Any painters on here?

TheYorkshireTerrier

TheYorkshireTerrier

Well-known member
I’m looking to get back into some painting during the summer to keep me ticking over while I wait for the football to come back. Using canvases, acrylics etc.

I’ve made some space in the house for a small studio but now I’ve hit a wall while looking for some supplies - was just wondering if anyone had any favourites they use / any hacks that they find works well etc, also best places to get them from.

Don’t really want to spend a ridiculous amount but is anything cheap these days?
 
Hobbies, an expensive thing. I've just spent a fortune on a tool for my workshop that I really, really need and are hoping it gets delivered before the wife comes home from work.

I hope she never sells my tools for the price I've told her I paid for them.

There used to be a lady poster Jan Foley who came on here and owns Yarm Originals. I am sure if you do a shout-out to her or contact her through her website, she will be glad to help.

I haven't seen Jan on here for some time now.

https://www.yarmoriginals.com/
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Hobbies, an expensive thing. I've just spent a fortune on a tool for my workshop that I really, really need and are hoping it gets delivered before the wife comes home from work.

I hope she never sells my tools for the price I've told her I paid for them.

There used to be a lady poster Jan Foley who came on here and owns Yarm Originals. I am sure if you do a shout-out to her or contact her through her website, she will be glad to help.

I haven't seen Jan on here for some time now.

https://www.yarmoriginals.com/
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Cheers Norman, I do remember Jan actually but as you say not seen her post for a while. Some amazing work on her website there.
 
The Range is fairly cheap for artists' materials. I get stuff there quite a lot.

But when I say "cheap" that's only in relative terms. I agree with you that hobbies are not particularly cheap.
 
TheYorkshireTerrier said:
I’m looking to get back into some painting during the summer to keep me ticking over while I wait for the football to come back. Using canvases, acrylics etc.

I’ve made some space in the house for a small studio but now I’ve hit a wall while looking for some supplies - was just wondering if anyone had any favourites they use / any hacks that they find works well etc, also best places to get them from.

Don’t really want to spend a ridiculous amount but is anything cheap these days?
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Hobbycraft is very reasonable for price. I'm not a fine artist so i can't speak with any experience re quality, as i've only bought frames for myself. i've bought paints and canvases as presents and they were well-received
 
JackG said:
Hobbycraft is very reasonable for price. I'm not a fine artist so i can't speak with any experience re quality, as i've only bought frames for myself. i've bought paints and canvases as presents and they were well-received
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Yeah that’s mainly where I’ve been looking, and then comparing with The Works and Amazon, but they all seem to be roughly the same. I didn’t realise how expensive canvases could be!

With the paints, do you tend to buy sets or individually?
 
I'm not a paint artist, my medium of choice is pencil or colour pencil.
If I was you though(going by other art supplies I have previously purchased) I wouldn't use cheap materials.
Something along the lines of Faber Castell studio range would be ideal.
If you want solvents for thinning or cleaning brushes I would look at the Zest-it range it is non toxic and works brilliant on blending with pencils(they have a few different once in the range).
With regard to brushes you would be better off getting a few decent quality ones in a few sizes than getting a bag full of cheaper ones from a discount store.
Screenshot_2023-06-09-12-48-59-15_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg
These are the paints I would recommend, I am a huge fan of Faber Castell and pretty much only use the professional(green packets) range as the quality is unreal and it does make a difference, I have used the mid range studio and student ranges for practice and they come up really well and not too much behind the professional range(it's more to do with the fading elements long term that's why I invested in the professional range).
 
Sorry to hijack your thread, but for free stock images as reference photos I would recommend unsplash and pixabay.
I will now leave you to people more knowledgeable about painting rather than a pencil artist like me.
 
Can’t you just use the Paint app on your computer? It’s free and there’s no mess to clear up or brushes to wash.
 
TheYorkshireTerrier said:
Yeah that’s mainly where I’ve been looking, and then comparing with The Works and Amazon, but they all seem to be roughly the same. I didn’t realise how expensive canvases could be!

With the paints, do you tend to buy sets or individually?
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Sets, but it was cheap stuff for my goddaughter. Strangely enough, I've seen individual tubes of acrylic in Poundland!
 
This might seem as if it's meant to be a bit smart4rsy but it's not. Is there any reason why you couldn't just use normal house paint? I've lots of quarter filled tins of gloss and emulsion in the garage. You are very welcome to them if you like. I reckon loads of people would have similar stocks of out of date paint that they will never use.
 
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For acrylic you would be just as well using a high GSM watercolor paper rather than individual canvasses. If you want a canvas effect on the painting go for cold pressed water colour paper or for smoother paper and more detailed work go for hot pressed, I would say around 300gsm you can get a pack of 10 for about a fiver. I have even practiced pyrography(wood burning) on thick water colour paper.Screenshot_2023-06-09-16-21-55-21_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpgIMG_20230609_162022.jpgIMG_20230609_162106.jpg
 
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In general I would advise paying a bit more for better quality stuff. Daler Rowney, Windsor & Newton, Faber Castell are good brands.

The problem with cheap "brand X" materials in my experience is poor quality - pencils that keep breaking when you try to sharpen them, paint with too little pigment that doesn't cover properly, etc.. Not only does your work not look as good as it could do, they also work out more expensive in the long run.
 
Small update on this; managed to get a space set up in the loft but I’ve actually found myself really enjoying doing some digital watercolour portraits in the last couple of weeks on my iPad (using the Procreate app).

Will attach some images to this post as long as they aren’t too big. Thinking of setting an Etsy shop up as I’ve been getting a lot of requests just from friends and family on Facebook, Instagram etc.

If anyone is interested in one, just send me a message on here, prices are relatively cheap compared to other Etsy store owners for now.
 

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If its of any help, I can offer you several blank canvases, I will even provide paint and brushes, all free. You can practice to your hearts content, heck, I know this is gonna sound overly generous, but I will even through in a roller, tray, masking tape and free tea, coffee, sugar and biscuits if needed. PM me when you want to start. Thank me later 👍
 
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