ARTISTBLOG.FELIPE.TV

WORKSHOPS and CLASSES

Felipe Echevarria — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:59:00 GMT

At the hugely popular San Diego Comic Con:

Felipe Echevarria

Color-Mixing lecture/slide show

on The Bias Color Wheel system

<< details to come for 2011, check back in March-April >>

in the San Diego Convention Center

for people already attending the convention!



***

  A MICHAEL WILCOX

   SCHOOL OF COLOR

   PRODUCTION!

     END YOUR COLOR-MIXING FRUSTRATIONS

2-DAY WORKSHOP WITH FELIPE ECHEVARRIA

   Loveland, Colorado (this workshop finished in

   Feb. 2010, watch for another one coming soon!)

   * private lessons available in color-mixing, see further below or

   write Felipe at felipe@felipe.tv for more info...

Are you fed up with mixing mud with your expensive artist's paints? Are you baffled by the seemingly overwhelming and often conflicting information on color theory and how to apply it? This workshop will open your eyes to a fool-proof method for mixing artist's color based upon what actually happens when paint is mixed, rather than using elusive color theories and formulas.

The Bias Color Wheel system is for beginners and professionals, and for any pigmented media (watercolors, oils, acrylics, printer's inks, alkyds, gouache, etc.). We will do lots of painting practice the 2nd day to integrate the instruction, and by the end of class you should be able to mix any color you want or any color you see and do it accurately with no wasted paint.

With this two-day workshop you will learn:

* How to mix the exact color you REALLY want--every time

* A practical color mixing system based upon what actually happens when

paint is mixed

* Why the traditional 3-primary system doesn't work for artists

* Why blue and yellow don't always make green

* A quality assessment on all your paints, and how to save money when

selecting artist paints (these alone will save you the cost of the workshop)

* How to do full-color work with 3 or even 2 colors

* The many ways to achieve color harmony

* Basic insights into how our eyes and brain see and process color

Felipe Echevarria has 20 years painting and drawing experience, over 10 years experience teaching painting and drawing courses, and is a registered teacher for the Michael Wilcox School of Color. Please visit:

www.FelipeEchevarria.com to see Felipe's art

www.schoolofcolor.com for more information

***

private art lessons for you

Felipe Echevarria "Chopping Daikon" watercolor on plate bristol

This is a great opportunity to come into my bright and open Loveland, Colorado studio (or I go to yours) and receive private art lessons. When it's just one teacher and one student the results are tailored just for you. I offer:

any media painting lessons $20/hr

drawing lessons $20/hr

sequential art (drawing for graphic novels and comics) $15/hr (also offered by mail, $15 per mailing/lesson)

portfolio reviews, work critiques, visual art career counseling and motivation $15/hr

My focus is always on the drawing. Whether it's painting or not, expect suggestions and tips to strengthen the quality of your drawing skills, which in turn will take your painting skill to a new level.

I have extensive experience in all the above, and all lessons come with a satisfaction guarantee. You can do as many or as few sessions as you like. Are you ready? Call me at (970) 461-0700 to get more information and let's get you going! You can also email me at: felipe@felipe.tv

***

To see my FINE ART ONLY site please visit:

http://www.FelipeEchevarria.com

To see my COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVEL site:

http://www.felipe.tv

Can YOUR ART stand the test of TIME?

Felipe Echevarria — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 04:11:00 GMT

HOW TO MAKE YOUR ART LAST A LONG TIME...

Rembrandt HARMENSZOON VAN RIJN Self-Portrait   oil on linen canvas 1669

This is a very basic primer on creating archival works of art. Creating art archivally means that the art piece has maximum integrity and protection against erosion from environmental degradation, and has a stable application of materials used. I list references at the end so that you can further your own research!

   ***

     What if you sold a beautiful, expensive painting to someone and two years later they contact you with a complaint that the piece has faded or cracked and they want their money back? Would you say, "Sorry, no refunds." Or would you take it back and try and fix it?

     This happens in the art world, and to big name artists, too. I recently read an episode (mid-2007) in a magazine where someone bought an expensive Pino original and it's cracking and they want him to fix it. This is work that has been painted in the last 10 years! This is a fairly common condition with oil paints over long periods of time, or when they're not properly applied. Here's how to paint and draw to make your work last for generations:

OILS and ALKYDS


              Felipe Echevarria    Sparks Of Life   36x24"   alkyd, graphite on wood   1998

     Always paint "fat over lean," or "thick over thin." Start every painting with a thinned down layer of a faster drying oil color like raw umber or raw sienna mixed with a solvent such as turpentine (fast vs. slow drying colors are listed farther down in this blog).

You can substitute the turpentine with odorless mineral spirits, or an alkyd medium. This practice will prime the canvas or panel further and allow the subsequent thicker paint layers a more stable base to adhere to. Do not use hardware store grade solvents, they are not refined enough. Do not use the citrus-based or "natural" solvents, they are not refined enough, either. Use artist-grade turpentine, odorless turpentine, and/or artist-grade oil and alkyd mediums for painting. Then use the lower grade solvents for cleaning up brushes and palette.

     If you want a less toxic studio you can do so with these methods:

eliminate the use of turpentine--use odorless mineral spirits. Two brands I use are Weber's Turpenoid, and Gamblin's Gamsol. These are petroleum distillates and are still somewhat toxic, so ventilate your studio.
use alkyd mediums (These are also petroleum distillates, so you should still ventilate your studio).
water-mixable oils (These are far better than they used to be, and the solvent is only water!).
don't paint with solvents, it's not required, just use mediums to alter the paint film, or just paint with paint only.
wear a VOC filtering face mask and/or ventilate your studio properly.
how to avoid solvents for cleanup: get a brushwasher and instead of filling it with solvent, fill it with linseed oil. Wipe off your brushes after use, and then suspend the brushes into the linseed oil. When you're ready for the next painting session, wipe off the excess oil from the brushes and start painting. Only periodically clean your brushes and brushwasher with solvent to keep the sludge from building up.

   There are so many variations and procedures to consider when painting with oils (I ask you to go and really investigate these yourself. I list reference materials below in this blog). These days, a lot of manufacturer's line of paints, especially the student grade lines, are made in such a way as to enhance the drying of the paint film in a cohesive manner across the range of the paint line. In other words, to make each color dry at the same rate so that you will not have fast drying colors sitting on top of slow drying colors. Because of this, you do not have to have some paint chemistry background or schooling in artist paint applications anymore. However, an aware professional still should have a thorough grasp of her or his tools and learn to paint according to proper methods of application, because the highest quality level of painting still demands a thorough knowledge of what you're doing. This is partly what separates a professional from a beginner. Professional level materials work better if used by someone who understands how to best use them. If you do not pursue and employ this knowledge your work will likely not stand the test of time, and may not appeal to the gallery owners and museum curators who deal at the top levels in the art business. I question, however, if in this day and age, if art dealers know and care about the materials artists use, especially if you're a big money-maker for them.

   Note that many brands of oil paints now have a modified binder of resin (brands like Schminke Mussini, Chroma Archival, and Winsor & Newton Griffin*) which is alkyd-based and is reputed to make your work last far longer without cracking. This is because the resin is said to be more flexible than the usual linseed, safflower, or poppy oil binder and can expand and contract with changing temperatures, environmental effects, and aging. However, it is best to work thick over thin, even with full alkyd paints. Each successive layer must have something to adhere to that is reasonably stable, that is, a layer of paint that will dry faster than the one next applied.

*Winsor & Newton Griffin alkyds, mentioned above, are not oil paints. They advertise them as "faster drying oils," but they are really alkyd paints. The other two brands, Schminke Mussini and Chroma Archival, are linseed oil based, but the linseed oil is modified or spliced with an alkyd resin molecule thereby enhancing the paint film's flexibility characteristics.

   Resin paints are not new, the Flemish masters used natural resins in their paints, and from what I've read, they are more luminous than traditional oil paints and more stable. Nowadays we have the alkyd resins which are derived from the house-painting industry, and they have yet to prove their longevity. But I have seen pictures of oil paintings from 20 years ago that were painted with alkyd resins and they show these being stretched around a pipe with no cracking or damage, almost like a plastic. I use these extensively, and I get the feeling they will hold up well over time.

   The further away manufacturing materials get from natural substances, the longer artists' materials will last. The Universe created all things to decay and return to the Source of all things, but when humans "improve" things, they are made to withstand this longer and are therefore more resistant to decay. The Old Masters painted with all-natural materials--cellulose materials (like cotton, linen, wood, metals, natural pigments and oils, etc.) and these naturally are subject to more rapid decay. Now we have plastics, highly refined metals, and methods and materials designed to last longer (when well made, of course--that's the important part). I say, embrace technology, but keep to historical experience and common sense when using artist materials in regards to methods of application.

     Let oils dry through to the touch before glazing with thin applications. Oil paintings of average paint thickness should dry 4-6 months before doing the final varnishing. Some say wait a full year but this time span was for when painters did a different method of painting than they do today.

At least as important, use lightfast paints (non-fading when exposed to light) to increase longevity. This is not as critical with oils as it is with watercolors, however, because the oils are thicker and usually applied thicker thereby letting less light penetrate the paint layer. Investigate all your paints, whether oils, acrylics, or watercolors, for their lightfastness ratings and stick with the top two levels of lightfastness regardless.

   My personal thinking is: Paint your paintings with as much care and knowledge as possible--and then let it go! Let the conservators and dealers worry about your work decades from now if there are any problems.

ACRYLICS


           Felipe Echevarria    Beseechment 36x24"   acrylic on wood

   Acrylics dry by evaporation unlike oils which must exchange an oil paint molecule for an air molecule. This is why acrylics dry so fast. Water evaporates quickly when exposed to the air.

With acrylics, according to many sources, you do not need to work thick over thin, you can apply them at will any way you prefer. They are a plastic and can expand and contract far more easily than oils (but I have still heard recommendations for working thick over thin for acrylics, anyway). Acrylics are standing the test of time since their first period of serious usage in the mid-20th century. The main disadvantage with acrylics is their fast drying rate which makes it difficult to blend colors together, and their somewhat muted and matte appearance after they dry. Oils, especially resin oils or alkyds, have more brilliancy. But this is changing, manufacturers such as Atelier Acrylics, have found ways to make acrylics respond more like oils. Acrylics also have a stunning array of mediums you can employ to enhance their appearance and make them more pleasing to the eye as well as obtaining mind-boggling special effects.

COLLAGE

Felipe Echevarria    Divining Rod 54x48"   acrylic, fabric and magazine collage on wood


   Anything you glue, nail, tape, or pin into or onto a piece of art will be subject to the environment's degrading effects. It will fade, tarnish, wilt, get brittle, turn yellow, lose color, or crumble in time. Even if you collage in some plutonium it will eventually decay

Two ways to prevent or delay this are:

Use artifacts that have greater longevity.
Employ methods of collage that keep the artifact from degrading.

     Artifacts that do not have longevity are any printed materials (magazines, books, newspapers, etc), any cellulose-based materials (fibers, plants, papers, etc).

     For the first time in art creating history (and this development is very recent for the average household) one can now fairly inexpensively scan an image from a magazine, newspaper, etc., and manipulate and print that image onto archival papers with lightfast inks and collage them into artwork, instead of collaging in the original printed image which will fade quickly. This vastly lengthens the amount of time before the image will fade from UV exposure and acids breakdown. (I used images straight from a printed magazine on my Divining Rod piece above. I should have scanned them as mentioned. My only hope now is to spray them with a UltraViolet light protective spray).

     There are even methods of increasing the longevity of the artifacts, like protecting with a UV (ultraviolet light) varnish, or spraying an acid-nuetralizer on them, or recreating the artifact with archival materials. I once made my own stencil out of archival paper and painted on an aged effect with acrylics just so it would hold up over the years (actually, I also did it because I couldn't find the right stencil so I copied one and changed a few cut-outs on it). You can soak artifacts in alkaline solutions to de-acidify them so they don't break down as easily. Before I collage in any fabrics I will do this to them. How to do it is explained in the Jonathan Talbot book listed below in my list of references.

WATERCOLOR, GOUACHE

           Felipe Echevarria    The Great Tree   10x11"   watercolor on plate bristol

      The main precautions with water-soluble paints are to again use lightfast paints (especially with watercolors because they are usually applied thinly), and the use of archival papers.

There is a difference between archival paper and acid-free paper. Acid-free is usually wood-pulp material that has had the lignans removed, thereby raising the pH of the material into an alkaline range. Archival goes a couple steps farther: Archival is usually not wood-pulp, but 100% cotton (commonly called 100% rag) and is quite durable, and the material is often buffered with a solution of calcium carbonate which is a protective measure against environmental degradation. These papers are professional papers and cost much more than wood-pulp papers. If you're a student, don't get the archival papers--get the acid-free papers, you'll save money and still have stable materials to work with. Just look for the words "acid-free" on the packaging or pad cover.

If possible, frame your archival paper works of art under archival conservation glass with archival museum mats and frames, and use spacers or a mat to create a space between the art and the glass. Don't leave the art exposed on the back, use an archival or acid-free backing board. To save money you can use standard window glass and acid-free matboards instead of the 100% rag boards. Just make sure that anything touching either side of the art will be at least acid-free.

Thickly applied paints, especially gouache, will sometimes crack or flake off, so don't go too thick when painting. I've seen a chunk of fallen gouache resting on the bottom of my nicely framed art before. It's no fun having to re-do a framing job. However, you can add some watercolor mediums to help prevent this.

PASTELS

             Felipe Echevarria    Bobbi 15x11"   charcoal, pastel on colored paper 1997

      The main concern here is to use lightfast pigments, non-yellowing fixatives, and archival pastel papers. Most pastel artists use a great variety of colors because they blend pigment more optically, that is, placing a color on top or next to another one to create the blended effect, so this will take some close investigation as to what materials and papers you will like to use.

If you use a fixative, use a quality fixative, one that will not yellow or get brittle (read the labels). I like the Lascaux brand spray. It's expensive but it works well. Just don't breathe the fumes. And when applying the fixative, don't go heavy. Read the instructions. You don't need much to keep the pastel/charcoal particles from falling off. If you go too heavy it will change the look of your drawing, usually making it more gloss, or making it less fresh and delicate. This is because the spray saturates the pastel and binds each particle into the spray solution. It's like putting glass over your art, it's not as visually close and exciting to your eyes anymore.

other PAINTING materials

   Art materials like casein, colored pencils, tempera, etc., are similar to everything above in that you should use lightfast pigments, properly prepared supports and grounds, and use proven methods of application. Always seek to learn everything you can about your specific artist materials. Your work will reflect this and your clients will never have a problem with their purchase.

Miscellaneous notes!

     Do not do anything you want to last in markers or dyes. They will fade quickly. One of my teachers in school who is now a big-time illustrator painted a lot of his early work with Pelikan 4001 ink, which is a actually a dye, because it made stunning purple and greenish effects when used as a painting medium. I've seen some of his art for sale on Ebay over the years and the inked areas have turned a dull brown.

   ***
     Use "lightfast" (non-fading when exposed to light) pigmented paints. For example, most artists don't know that the traditional Alizarin Crimson PR83 pigment will fade over time if exposed to light, especially when spread thinly in watercolors. Don't buy it. Use the modern Quinacridones which now are often marketed under the "Permanent Alizarin Crimson" name anyway. Investigate all your paints for their lightfastness ratings. Stay within the top two levels of lightfastness.

   ***
     Standard artist papers are fair, acid-free papers are better, archival papers are best. Archival papers are called 100% "rag" as they are made not with wood pulp but with cotton linters which have longer fibers and are stronger. Archival papers are usually buffered with a solution like calcium carbonate which enables the fibers to better withstand the effects of the enviroment.

   ***
     Avoid painting oils on unprotected paper. Oil paints have natural acids in them and this acidity can erode and damage the paper over time. Also, depending on the quality of the paper, the oil in the oil paint will spread and stain the paper. You can isolate the paper with acrylic matte medium or gesso and paint on top of that. As long as you have a barrier between the paint and the paper you should be fine.

   ***
     Cotton canvas is good, linen is better, and prepared wood, aluminum, or acrylic panels are best. By "prepared" I mean having something between the paint and the support to keep the natural acids in the paint from degrading the support, as further stated next:

     Painting on raw canvas or raw linen is trouble. Use an acrylic matte medium, acrylic gesso, or oil based ground over these supports before painting. These will protect the cellulose fibers from the natural acids in the paints that cause erosion to the supports. At least if the support erodes a conservator can strip off the rotten material and reapply your work to a new support. Most people don't know that famous artists like Jackson Pollock often painted with house paints over raw cotton canvas. As a result his work is constantly under the conservator's care for erosion protection and in climate controlled rooms. But would this matter if you're rich or dead? (This is a very good question-- ask yourself this one...).

     If you struggle to afford the best materials (they can be very expensive) get yourself a gallon bucket of acrylic matte medium. Paint one or two layers of this translucent medium over cardboard, cheap thick papers, mat board, etc. Let dry and then do your painting (oils, alkyds, or acrylics). The matte medium will isolate the paint and other mediums from the cardboard. Then when you're famous and have money you can have your early work more easily repaired by the conservator.

   You can now buy polyester canvas. It is an actual plastic and is claimed to never yellow or rot and will not expand and contract like cellulose based canvas. You can get it in virtually any size. The only manufacturer of this that I know of so far is Fredrix, they sell a "Red Lion Polyflax" and a "Washington Square Polyflax" which are cotton/polyester blends, and a "Mural Polyflax" which is 100% polyester. All three come primed with acrylic gesso. The "Mural Polyflax" is especially tough. It's made for theater backdrops and to run through sign making printers. I have painted on these and they work fine, though they're not as pleasant to work on as linen canvas. Time will tell if these new substrates are really that resistant to degradation.

*update: April, 2008: Polyester is finally coming into vogue now, most distributors carry the Fredrix, or even their own versions. If you're concerned about longevity, use only polyester or linen canvas instead of cotton and jute.

   ***
     Do not directly mix oils and acrylics. They dry and expand and contract at different rates. More than one manufacturer is now saying this might be alright to do, but this is yet to be proven. Take the safe route and don't do it except as stated next:

     Employing acrylics under oils is said to be stable by even more manufacturers. I have completed many paintings with this method and it seems to work (so far). As always, think "fat over lean." Oils are fat (linseed oil), acrylics are lean (water, plastics). I also suggest to use the resin oils instead of traditional linseed oil paints if using acrylics as an underpainting. Resin oils are supposedly more likely to stick to the acrylics better and expand and contract easier over time when applied over the acrylics. Remember to let the acrylics dry before painting over them with any oil paint.

     Again, brands of resin oils that I know of:

Schminke Mussini
Chroma Archival
Winsor & Newton Griffin alkyd paints
or, buy Chroma Archival alkyd mediums or Gamblin's Galkyd medium and use with traditional oils instead of your usual medium. This will increase the flexibility of the oil paint film for traditional oils.

And, yes, artists paint oils on acrylic gesso all the time, but realize that gesso has a different constitution than actual acrylic paint, gesso is molecularly more open and it is made to "grab" any medium that is applied over it, acrylic paint is not. So, first work your resin oils up with thin, lean layers over the acrylic paint before going thick.

The main advantage to working oils over acrylics is you can get a nice base layer of paint down and solve drawing/composition/color problems first with a very fast drying paint (within hours) and then use the oils for blending on top of that. Just do not go back over the oils with the acrylics!

   ***
     Use oil supports for oils, and acrylic supports for acrylics. Oils dry slowly and continue to dry for years, which means they will continue to expand and contract. Few people paint on oil-primed supports with oil paints anymore, most everyone paints oils on acrylic primed supports. There is a better way, but it will take more searching and investigation on your part: it is recommended to paint oils on oil primed wood panels only. If you paint large, as in 6 footers, the panels will be too heavy. Therefore, paint your large oils on oil primed linen or oil primed polyester canvas. Yet, in this technological era of heavily modified paint products, I don't think this is so critical anymore. But, if you want to be certain...

    ***
     As stated above, use faster drying oils under slower drying oils. They dry and expand and contract at different rates. The faster drying pigments include:

Yellow: cobalt yellow, chrome yellow, Naples yellow
Umber: burnt umber, raw umber
Blues: indigo, cobalt blue, cobalt turquoise, manganese blue, prussian blue
Violets: Cobalt violet deep, Cobalt violet light, manganese violet
Green: Cobalt green, Cobalt bottle green
Black: manganese black
White: flake white, neutral white
Brown: burnt sienna, raw sienna

The slower drying pigments include:

Red: cadmium red
Yellow: cadmium yellow
Orange: cadmium orange
Black: lamp black, ivory black
White: zinc white

Note: color lists above derived from About.com: Painting. However, as I stated farther above, most manufacturers now create their product with the average painter in mind, which means their paints are designed to dry and behave more uniformly than they did in the past. Therefore, slow vs. fast may or may not be as critical as it used to be. I urge you to go to the manufacturer's website and investigate this, even ask them this question if it's not listed.

***
Should you varnish your paintings? Here are a some of the pros of doing so:

Varnish helps protects the paint layer and the support from environmental conditions and changes.
Varnish can even out areas of a painting that are too matte, or too glossy, as compared to other areas in the painting.
Protection against UV degradation from light.
Can allow for easy cleaning without worry of ruining the paint (if using a removable varnish).

and the cons:

If you want to make changes to the work you must strip the varnish off first.
Varnish will change the current look of your painting, making it more gloss, or satin, or matte, or even more transparent, depending on the type of varnish you choose.
more time and money invested

and:

Although not technically a varnish, if you aerosol spray fixative on charcoals and pastels as a protective covering and to keep loose particulate from smearing, realize that this too will slightly change the look of your charcoal or pastel. And always frame charcoals and chalk pastels under glass but not against the glass. Do not use acrylic glazing sheets for pastel or charcoal, because the acrylic sheet will carry a static charge that can lift tiny bits of charcoal or pastel and ruin your nice framing job. When spraying drawing media with fixative, do not go too heavy--avoid complete saturation. Read the instructions.
You do not need to varnish or fix watercolors. Just frame them under conservation glass or acrylic glazing. If you do want to seal a watercolor with varnish, spray apply it with an aerosol varnish to avoid smearing of the paint (as when brushing it on).

   ***
   Very stable materials are charcoal and graphite and natural earth pigments. Even the toner in black and white copiers is said to last because it contains carbon. Early humans in caves used saliva or blood to adhere these materials to the rock and their works are still there. Don't ruin this capability by drawing on newsprint unless it is student practice work you're doing! Even artist quality newsprint will yellow and get brittle quickly over time. I have a favorite figure drawing on newsprint I did in 1990 that I have hanging in my house and I will never sell it because whomever gets it will have serious trouble keeping it intact in the near future. It's already very yellow and fragile, and it has even been mostly under glass for 18 years. However, I would sell it as long as the buyer knows this!

   ***
     Always buy the best materials you can afford, especially when you are creating works that are worthy of being sold, professionally printed, or hung in a gallery or museum. A work of quality almost always can be sensed by the viewer, even if they don't know anything about art. Better materials are more fun to work with, too, because they work better and look nicer. I use museum-quality materials (ready to hang in a museum) in everything I do now for these reasons. Sure it costs me a lot more, but I love it, it makes being an artist more enjoyable. I know of an artist who paints with Luma dyes and marker on whatever he can find. He doesn't sell much, and I weep for the occasional buyer.

   ***

REFERENCE, list of sources

The Artist's Handbook Ralph Mayer

A must-have reference, extremely in-depth, although it needs another serious update to incorporate new technologies, it will undoubtedly prove beneficial to you for most of your questions regarding art materials and procedures. I say most of your questions, because for me, almost every time I go to research something in this book I can't find what I'm looking for. Maybe it's because I often don't use traditional materials and methods. Very few illustrations.

New Artist's Handbook Ray Smith

Another must-have reference, and way better than the above work because it has color pictures and is a newer publication (revised 2003). I also like the fact that this book covers modern painting supports--such as aluminum and polyester materials. Also included are sections on digital media, public art, and even laser/water jet profiling.

An Artist's Handbook: materials and techniques Margaret Krug

As a book copyrighted in 2007 I would have expected some inclusion of the newer materials and supports for painters, such as polyester canvas and aluminum panels, and alkyds (there is some mention of alkyd resins, but it's limited). It does have lots of color illustrations (although too often with stylistic blurring of details) and demonstrations which are useful.

What Every Artist Needs to Know About Paints & Colors David Pyle

Too many cute cliches in the writing for me, but if you can overlook that it is very handy and written for easy understanding. Two other things that bug me about it: it's an obvious plug for Winsor & Newton company (chock full of pictures from Winsor & Newton, they had a hand in this book), and there are no pigment charts listing what color is associated with what pigment! A book on paints should have this. Also contained are chapters on computer coloring, history of pigments, and health concerns.

The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colors Michael Wilcox

Author of Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green, this insightful guide will help you select colors based on quality and lightfastness. For all wet media--watercolor, oil, acrylic, alkyd, etc. You also get history and mixing tips. There is some controversy regarding his testing methods, but I feel the information presented here is an interesting read and is still easily worth the price.

COLLAGE, A NEW APPROACH Collage Without Liquid Adhesives Jonathan Talbot

A short but very useful resource on creating collage works without liquid adhesives. I feel the title of this book is kind of a lie--you still must coat the artifact with a liquid adhesive, but then you attach it to the support with a special iron, fusing them together with heat. Still, this information is worth every penny because it contains info on producing collage works archivally.

the manufacturer's website...

Whichever brand of paint you're using, go to their website. There you will find many useful tips and sources for using their product.

   ***

     Questions? Comments? Find any errors? Please send them in below...

The BEST and WORST art supplies...

Felipe Echevarria — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 11:20:00 GMT

Following is a listing of art supplies that deserve a spot in my studio, or in the landfill! I'll keep adding to this list, keep checking back!

Best!

Golden Acrylics
Always consistent quality, long shelf life, and helpful service from Golden. They're higher priced but have been worth it.

Chromalux bulbs
These last a long time (years) and have nice pinkish color-corrected light to paint by. I've only had two that were not good out of maybe 30 or so. One of them exploded, leaving glass shards everywhere! Still, they're worth the price and better for the eyes. General Electric, Sylvania, Phillips, etc., design their junk incandescent bulbs to go out after a certain and very short time so you have to keep buying them (and toss them in the landfill). Buy these, they do cost a lot more, but they last far longer.

update Spring 2008: Now that a "green" revolution is here, all the big companies like General Electric, Sylvania, Phillips, etc., who have always created extra mess for the landfills (as in planned obsolescence), have jumped on the bandwagon (10 years too late as usual) and now manufacture longer lasting color-corrected light bulbs. What is interesting is that each brand seems to be slightly different than the next, when it comes to the kind of light their product produces, so maybe try a few to see which you like best. If you're like me and don't want to give money to the giant corporations, you can hunt down smaller, more conscientious suppliers of color-corrected bulbs, like Blues Buster and Chromalux. I have always only found these in the health-food stores, but are now more available in regular stores.

Also see blog comment at the very bottom...

Dead Straight stretcher bars

Made of tulipwood and dang close to always dead straight, even at 120" in length. Quick to assemble. The only two drawbacks I can think of are

you can't corner key them (but if you stretch properly you usually shouldn't have to use corner keys)
they don't sell them in museum-size depths to the bars (which is 2 1/2" or more). The deepest they offer is the 1 3/4" which is nice for gallery sizes, though.

update, early 2010: Many people have written me and asked for their contact info. Why they don't have a website yet is a question, but someone told me one is on the way. But here's what I have, they'll send you a price list:

Head Stretcher Corp

2188 Heywood Circle

Oregon, Wisconsin 53575

phone: 608 437-8385

email: deadstraightstretchers@gmail.com

update, early 2011: They now have a website:

http://www.deadstraightstretchers.com

Best Gallerywrap stretcher bars

Best takes their heavy duty stretcher bars (which are hard to find straight) and adds another piece of wood to them to make a 2 1/4" deep bar that is very sturdy. They advertise them at 2 1/2" but they're not (might have been a typo error). I bought some but I have yet to stretch a canvas on these, I'll come back and re-edit this when I do stretch one, but so far they look like a nice product.

Innerglow wood panels

Made of plywood, but archivally. They have a layer of heat bonded archival kraft paper on both sides and a nicely primed, gray surface to work on in any media. You can order custom sizes up to 4'x8' sheets. Expensive to ship and difficult to crate up in large sizes, my crate came bashed up in pieces, but at least the panels were undamaged. Come to think of it, this has happened on my last two orders with Innerglow. I suggest, and I will do the same for my next order, when you order these, ask that the shipping crate be extra sturdy to handle abuse from trucking companies. Available at: www.billewing.com/Panels.htm

Worst!

www.indoor-room-air-purifier.com (Mercantila online store)
I ordered an Aller-Air room purifier from Mercantila and decided to return it because it was too loud (fan noise) and order an IQ Air purifier. They do have fast shipping, reasonable price on my VOC air purifier orders, but Mercantila took over two and a half months to issue a return on the first one. It took 6 phone calls, and lots of struggle on my part to keep up with it. Very poor inside company communication at Mercantila. I will never order from them again.

Luxo LS Series Task Light
This drafting table light would not even hold itself up from bending at the elbow on the arm no matter how tight I cranked on the knob. I cranked so hard with a pipe wrench I squashed the metal and it still did not work. My order was for two of them from Dick Blick art supplier and they both failed. I returned them. How they can sell these is beyond me.

Fiskars #8 Razor-Edged Bent Scissors
The popular Fiskars (plastic orange handle) brand makes this particular all-metal scissor with cancer causing chemicals in the scissor metal. It says so on the back fine print. Don't buy them and write to them to demand they stop this stupidity.

update Dec. '07: I wrote to Fiskars and complained, and they told me that they put the warning on because they were not sure if the metals they used contained those offending metals, so they put it on the label anyway, which is conscientious. They said the scissors were ok because they recently found the scissors to not need the warning anymore. Man, if I was a company I would want to know what I was doing and creating all the time, even if I was a large corporation...

Husky electrical cords
Sold at Home Depot, with a cancer causing-wash hands after use warning on the back label. Don't buy them and write to Home Depot to demand they stop carrying that brand. While you're at it, write a brief note to Husky, too.

aaronbrothers Artist's Canvas
aaronbrothers is a corporation that carries artist supplies and also has a framing shop inside all their stores. They're similar to Hobby Lobby or Michael's. I went out plein air painting up in the hills recently and my friend brought some of these along to use for his paintings. Well, the supposedly triple gesso primed surface has so much drag and dryness that it is very difficult to get paint to cover the surface of the canvas. It was the most unpleasant canvas I've ever experienced. Even worse, when he used a Quinacridone Red pigment on this canvas it actually created fine cracks on the gesso and bled through the other side! You could actually see the red paint bleeding through to the back. Don't give them the money for junk made in India, buy proven brands, not store brands.

Winsor & Newton Winton Fine Hog Bristle brushes
These can't take any abuse, they fall apart and leave hairs all over the canvas. These are the dark-green handled ones and they are a student-grade brush. Also see a reader's comment at bottom of blog...

Princeton Art & Brush Co. 5000 Series Hog Bristle Brushes
These are the ones with the shiny copper ferrules and natural wood handles. These also can't take any abuse, they fall apart and leave hairs all over the canvas.

Fredrix Linen Canvas (acrylic gesso primed) (green label)
Okay, maybe not the worst, but they are slapped together so fast that it's obvious not a quality-minded assembly. I had to do a little fixing before I could paint on it (the back had a length of staples through unprimed linen which was not secure. I would have returned it but it was on sale and it was a large 48x60" size, much too troublesome to put back in my car.

Utrecht Acrylic paints

These get coagulated and stiff if left to sit too long, even if properly stored (mine sat around unused for two years, properly stored, away from heat and cold). I had purchased about 7 different colors, in gallons and smaller jars and they all went bad. Utrecht could not help with this except to say to add a 1% ammonia solution to bring them back to life. I also don't find them as smooth as Golden Acrylics, they seem harder to work with.

Winsor & Newton Series 7 brushes

Surprise! These are supposed to be among the best, and they used to be, but now they skimp on quality because most artists these days can't tell the difference. I have a friend who was a professional inker in comics for 20 years and he says the same thing. And I read an article by someone once who said that these are the best sable brushes on the planet, when you find the 1 out of 100 that works right. Forget it, just get Raphael or Escoda brand kolinsky sables.

Illusions Floater Frames

These frames are made to create the floating canvas effect within the frame. It's a good-looking framing idea and now you can get them mass produced from the art supply store, while before you always had to have these custom made. But I bought 7 of these at Jerry's Artarama and had to take back 4 of them. They're so poorly crafted it's a joke, they had chips and dings, bubbled up blisters in the paint finish, a poorly covered up gouge in the wood, and the plastic they shrink wrap around them leaves striations on the finish. This kind of ineptitude is mind-boggling to me. Hopefully they'll get better. Still, if you have the money support your local frame shop instead (by local I mean local, not Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or aaronbrothers).

update 2010: these might possibly be better now that they've been around a few years since I wrote the above review...just check them and see before you buy.

any brand of the following colors:

These are not lightfast, or are just awful to work with. They will ruin your work in time. Strive to avoid manufacturer's hype and romanticism with artists' paints, and really go investigate what you're using, if you need it, if it's lightfast, if it's permanent...

traditional Alizarin Crimson (not the new one called Permanent Alizarin Crimson)
Winsor & Newton Rose Madder Genuine watercolor (poor lightfastness ratings-do not buy)
traditional Vermillion (newer makes are now a mix of lightfast colors)
"Chrome" color paints (probably obsolete by now anyway)
Davy's Gray watercolor (gummy, does not brush out well, mix your own grays)

Please go see my ON MIXING COLOR and MY PAINTING PALETTE blogs for further information...

Good? Bad? Ugly?

PaintWear Artist Smock
I purchased two of these (the original full-length smocks) from Jerry's Artarama, one for me and one for my private-lesson students to wear when they come to my studio. These are comfortable and have lots of pockets. The problems I had with these, both of them actually--and I returned one due to excessive defects--is the buttons are so quickly sewed on they fall off, and the sleeves are poorly designed. The sleeves catch on everything, they're always in the way and hang down too much, I was always getting paint on them. The smocks do have a button on the upper arm to roll the sleeves up and secure them to, but what if you want to paint with the sleeves down? They should taper the cuff near your hand so they don't catch so much, or have a strap on the smock cuff to secure them a little tighter.

NOX-OUT Molecular Absorber
This is an air-purification system that is supposed to work by attracting toxin molecules (VOC's, smoke and pet odors, etc.) to a canister and bind them to little pellets inside the canister. When the pellets turn a certain color you throw them out and put in new pellets. The problem I had with this is when the canister was closed for a long period of time it was still working somehow and the pellets still changed color indicating they were spent. That's money down the drain. Also, if you slip while changing the pellets they get everywhere. I wrote to the manufacturer about longer term storage on these after they're opened and they never answered me. When a manufacturer doesn't answer me I stop buying their products. I like a back-up service for everything I use. They seem to work, but I'd suggest to put them directly above your palette or toxic product so that they're certain to be effective. Since the manufacturer never wrote me back I went and purchased a really nice Swedish hospital-grade air-purifier for VOC's machine and it works better and will probably save me money in the long run.

(see reader's comment way below at bottom for another opinion...)

Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds
Toxic fumes of petroleum distillates. You're almost guaranteed a headache, especially if you use the alkyd medium called Liquin recommended for them. These kinds of toxins can accumulate in your liver over time. Keep your studio ventilated properly!

Nice paints, though, consistent across the color range and very luminous as they are similar in effect to the resins the old Flemish masters would use. I think they are superior to regular oil paints in this regard. Alkyds also make it possible to blend like oils for a day and yet they can be dry to the touch the next day, or if doing outdoor works, they can be only lightly tacky as you're packing up to leave instead of easily smearing like regular oils (at least in Colorado, where the air is dry).

Listed are ways to eliminate the toxic Liquin medium, or to have faster drying oil paintings without using the Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds or Liquin medium:

use Gamblin Galkyd or Chroma Archival Oils Lean Medium alkyd medium with Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds instead of Liquin.
use regular oil paints with Gamblin Galkyd or Chroma Archival Oils Lean Medium alkyd mediums.
use Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds for plein air (outdoor painting) only.
use the Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds alone, no medium. Maybe start with a little solvent (like Turpenoid or Gamsol), then gradually work with just the paints.
whichever way, do ventilate your studio really well. Have a fan blowing across your easel and palette, and another fan near the window sucking the fumes from the other fan and blowing them outside.

I personally do numbers 2,3,5 above, and they work well. If they work for me, they will likely work for you, since I am incredibly sensitive to petroleum distillate fumes (alkyd fumes). Often I paint with a VOC filtering face mask when I'm really working a lot, and have the fans going, and then when I leave for the night I have my Swiss IQ Air filter machine going to suck the VOC's out of the air for the next day.

Best Santa Fe 1 easel
A good easel but not a great easel. It's sturdy enough, but the adjusting knobs hurt my fingers because the knob edges are not rounded enough and the tray is hard to get level with the top bracket. Best uses a lot of oak wood, which is not very attractive in my mind, more and more houses are incorporating other kinds of wood into the design, I'd like to see a different kind of wood used here for the easel, and one that is sustainable evironmentally too. Or maybe use a darker stain.

some product and brand reviews (from MY PAINTING PALETTE blog):

As far as brands go I have no brand loyalites, I will get whatever seems to be the best offering at
the time when I'm looking (quality, price, availability, etc). However, since brand names seem to be what most artists are conditioned to pay attention to instead of the actual paint, I will make some comments toward this end (I know I'm a cynic, but it's easy to be one when you find out how much subtle deception is used by marketing professionals).

Please be aware that although I like to whine and blast the marketing integrity of some of these companies, they all still make a quality product in general. But if you can get through the hype and learn how to mix color and buy paint wisely, you too will find you need only 3 to 10 colors to make beautiful full-color paintings (see my ON MIXING COLOR blogs).

Utrecht   nice paints in general, but their acrylics do not have a long shelf time, they get somewhat coagulated even if properly stored and are allowed to sit around for a couple years. I wrote to them about this and they could not help me, except to say to add up to 1% ammonia to them to bring them back to life.

Golden Acrylics    excellent quality, no problems with long term storage. From what I've seen and heard, this is a company concerned with excellence in production. I've used their products for over 15 years and have never had a problem. As with all companies Golden loads their line with redundant colors. Higher priced, but usually worth the extra money.

Winsor & Newton   again, quality paints in general, but they endlessly position themselves to sell as much paint as possible, even if it means still proliferating their paint lines with redundant and non-lightfast colors. The marketing claim is usually, "It's what the people want."

Old Holland more professional quality, but honestly now, their range of colors is gigantic. They seem to really pander to the mixing-challenged painter. One could mix at least 80 percent of their product line with 6 to 10 well-chosen colors (no kidding, I've easily matched quite a few of their colors for myself with just 3 to 6 colors).

Grumbacher   see Winsor & Newton, I feel a similarity in approach...

Daniel Smith   quality paints in general, but also strive to get people excited about colors, thereby selling as much paint as possible, and still proliferating their paint lines with
redundant and non-lightfast colors. And Daniel really does it, too, his line now has highly unique and interesting colors unavailable elsewhere, but unless you need special effects in your work, it's a money drain and ultimately a distraction from just getting down and dirty into really
learning how to paint and draw.

Chroma Archival from Australia, Jim Cobb's company has pushed some of the do's and don'ts with manufacturing color. I've written them many times and like Golden Acrylics, this seems to be a very progressive company. I use their oil paints a lot, they're made with a spliced linseed oil/resin binder which supposedly eliminates the cracking problem with oils (time will
tell). I like their alkyd-based oil painting mediums for the low toxicity and smell. Paints with resin binder contain petroleum distillates...as always ventilate your studio properly.

Mussini   similar to Chroma Archival above, they now employ a resin binder in their oil paints. One big disappointment with using the newer resin-binder paints is they don't have that wonderful linseed oil smell you get with regular oil paints. I miss that...

Gamblin another seemingly very progressive company working to modernize artist's methods and materials. But as all manufacturers, their overriding goal is to make a profit selling paint, and like with Gamblin's recent (winter 2007) marketing tactics, they're going to do it. At least Robert Gamblin's videos on the Gamblin website are interesting and consist of cutting-edge material and insights into using color.

But beware, you don't need all those colors that he's demonstrating to do your paintings. Please go seriously investigate how to mix color, don't let the marketing entities of all these companies dictate your color-mixing skill level.

I created my ON MIXING COLOR blogs for this reason. Please see:

ON MIXING COLOR 1

***

TO SEE MY FINE ART ONLY site please visit:

http://www.FelipeEchevarria.com

TO SEE MY COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVEL site:

http://www.felipe.tv

YOUR DREAM VS. YOUR VISION

Felipe Echevarria — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 11:18:00 GMT

Felipe Echevarria   "Timebound"    watercolor, gouache on paper 1996

***

I wrestle with this one often...

     Do you live your dreams or fulfill your vision? What's the difference?

To me, dreams are a chasing of the ephemeral, the fleeting, the endless moment by moment pursuit to keep yourself happy. Like yearning for and dreaming of that nice new sports car or house, or wishing you could have something that you believe would make your life better and more fulfilling. These can take time and money to make them come true.

Your vision is very different. Each one of us is like a steward, holding within us a unique gift designed to grace the world with something not quite yet seen before, and typically is not ready to be made manifest until the time is right, until personal skills have been cultivated to the point where the giving of the gift is made possible. It is a vision of the eternal--glorious or not, but still felt in very deep places in the heart and soul--and it has the capability to run your life to the very brink of hardship or disaster.

This also can take time and money to accomplish.

     Do you live your dreams or fulfill your vision? Does one have to exclude the other? Can you have both? You can have both, but you will find they have a powerful tendency to act as opposites and conflict with one another. Then it comes down to a matter of time and limited resources. In this life you will find, as you may already have, that this is quite so.

I find it necessary to distinguish between dreams and vision, and I check each action in my everyday life and ask whether it contributes to my vision or not. For me, the thought of dying and not accomplishing what I came here to do is very disturbing. It is not possible, however, to leave this life not having done what you came here to do, even if you think you've failed to do so (this concept could take another blog in itself). Still, it feels as if it could happen while I go about my daily tasks.

I use that fearful thought to force me to get moving and paint!

                                                             ***

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.

- quote attributed to Goethe

MY PAINTING PALETTE

Felipe Echevarria — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 00:54:00 GMT

MY PAINTING PALETTE

It seems every artist wants to know what colors other painters use. It's always fun to learn someone else's approach towards choosing colors for making pictures. I personally tailor the colors specifically for each painting as most artists do, but usually selecting from a very small range of stable colors (lightfast and of well-made, professional quality). I also have slightly different palettes for each of these genres:

representational watercolors
figurative oils
mixed media abstracts

I stay with as few colors as possible, regardless. Very often I'll do paintings with only 3 or 4 colors (plus white if working in an opaque medium). Back in the early 1990's I worked in an art store and learned a lot about paints because I was the salesperson on the floor and I had to know what I was talking about. I also ran across the work of Michael Wilcox, who wrote the landmark book Blue And Yellow Don't Make Green, and I learned that most manufacturers sell a lot of paint that is said to be necessary for the artist, or they employ a method of selling a color that makes it sound like your work will become a masterpiece if you use it. Michael Wilcox shook a lot of the marketing lies up and manufacturers were forced to change their product lines, offering more lightfast colors and better labeling of ingredients on the paint tubes. Most artists still have a romantic haze over their brains when going out to buy paints. Even my teachers in school had us students buy way too much paint because they themselves did not know how to mix color and buy paint very selectively. But at least now we have the information available to make educated buying decisions. Please go see my ON MIXING COLOR blogs for more information on mixing color:

ON MIXING COLOR 1

Here is my palette, which is for all the mediums--watercolors, acrylics, alkyds, and oils, unless otherwise stated. When going to buy these paints (or any artist paint) look for the pigment designation on the tube to make sure you're getting the real thing, unless your budget is very tight or if you don't care about having the best:

Reds:

Quinacridone Red   PV19 (replaces the non-lightfast Alizarin Crimson Pr83)
Cadmium Red Light PR108
Cadmium Red Medium PR108 (occasionally)
Pyrrole Red   PR254 (acrylics only, used in place of Cad Red to save $)

Blues:

Ultramarine Blue PB29
Pthalocyanine Blue PB15 (not for my watercolor method, too staining)
Cerulean Blue PB35 or PB36 (usually watercolor only, not staining)

Yellows:

Cadmium Yellow Light PY35
Cadmium Yellow Medium PY35 (occasionally)
Cadmium Hansa Yellow Light PY3 or
Cadmium Lemon Yellow PY35
Indian Yellow (usually a mix of transparent yellows, use only if it contains lightfast pigments. Look for a lightfastness rating on the tube. I like this for the transparent glazing intensity it can have).

Earth colors (or dulled-down colors):

Burnt Sienna PBr7
Raw Sienna PBr7
Raw Umber PBr7
Yellow Ochre PY43
Quinacridone Gold PO49 (very transparent, nice for glazing)

Speciality colors:

Iridescent Gold, Copper, Bronze, Silver
Interference colors (acrylics and oils)

Whites:

Titanium White PW6

MY FAVORITE MIXES!

Try these yourself! The goal is to have self-sufficiency in mixing color, never having to dirty your colors with black paint, and instead use complementary colors to darken or modify to get what you want.

All these mixes will usually work as shown, whether you use oils, acrylics, or watercolors...

Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue make a stunning Payne's Gray without the use of black:

Ultramarine Blue and Yellow Ochre combine into a lovely muted green for landscapes:

Ultramarine Blue and Quinacridone Gold mix to make an incredibly rich, dusky green-black, without the use of black:

Quinacridone Red and Cadmium Yellow Medium make a rich orange seething with color. Because the Quinacridone Red is very transparent, and the Cad Yellow is opaque, they combine in an interesting way:

Quinacridone Red and Cadmium Red Light or Medium mix to make a lively red:

Pthalocyanine Blue and Quinacridone Red combine to make a deep transparent Indigo:

Pthalocyanine Blue, Quinacridone Red, and Indian Yellow (or Cadmium Yellow Medium) all combined make a color range that simulates CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, BlacK) printing colors. When mixing these three you can tailor the black to be more blue, or more reddish, or more yellow, depending on which of the three is most dominant. Likewise, you can also tailor the mix towards secondary colors, making it more greenish (using more of the blue and yellow), or more violet (using more of the blue and red), or more orange in hue (using more of the red and yellow):

     You need never use black paint again, you'll be darkening your mixes the natural way (with complementary or split-complementary colors), and you'll save a ton of money because you won't have to buy so many tubes of paint. Keep in mind that with this particular mix you will never get bright secondary colors--no bright violets, greens, or oranges--it's supposed to be that way, because the CMYK printing colors are designed to be consistent and no mix gets too bright or too dull.

If you do need bright secondary colors you just add in the other three bias colors, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Red Light, and Hansa Yellow Light (or Cadmium Lemon Yellow) to the first three and you will have the full range to mix virtually anything, with literally millions of possibilities. See my ON MIXING COLOR blogs for more details.

       That's it. As far as brands go I have no brand loyalites, I will get whatever seems to be the best offering at the time when I'm looking (quality, price, availability, etc). However, since brand names seem to be what most artists are conditioned to pay attention to instead of the actual paint, I will make some comments toward this end (I know I'm a cynic, but it's easy to be one when you find out how much subtle deception is used by marketing professionals).

Please be aware that although I like to blast the marketing integrity of some of these companies, they all still make a quality product in general. But if you can get through the hype and learn how to mix color and buy paint wisely, you too will find you need only 2 to 10 colors to make beautiful full-color paintings.

Utrecht   nice paints in general, but their acrylics do not have a long shelf time, they get somewhat coagulated even if properly stored and are allowed to sit around for a couple years. I wrote to them about this and they could not help me, except to say to add up to 1% ammonia to them to bring them back to life.

Golden Acrylics    excellent quality, no problems with long term storage. From what I've seen and heard, this is a company concerned with excellence in production. I've used their products for over 15 years and have never had a problem. As with all companies Golden loads their line with redundant colors. Higher priced, but usually worth the extra money.

Winsor & Newton    again, quality paints in general, but they endlessly position themselves to sell as much paint as possible, even if it means still proliferating their paint lines with redundant and non-lightfast colors. The marketing claim is usually, "It's what the people want."

Old Holland more professional quality, but honestly now, their range of colors is gigantic. They seem to really pander to the mixing-challenged painter. One could mix at least 70 percent of their product line with 6 well chosen colors (I'm not kidding).

Grumbacher   see Winsor & Newton, I feel a similarity in approach...

Daniel Smith   quality paints in general, but they also strive to get people excited about colors, thereby selling as much paint as possible, and still proliferating their paint lines with redundant
and non-lightfast colors. And Daniel really does it, too, his line now has highly unique and interesting colors unavailable elsewhere, but unless you need special effects in your work, it's a money drain and ultimately a distraction from just getting down and dirty into really learning how to paint and draw.

Chroma Archival from Australia, Jim Cobb's company has pushed some of the do's and don'ts with manufacturing color. I've written them many times and like Golden Acrylics, this seems to be a very progressive company. I use their oil paints a lot, they're made with a spliced linseed oil/resin binder which supposedly eliminates the cracking problem with oils (time will tell). I use their alkyd-based oil painting mediums for the lower toxicity (as compared to Liquin, or turpentine).

Mussini   similar to Chroma Archival, they now employ a resin binder in their oil paints.

Gamblin similar to Chroma Archival and Mussini, a seemingly very progressive company working to modernise artist's methods and materials. I use their alkyd-based oil painting mediums for the lower toxicity (as compared to Liquin, or turpentine).

***

TO SEE MY FINE ART ONLY site please visit:

http://www.FelipeEchevarria.com

TO SEE MY EVERYTHING ART site:

http://www.felipe.tv