintings are gorgeous! Thank you so much for the rec! 😍 -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
M Graham is my favorite gouache. Great smith highly pigmented. Not recommended for stay wet palettes. I use all the high quality brands Holbein Windsor newton etc
Thanks for sharing!! -Prof Lieu
I've been wondering about using fugitive paints, especially fluorescent and making the fade part of the art piece. My inspo is faded plastic childrens toys and older playgrounds. I wouldn't use them for anything I wanted to stay
Now your concept is an excellent reason to use fluorescents! They would be quite interesting for something durational. -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
They have a wonderful paintbrush TUBE at the Dollar Tree to use when travelling.
Yes, the tubes are great! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
Plein air painters use this, the idea is for your supplies to be lightweight.
I had a suspicion wooden palettes were a plein air painter thing! -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I like this stuff. It may be a bit pricey but it smells nice and lasts a long time.
I use dawn dish soap to clean all my brushes! It is always worked the best! They use it to clean ducks off in an oil slick for goodness sake lol
Yes, haha, if it can save the ducks, it can save my brush! (a lot of brushes are animal hair anyway, so makes sense) -Lauryn, Art Prof Teaching Artist
I love the fan brush. It has its purpose