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Message
Posted
Hi All,
Art use to be my passion over 20 years ago! and I have now decided to start my passion up again at the age of 47, it has been a while so I have come on here asking for any advice and tips to start from scratch again! best places to source pencils pens paint and paper etc... and what essentials you advise to start back up with....thank you all in advance and i look forward to making friends with like minded people and maybe even try to find local classes or groups in my area in the UK
Thanks You
Posted
Welcome back to the wonderful world of art Sarah.
Can you be a little more specific regarding your interest, watercolour, acrylic, oils, coloured pencils etc, also your subject matter, landscape, portrait, still life and so on…
I buy most of my art materials from Jackson’s Art, they stock pretty much everything that I need, and delivery is quick.
Regarding paints, start off with a limited palette and learn to mix your colours, so important, but once we know what direction you’re heading we can advise you on what you’ll need to get started.
You may find it helpful to take out a subscription with Leisure Painter magazine, it’s all part of this painters-online website and is full of projects to work on and practical advice!
Posted
Welcome back to the wonderful world of art Sarah. Can you be a little more specific regarding your interest, watercolour, acrylic, oils, coloured pencils etc, also your subject matter, landscape, portrait, still life and so on… I buy most of my art materials from Jackson’s Art, they stock pretty much everything that I need, and delivery is quick. Regarding paints, start off with a limited palette and learn to mix your colours, so important, but once we know what direction you’re heading we can advise you on what you’ll need to get started. You may find it helpful to take out a subscription with Leisure Painter magazine, it’s all part of this painters-online website and is full of projects to work on and practical advice!Hi Alan and thank you, I use to sketch with pencils, and also water colour so will probably start back with those! thank you so much for the recommendations I will look into those, much appreciated Thanks you
Posted
Welcome to the world of art Sarah don't dash out an buy lots of art equipment and be careful which art class you choose, many are sit and copy the tutor were you will never learn to do your own work. 2B pencil and an A4/ A3 pad is all you need to start you off. Good luck and enjoy..Hi Bari thank you for the welcome and advice it is much appreciated i am slightly out of touch! but looking forward to drawing again! I only ever did it for leisure and enjoyment so will go get some supplies this week Thank You
Posted
Hi Sarah, I was clueless in every aspect of art, I have learned most things from here and the members and teaching myself. The tips and techniques section has demos you can follow in all media and lots more information. I get the mag and I'm also on studio, which has videos, back issues and much more. Look forward to seeing your work as art is the best thing ever.
Posted
How do Sarah - yes, start with small stuff and build up to a larger collection of materials. A good quality sketchbook - eg, those Daler-Rowney red and yellow covered ones, a few softish pencils (2B Mars Lumograph would be my recommendation), maybe a couple of sticks of conté, and/or a few Wolff's carbon pencils, the Daler-Rowney The Langton watercolour paper, Cotman watercolours from Winsor & Newton (I think), and a few inexpensive but good synthetic brushes.
You could do a lot worse than take a look at Charles Evans' website - a Google search easily finds him: he uses just four brushes, a very limited range of colours - his are Aquafine, paints and brushes - and a good quality paper, which is The Langton. He also sells materials from his website, including a whole range of instructional books.
Other sources of supply - Jackson's, as suggested; the Ken Bromley store; Cult Pens - a wide range of materials; Grantham's Art Discount; Rosemary & Co for brushes - and there are many others. The ones I've mentioned are among my favourites because they're quick to deliver, and they package their goods properly.
Don't burden yourself with a huge range of colours to start with - if you're interested in achieving a balanced palette of colours, take a look at The Michael Wilcox School of Colour website - they sell oils, acrylics, gouache, and watercolour in their own basic range - it would save a lot of time and trouble at the outset to get one of their watercolour sets and follow Michael W's method - I think it's one of the best teaching tools available.
Posted
Yes, the W&N Cotman watercolour sets are decent quality and reasonably priced, I’ve got several of them.
ProArte brushes aren’t a bad choice, again, decent student quality and relatively inexpensive.
Buy the best watercolour paper you can afford, either loose, in pads or in gummed blocks, it’s impossible to work on thin weight paper… it just cockles and will put you off painting before you even start!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
I only use watercolour paints and do pencil sketch’s, I would agree with everything said regarding buying equipment.
It to easy at first to be tempted into fancy looking brushe that promise expert results, they invariably don’t deliver.
Alan is spot on with the advice about paper , you can get a reasonable result from inexpensive paint, but nothing can best decent paper the best you can afford .
I think it’s the same with drawing paper whilst it won’t cockle, poor paper doesn’t get a good finish and dome cheap paper is to grainy, though sometimes you might want a rougher paper . All the brands recommended are what I have used for years and enjoy using them , occasionally I splash out for a very expensive paper for special projects etc . What ever you buy have a good Clean storage area for them , look after you materials and the will last . Most importantly do enjoy what you do and don’t push yourself to hard it will all come back to you and together before too long.
Posted
Hi Sarah, I was clueless in every aspect of art, I have learned most things from here and the members and teaching myself. The tips and techniques section has demos you can follow in all media and lots more information. I get the mag and I'm also on studio, which has videos, back issues and much more. Look forward to seeing your work as art is the best thing ever.Thank you so much Denise!
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