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Where to buy materials of good value in the UK?
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Message
Posted
Let me save you from yourself - do not buy from Hobbycraft, or the Range, or any such cut-price outlet because the quality will not, I promise you, be there. Go online - it pains me to say this, but I'm afraid art shops are few and far between and can't compete on price - to Jacksons; Grantham's Art Discount; Ken Bromley; T N Lawrence; there's also an outfit called Great Art, which will suit you fine if you're after acrylics. Canvas can be bought at any of those stores, or from The Canvas Store. Chromacolour UK offers its own brand of acrylic. Or join the SAA, the Society for All Artists, which offers its members special deals on materials and insurance for exhibitions. You could do worse than buy a set of acrylics in a box - they normally include the cheaper colours, and black, but ... well, it's a start. System 3 by Daler Rowney are good, if a bit too liquid for my taste.
If you do have a local art shop - not a hobbycraft-type centre - you do have the advantage of advice and guidance in most of them, and they'll often do deals on paper, for instance. They're very limited in what they can do with deals on paint - not their fault, it's how the market operates.
Posted
I was thinking of surfaces - especially canvas - more than anything else. If you buy W & N or Daler-Rowney acrylics, they'll be up to standard wherever you get them from: but canvases won't - one circular canvas was shown on this forum a while ago, and it was wholly unsuitable for use as anything other than a tambourine, if someone had just put a few bells round it. And I've seen people use these thin canvases with no proper space between the cloth and the stretchers, ensuring there'll be ugly marks all round their painting. They came from The Range, and I don't believe Hobbycraft is any better: but yes, you're right, you can get the paint there: but still need to ensure you stick to well-known paint-makers of course; which you need to be careful of anywhere.
Posted
Hi if it is of any help I have put some of my acrylics onto ebay they are Daler Rowney Graduate 6 tubes the reason I have put them on eBay is I have decided that Acrylics are not for me, I prefer watercolours and pencil work. they are all new they are due to finish the next couple of days
Tao
Posted
I am reading this thread with interest, as I was looking in the Range the other day. I was looking at their Acrylics and various other stuff, no idea what to buy as this is all new to me. Posts above say not to buy from the Range and other such places, but recommend buying from Great Art.
The stuff I was looking at in the Range was Winsor and Newton, Great Art also sells Winsor and Newton.
Not searched the forum yet, but is Winsor and Newton stuff any good?
PS
Sorry, I missed the reply by Robertjones :blink:
Edited
by JonChester
Posted
Another advantage of acrylic is that you can paint on more or less anything, other than an oily surface. So you could use canvas, stretched over bars or glued to heavy-duty board, hardboard (rough up the surface a bit and give it a wash over with meths or Iso alcohol, just to de-grease), MDF, watercolour paper, some of the very heavy cartridge papers; or there are acrylic papers , which are OK for practice. And you'll discover a type of acrylic called 'interactive' in due course - they can be re-wetted to permit further working: but don't let me confuse you - some like those, some don't, and there are plenty of good quality 'normal' acrylics to use before you get to interactives. W & N artists' quality are very, very good, by the way.
If you can get the paint, and brushes perhaps, from The Range, all well and good. But don't buy unbranded canvas - names to look out for that offer a good product are Loxley, Inscribe, Winsor and Newton, Daler-Rowney, Fredrix, and a few others. Online, The Canvas Store offers a great range of canvas and boards, and Rosemary & Co make good brushes, some say the best; though Pro-Arte, W & N (including the Cotman and Sceptre ranges). are also good, as are quite a few others.
You'll encounter the odd problem, probably, but that's what we're here for - just ask, there'll be someone around with an answer.
Posted
The majority of my acrylics are System 3 - they are perfect for me. The brushes I use are also mainly System 3, all bought from Hobbycraft (I also have a few Harris brushes from B&Q). I don't use many canvases but W&N are available from Hobbycraft and The Range and there is usually some sort of offer on them when I look. Mountboard is a great surface to paint on - Daler board is also in Hobbycraft. You don't have a spend a lot before you start painting. :)
Kay M
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