What paints to buy

You’re asking a lot of questions here Neil, I haven’t time to answer them all, but if you want the best quality oil paints, you won’t be buying in bulk unless you’re a wealthy man! Have a look at the Wallace Seymour range, you’ll find them in the painters online shop on this website… (menu> store). Not cheap but top quality. Failing that, Winsor & Newton Artists quality oil, Jackson’s Art is a good online retailer which many of us use. Keep well clear of anything with Bob Ross on the label, don’t go down that route - I couldn’t help noticing that some of your compositions on the gallery, do have something of that BR look! My advice… get out and about with a sketch book, and fill it with realistic drawings of local scenes, steer clear of ‘pretty’ pictures such as snow capped mountains and twee log cabins! Don’t, under any circumstances use stippling, it doesn’t work! Use these sketches to inspire and help you compose some realistic compositions when back in the studio. Hope this helps a little bit, good luck and welcome to the website.

I can’t comment on oils, as I don’t paint with oils.. On the subject of canvas, you’re one who likes to jump in with both feet ( 6 ft canvas! ). There are a number of framers out there who also custom make canvasses to whatever size you want. I know of one in Belper, Derbyshire (maybe a bit too far from you in Northumberland though). 

You’re welcome… don’t get sucked into Ross’s style of painting, it isn’t good! start off the right way by learning the basics of oil painting - I can recommend the best book on the market for any aspiring oil painter. I’ve got a copy, and many of us on here have also bought it - it’s primarily aimed at the relative beginner but also useful for more experienced painters! You’ll find everything you need to know about oil painting, with wonderful examples to follow and learn from! ‘Vibrant Oils, by Haidee-Jo Summers, available from Amazon and possibly also from this website.

In no particular order: Avoid black gesso for oil painting - oil paint becomes rather more transparent over time, and black grounds will show through to a greater or lesser extent: if they do, there's nothing you can do to correct it. If you like thick paint, Old Holland is among the thickest.  Wallace Seymour and other high-end brands (other than Old Holland) vary a good deal in the amount of oil used - this much touted "buttery consistency" that people sometimes go on about just means there's an addition of filler in the paints to provide a uniform consistency: but there's no particular virtue in uniform consistency. Oil paint is expensive - how expensive in relation to other things is a matter of opinion, but in any case, the best quality oil paint tends to last pretty well - it's not as if you'll be buying a new tube each week.  Brands that are good/OK at a moderate price: Jacksons own - they make two grades of paint, interchangeable; Ken Bromley's own brand; Daler Rowney Georgian; Talens van Gogh, or, a step up, Rembrandt; Gamblin; Winton (some people seem to hate Winton); Lucas, or it may be Lukas - I forget; once you get into the Wallace Seymour, Michael Harding, Rublev ranges, you are talking serious money - but great paint: e.g., once you've tried Michael Harding's blue pigments, you'll swear you'd never seen blue before.   A favourite of mine for a long time has been the Daler Rowney Artists' range - not Georgian, the next level up.  Their "earth" colours, especially in the Mars range (brown, orange, red, yellow, violet, black) are particularly good - not startlingly bright, but good in these basic, earthy tones.  Their only colour I'm not so keen on is Coeruleum (their name for Cerulean Blue).  But that's a detail, their range is reliable, just not the cheapest.  Canvas - you can certainly assemble your own, but in the meantime there are Winsor and Newton canvas panels (canvas glued to board) which they still do very well; Loxley boards; Seawight wooden boards -  be careful with cheaper versions, they can split; Belle Arti panels (one of Alan Bickley's favourites).  Canvas has the virtue of being light, but is very easy to damage if stretched - and although it's satisfying to work on, stretched canvas never was the ideal surface for oil paint. And obviously avoid anything Bob Ross - the technique used with those paints has almost nothing in common with that used for real oil painting; they are of a consistency that's unlike any other paint, and not in a good way.  Some of the Bob Ross impedimenta are worth a look - the easel, the palette, those knives he used - but avoid everything else; including his utterly ridiculous habit of splashing thinners all over your studio - that's not painting, it's tv-gimmickry, and it asks for all sorts of trouble to your health, furnishings, walls, ceilings.... "beating the devil out of" your brushes is just bonkers. I have an e-book entitled Oil Paint Basics on the Amazon Kindle store, which has the advantage of being cheap; and if you want books with plenty of illustrations and practical guidance, there are many mentioned and promoted on this site, from Haidee-Jo Summers to Adibanji Alade.

If you’re learning, go for the Winton line from Windsor & Newton or the 1980 Gamblin line. Both great quality for student oils. For artist grade, Gamblin, W&N, Michael Harding, Old Holland but if you’re still learning and experimenting, you will waste lots of £ on the nicer paints when you don’t need to.