No, I was hardly surprised either, the company is quite young and is not established in the marketplace, however, I have been looking at Artprice for some time now, and have gone ahead and filled in the application online. I've had to send 6 images over for them to look at and consider me, I am awaiting their answer, although I know it will be a yes... it better be. I will keep you notified of any sales once I'm up and running, let's hope they have the audience, certainly looks like it. I didn't see that film, although I am familiar with the artist. Yes, an element of truth there, a great artist will produce with any materials given him, in my case, I need all the help that I can get, and it's always fun to try out new things...

Can't say I'm astonished by the lack of response from ArtRehome - it looked dubious, in terms of potential results anyway. I've been contemplating using Artfinder - there's a painter of whom I know who uses it, and without wishing to brag, I'm at least as good as he is! He sells through it; whether I would - well.... who knows, really? Taste and fashion come into all this, name, ability to interest galleries .... it takes more work, time and dedication that I now generally feel like making, but if I don't, I'll have the same problem as you (actually, I HAVE got the same problem as you - canvases everywhere). We can but persist - on the question of size, my Ampersand panels are 11" by 14": cheapness, or at least lack of whopping expense, came into this, but on the whole I think larger sizes - eg 18" by 24" - tend to sell better. I like relatively small paintings, but not everyone does .... (and I still claim, slightly mischievously but also through a measure of conviction, that a large painting is a good deal easier to paint than a small one - but I could be using that as an excuse). Nothing wrong with Old Holland paints, I'm sure - they've been making oil paint for hundreds of years and should be pretty good at it by now - but I do think their range is just madly excessive. Michael Harding's paints, if you want the best and can pay for it, are, I'm sure the way to go. Interestingly though - don't know if you saw the film the other day featuring the N Irish artist Basil Blackshaw: his paints are (or anyway include) D-R Georgian, and W & N Winton - I rather like them too, although prefer a more intense paint with greater covering power: but it does suggest it's more the painter than the paint. The picture which I've used to illustrate this blog entry is a few years old now, but I remember was mostly painted with Daler-Rowney Artists' oils - and I remain quite fond of it, and have kept it.

Thanks Robert, you have whetted my appetite and will order a couple of 20 x 16in, a size which will frame up well and be saleable, well, that's the idea anyway, reality is a different matter. Absolutely right, you only need a smidgen of the stuff and it really does go a long way, and yes, I do have the ultramarine and all the earth colours. I will continue to use it and now I have your approval, so to speak, I won't bother trying the Old Holland. I've been speaking with Fiona and she uses virtually nothing else and she does produce some good work. When I first got my hands on them, which was only a week ago, I wasn't sure what to expect, perhaps gold thread running through each tube would have not been surprising, however, that's me sorted for 2016. On another matter, you will remember, well I hope you do, that company called Art Rehome, and I said I would let you know about my sales results - well, are you ready for this... absolutely nothing, not a squeak, and I pitched all the large canvasses at a ridiculous price, far too cheap, in the hope of getting rid and making room for this years batch, and getting a bit of money together for more paint and equipment. Perhaps it's my work!, who knows, more likely in my opinion is that nobody looks or knows about the site, ok, it's free, all it's cost me is time to put them on. I've got something like another 100+ from last year, many watercolours mixed in, but I haven't had the inclination to put them on, it just seems futile. Thought I would share that with you.

Ampersand panels - they are pricey; on the other hand, they don't warp, they're lightweight, and they take the paint very well - better than some cheaper boards. I bought two of them as an experiment, and although I won't be able to go over to them entirely, because of the cost, I'll get more as soon as I can. Michael Harding oils are the best I've ever used; they are expensive, too: but then you use so much less paint, because you can get the colour intensity immediately - don't know if you've tried the Ultramarine, Alan, but its strength was startling compared to other brands. When you get to the more esoteric colours - like genuine Chinese Vermilion, for instance - you're edging right out of the feasibility zone so far as I'm concerned; but on the whole, the value is good - though I do cringe a bit when cleaning up the palette and scraping precious paint away to discard it, and try to use as much of it as possible. In any given painting though, you only need what you need - not much good adding more paint just in order to use it up....

2016, not '25...... I do hope I've put the right date on my cheques..... I painted quite a few pictures in 2015 - deary me; senile old fool......

I've been thinking of trying them myself Robert, Ampersand that is, but they are a bit pricey. Not that I'm a skinflint or anything, but I do tend to get through a fair few panels in any given week, so one must be sensible. Now that I've downsized my work, for the moment anyway, and mainly due to painting more en-plein-air, I have given the Michael Harding oils a try and I must say that I am very impressed with them. Just the series 1 of course, all others start to require a mortgage, anyway they mix superbly and are so smooth, a joy to work with I must say. Here's to your renaissance in 2016, or resurgence may be a more appropriate word...

Good for you, Robert. Get on with the good work!!! I am still not that far: just giving my working place a nice clean up. Maybe this will give me the boost to get started. For the moment the tennis on tv is just a little bit more interesting! PS. Sorry, no offense I hope, but you probably are not yet used to the new year, I suppose it is your first of 2016? :) Mia