Product Review - Jackson's brushes for acrylics and oils

Happy new year! I hope everyone had a bit of time off work and some rest and aren't finding the return to a normal routine quite as tough as I did but that's what you get for sleeping 17h a day over the break!

So, I have just posted a video in which I review the wonderful (and pretty) line of brushes for acrylic and oil from Jackson's Art Supplies. They have quite a number of different brushes and I have described them all below and included a link so that you can buy them. I also use some other products in this video, which I have also linked in case you are interested. The gold taklon brush I used in this video was from the economy line by Daler and Rowney "Simply", which are cheap and cheerful and come in multipacks - so I could not give you a normalised price for them. The Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Brush is from her short-handled set (1" flat, 3/4" flat, 3 Round, 6 Round) by Ranger.

In this video, I use cheap canvas panels - my favourite are the Jackson's one, which are quite economical but amazingly good quality compared to most "own brand" products. The heavy body paint I use is CRYLA - Daler and Rowney's professional brand. The fluid acrylic is by DecoArt Media.

To compare the brushes in terms of price and use, I've done a little table for you! You can buy these brushes using the links in the table to view each line OR you can scroll down where most of the lines have got sets you can buy very economically (many with free shipping!) - there are some really great deals INCLUDING a set that contains 1 of each of the Jackson's brushes (except for Onyx).

Vegan?	Line	Fibre	6 Flat cost	Uses and notes
No	Shiro White Hog	Unboiled white hog bristle	£4.70b	Stiff and very high quality. Brief bleaching.
No	Black Hog	Black hog bristle	£5.20c	Softer than white hog but stiffer than black sable(e).
Yes	Onyx	Stiff mixed synthetic	£5.20a	Short handled, stiff, well suited to both fluid and heavy-body paints.
Yes	Shinku	Red soft synthetic	£6.20b	Has good spring. Softer than hog.
Yes	Akoya	Stiff white synthetic	£6.20b	Developed as a "vegan hog" and really delivers. Stiff.
Yes	Procryl	Acrylic	£6.30d	Springy and absorbent so can be used for v fluid washes.
		Comparison brushes:
No	CRYLA	Medium stiffness synthetic	£9.50c	Synthetic. The professional acrylic brush by Daler and Rowney.
No	Monarch	Faux mongoose	£12.15c	Stiffer than sable but softer than hog. Good snap. Winsor and Newton

FOOTNOTES
The prices given are for a 6 flat (about 1/2" or 1.25cm wide) where available but not every brand sells every shape of brush, so the full details are:
a - price for a 1/2" flat.
b - price for a 6 bright.
c - price for a 6 flat.
d - price for a 6 long flat.
e - "black sable" really means polecat ("fitch") hair.

PLEASE NOTE Jackson's offer FREE international shipping for any brush-only orders valued at £20 or more which is an absolute bargain! You can buy any of the brushes mentioned here using the links below.

Jackson's Oil and Acrylic Comparison Set
[£23.00 or US$31.59 or EUR25.90 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
This is a great idea - a set of 5 number 6 flat brushes in Black hog, Shiro white hog, Shinku, Akoya and Procryl, which is a great way to test out all of the different fibres (except for Onyx) economically and given you get free shipping, what's not to love? I think this would also make a great gift. Not suitable for vegans (contains hog). If you want to compare different brush shapes rather than fibres, try the Procryl set (scroll down a little).

Jackson's Shiro White Hog Set of 5 Brushes
[£15.00 or US$20.60 or EUR16.89]
I was really impressed with the quality of the white hog brushes especially when you consider the price - these are professional quality brushes at the price you might usually pay for student grade ones. This set contains 5 Shiro white hog brushes: a 4 Round, 1 Bright, 6 Bright, 2 Filbert and 8 Filbert. This would again be a great gift for an oil or acrylic artist of any level, or just a good way to try out this line. If you buy them with the set below, you can get a really good flavour of the Shiro line AND get free shipping anywhere worldwide! Not suitable for vegans (contains hog). If you are looking for a vegan alternative, look at the "Akoya" line (below).

Jackson's Shiro White Hog Set of 7 Brushes
[£39.00 or US$53.54 or EUR43.91 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
As I said in the blurb for the above set, the quality of Shiro for the price is fantastic. This set contains 7 Shiro white hog brushes: 1 Round, 6 Round, 12 Round, 4 Bright, 10 Bright, 6 Filbert and 12 Filbert - which makes it a REALLY useful and "complete" or well-rounded set in my view! Coupling it with the set above would leave you with a totally perfect set for any artist from beginner to pro in terms of just about all the useful brush sizes and shapes. Not suitable for vegans (contains hog). If you are looking for a vegan alternative, look at the "Akoya" line (below).

Jackson's Black Hog Set of 4 Brushes
[£15.00 or US$20.60 or EUR16.89]
This is a little less stiff than white hog and this set has 4 Black Hog brushes: 2 Round, 6 Round, 6 Flat, 8 Filbert. Coupling it with the below set would leave you with a totally perfect set for any artist from beginner to pro in terms of just about all the useful brush sizes and shapes. Not suitable for vegans (contains hog). If you are looking for a vegan alternative, look at the "Onyx" or "Procryl" lines (below).

Jackson's Black Hog Set of 7 Brushes
[£39.00 or US$53.54 or EUR43.91 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
Per the above set, this is a softer bristle than white hog and this set contains 7 Black Hog brushes: 2 Round, 4 Round, 10 Round, 4 Flat, 10 Flat, 6 Filbert, 10 Filbert they are worth almost £55 (US$75.50, EUR61.88) if bought individually! Not suitable for vegans (contains hog). If you are looking for a vegan alternative, look at the "Onyx" or "Procryl" lines (below).

Jackson's Shinku Red Synthetic Set of 4 Brushes
[£15.00 or US$20.60 or EUR16.89]
These are a very nice red synthetic with a lot of snap to them and the very glossy fibre means the brushes glide through the paint and gives you work a very smooth and clean look. This set contains 4 Shinku red synthetic brushes: 0 Round, 6 Round, 8 Bright, 4 Filbert. 100% vegan friendly!

Jackson's Shinku Red Synthetic Set of 9 Brushes
[£39.00 or US$53.54 or EUR43.91 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
These are a very nice red synthetic with a lot of snap to them and the very glossy fibre means the brushes glide through the paint and gives you work a very smooth and clean look. This set contains 9 Shinku red synthetic brushes: 0 Round, 2 Round, 6 Round, 10 Round, 4 Bright, 8 Bright, 12 Bright, 2 Filbert, 10 Filbert - this is a pretty complete selection of brushes and they are worth almost £55 (US$75.50, EUR61.88) if bought individually! 100% vegan friendly! 

Jackson's Akoya White Synthetic Bristle Set of 4 Brushes
[£15.00 or US$20.60 or EUR16.89]
A perfect vegan alternative to white hog! This set contains 4 Akoya white synthetic bristle brushes: 2 Round, 6 Round, 6 Bright, 4 Filbert, which is a nice selection to get started with, or you can buy the larger set (below) if you want a bit more flexibility - but this would make a nice gift for a student of oil or acrylic painting, particularly a vegan student or anyone else just trying to avoid using hog. 100% vegan friendly!

Jackson's Akoya White Synthetic Bristle Set of 6 Brushes
[£39.00 or US$53.54 or EUR43.91 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
A perfect vegan alternative to white hog! This set contains 6 Akoya white synthetic bristle brushes: 0 Round, 6 Round, 4 Bright, 12 Bright, 4 Filbert, 10 Filbert - a really useful selection and a perfect gift too! 100% vegan friendly!

Jackson's Procryl Set of 4 Brushes
[£23.50 or US$32.27 or EUR26.46 - this set is eligible for free international shipping as long as you don't buy any non-brush products in your order]
This is another great value set, again with free shipping as an option. This contains 4 Procryl brushes: a 6 Bright, 6 Filbert, 6 Long Flat and 6 Round. Again, a great way to try a new fibre out. 100% vegan friendly. 

Product Review: Jackson's Studio and Icon Watercolour Brush Sets

STOP PRESS (again)! A little notice for my viewers based outside of the United Kingdom in particular! The brushes in this review are all sold by Jackson's, and they have FREE INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING on brush-only orders valued at £20 (US$27, CAN$34, AUS$35, €23) or over! That is a fantastic deal in my book and should mean you get things well in time for Christmas if you're planning to buy gifts! You can read more about their shipping policies, restrictions and information here.

Continuing from my review of Jackson's Artist Watercolours that I posted yesterday, I have also reviewed two sets of Jackson's Watercolour Brushes from two of their brush lines as follows - I've linked to all of the sets and open stock down below the jump in the "Buy These Products" section, and I've also linked to all the other products used in the video - the paints and paper etc.

The Studio line - intended for students, lower price point, cheaper handles, 100% synthetic, vegan-friendly and come in 4 different variety packs and come as Rounds, Flats, Riggers, Pointed Rounds and One-Strokes (Long Flats). They asked me to review their Set Of 3.

The Icon line - professional quality, higher price point, very nicely balanced satin-finish handles, synthetic-sable mix using a pitted synthetic that holds more water than a standard one. Sold as a Set of 3 (which I reviewed), which I guess is designed to give you a feel of the line and to be a useful set of sizes, but are mostly sold as open stock and come as Rounds, Flats, Quills (I would call them Pointed Mops or Pointed Washes, but some folk call them Quills!) and Mottlers.

I was highly impressed with both lines and I've summarised my views a little but down below in the "Buy These Products" section of this post - but you can watch the video to see how they compare with other brands - I compared them with - I've missed out the super-economy craft sable brushes that I tried out:
ProArte Polar White, Aquafine Goat Mops, Aquafine Sable, Winsor and Newton Series 7 Kolinsky, ProArte Prolene, ProArte ProlenePlus, ProArte Renaissance Squirrel and Daler and Rowney Graduate line in various fibres, plus probably some others I can't remember right now, but if you saw something in the video and want to buy it, leave a comment below! 

Bottom line - I felt both were great and that the Studio line was perfect for beginners and was more or less as good as Prolene, but as they don't hold a lot of water compared to Prolene or other brands, and they are very economical, they are really beginner-friendly. I do think a beginner should start with something that they can learn the basics with, without needing to worry about water-control too much just yet. The Icon line was comparable with 100% sable brushes or ProlenePlus brushes and the round and quill came to really sharp points. I could see a use for both lines in my own work and the Studio brushes would be great for me for lifting, for glazing when I want to work quite dry and when I just need a brush I don't need to worry too much about damaging as the cost is so low!

Buy These Products

Jackson's "Studio" Watercolour Brushes
These are excellent student-grade brushes and are perfect for beginners through to novices or just folk who want an extra set of cheaper brushes that they can brutalise without too much worry about replacement costs. They're 100% synthetic and have painted wooden handles with a gloss finish. THESE BRUSHES ARE VEGAN FRIENDLY. In the accompanying video, I reviewed the Set of 3.

Set of 3 - 8 Round, 10 Round, 1/2" Flat [Jackson's: £5.50 or US$7.32]
Set of 4 - 2 Round, 4 Round, 6 Round, 4 Rigger [Jackson's: £3.30 or US$4.39]
Set of 8 - 0 Round, 6 Round, 12 Round, 1 Rigger, 1/2" Flat, 1" Flat, 1 1/2" Flat and a black nylon brush case [Jackson's: £13.25 or US$17.63]
Set of 14 - 000 Round, 2 Round, 4 Round, 6 Round, 10 Round, 16 Round, 24 Round, 0 Rigger, 2 Rigger, 4 Rigger, 1/2" Flat, 1" Flat, 2" Flat and a black nylon brush case [Jackson's: £29.50 or US$39.24]
In open stock you can buy:
Pointed Rounds, One-Strokes (Long Flats) and Riggers, Flats and Rounds, starting at as little as £1.05 (US$1.40).

Jackson's "Icon" Watercolour Brushes
These are excellent professional-grade brushes and are very good value. They are a mix of synthetic and sable - the synthetic has been treated to cover it in microscopic pits so that it holds even more water/paint, and it has very good control and snap. They have handles with a satin finish. THESE BRUSHES ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR VEGANS. In the accompanying video, I reviewed the Set of 3.

Set of 3 - 8 Round, 2 Quill (Pointed Mop), 1/2" Flat [Jackson's: £13.20 or US$17.56]
In open stock you can buy:
Pointed Rounds - Size 2 to 12, starting at £2.28 or US$3.03.
One Strokes (Long Flats) - 3mm to 25mm, starting at £2.72 or US$3.62.
Quills (pointed mops) - Size 0000000000 (10/0) to 6, starting at £3.76 or US$5.00.
Mottlers - 25mm to 75mm, starting at £7.44 or US$9.90.

Other products that I used in this video:

Bockingford 140lb A4 (roughly 12"×8") Rough Watercolour Gummed Paper Pad. 12 sheets. [Jackson's: £8.00 or US$10.65] This is the paper I use in this video, and it's my go-to day-to-day paper. Bockingford is made by St Cuthbert's Mill - the same people who brought us Saunders Waterford and Millford watercolour papers - and it is a chemical pulp (wood) paper that is pretty hard wearing and you can do a lot worse than it - it's a great paper for a beginner wanting to step upwards but who's not ready for cotton papers just yet.

Winsor and Newton French Ultramarine Watercolour Paint - PB29 Ultramarine Blue.
The ceramic Large Pan that I was using in this video is from a line that has been discontinued, but you can buy the exact same paint in a range of sizes - it is one of my favourite Ultramarines - it has a huge pigment load and a pan or tube will last you a very long time.
Half-pan [Jackson's: £5.10 or US$6.79]
Full-pan [Jackson's: £6.40 or US$8.52]
5mL tube [Jackson's: £5.10 or US$6.79]
14mL tube [Jackson's: £10.10 or US$13.44]
37mL tube [Jackson's: £17.80 or US$23.69]

Daniel Smith Moonglow - PB29 Ultramarine Blue, PG17 Hydrated Chromic Oxide, PR177 Anthraquinone Red.
This is a lovely effects-paint that looks violet, grey or black depending on how much you use, but with plenty of water it splits into pink, green and blue to varying degrees. It comes in two tube sizes and as a Paint Stick, which can be used just like a pan or can be used dry on the paper somewhat like a pastel.
5mL [Jackson's: £6.80 or US$9.05]
15mL [Jackson's: £12.80 or US$17.03]
Watercolour Paint Stick [Jackson's: £10.90 or US$14.50]

ProArte Brushes - these are the main brush types that I use for comparison in this video - alongside Dalon, Series 007 and a myriad of cheaper brands - but these are the major ones.
Prolene - these are cheaper on the whole and hold less pigment than ProlenePlus and don't come to as sharp a point in terms of Rounds, but are really useful for wetting one's paper or for washes etc. You know which you have as the ferrule is always silver for Prolene. They come in Rounds, One-Strokes (long flats), Swords, Riggers and Fans. The bristles are soft and flexible, without much snap. You can buy the full Prolene line over at Jackson's, individually or in sets - brushes start at £1.52 for a Size 0000 Round (aka 4/0 Round). THESE BRUSHES ARE VEGAN-FRIENDLY.
ProlenePlus - these are higher quality and hold more pigment than Prolene and come to a sharper point. They also have beautiful faux-teak varnished handles. You know which you have as the ferrule is always gold for ProlenePlus. They come in Rounds, One-Strokes (long flats) and Filberts, including retractable travel brushes. The bristles are firm and have good snap. You can buy the full ProlenePlus line over at Jackson's individually or in sets - brushes start at £1.76 for a Size 0000 Round (aka 4/0 Round). THESE BRUSHES ARE VEGAN-FRIENDLY.
Renaissance Squirrel - these are 100% black squirrel hair and are thus not vegan-friendly! They reach a very sharp point and hold a lot of paint or water on the belly, so you can get a lot of mileage before you need to re-load. You can buy sizes 000 (aka 3/0) to 8 from Jackson's but the line does go up to a size 20. Brushes start at £5.04 for a Size 000 (3/0).

Doctor's Orders: Oooops? #arthaul

So erm...well...what can I say? The worst part? This isn't even all of it - there's at least 5 more instalments to come...! It's quite a big haul because there have been some fabulous discounts on at Amazon and at Art From The Heart! Everything herein is from Amazon UK.

The Ranger Wendy Vecchi Mica Sprays (BUY NOW USA, UK) - at long last! Ranger released Mica Spray sets of 3 colours for each of their 4 signature designers some time ago - Tim Holtz (Brushed Pewter, Antiqued Bronze, Tarnished Brass BUY NOW USA, UK), Dina Wakley (Ruby, Lapis and Evergreen BUY NOW USA, UK), Dyan Reaveley (Bubblegum Pink, Crushed Grape and Vibrant Turquoise BUY NOW USA, UK) and, of course, Wendy Vecchi (Buttercup, Pearl and Forget-Me-Not) - I've struggled to get hold this set from Wendy but I love her palette - I also love Dina and Dyan's ranges but Tim's have not appealed to me because they're more or less the same as the metallic Distress Spray Stains. Wendy's Pearl excites me - there is no Pearl in the rest of her line of Archival Inks or Embossing Powders or Enamel Accents - and the name doesn't "fit" with her tradition of garden-related-words - Snowdrop would have been better, I think. I am now living in hope they'll release some more Pearl items from Wendy as a nice off-white to sit nicely with her other colours would be awesome!

I've posted on Twitter recently a lot of mini-monoprints I've been making (post on those coming soon!) and I decided getting a little gelli plate would be really worth it for a lot of techniques - I researched online and found this Gel Press Reusable Gel Printing Plate, 6" by 6" (BUY NOW: USA, UK) - they make a lot of different sizes and it's actually a faux gelli plate. It's a vegan-friendly mineral-oil-based reusable gelli plate, and it has a wonderful service. My YouTube Friend Mrs Weirich (aka Lindsay The Frugal Crafter) used a very similar one of these some time ago, and she got lovely results, which has made me want to try one for some time now. I've used normal gelli plates made of gelatine before but I like the very perfect surface of this - it really appeals to me - plus it's quite stiff so you can pick it up and use it like a stamp.

These Derwent Techniques Brushes (BUY NOW: USA, UK) were a bit of a whim item really. I was looking for something else and they were heavily discounted to just over £8 from £17, and I do want a sword suited to acrylic painting (check) and a rake for use when monoprinting (check). I'm sure these will come in useful!

A little bit of restocking! You can never have too many Ranger Dylusions Size 10 Journaling Tags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) and I have used a lot lately. Likewise, I needed to restock my favourite embossing powder - Ranger Wendy Vecchi Watering Can Embossing Powder (BUY NOW: USA, UK) - this powder is a deep, warm grey and thus a lot less harsh/cartoon-y than using black. I really enjoy how it looks and like all of Wendy's line, it is an ultra fine detail powder and just beautiful - blending it with other powders makes a nice bit of texture, even with beautiful bright colours like the vibrant yellows and purples.

Mwahahaha I struck a bargain here ;) I've wanted this Tim Holtz Idea-ology Clippings Stickers (BUY NOW; USA, UK) pack for a while for use in mixed media, cards and art journalling...and when I ordered it and paid for one, two packs arrived yaaay! So for just £3.98, I got almost 600 stickers, 2 of each of them. Lovely!

Another item I've wanted for a long time - this Ranger Dina Wakley Media Circle Patterns stamp set (BUY NOW: USA, UK) looked so useful for mixed media and for framing elements like collaged images. I love circles and how even crappy patterns or bits of waste artwork look brilliant cropped into circles with a punch or die and then stamped with a pattern - try it - it really looks great!

So I have to say, these were SO economical and I wanted something to keep my stencils and pens etc tidy and to hand. I also wanted to have some of this artwork to hand, because these beautiful Ranger Wendy Vecchi Designer Bags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) of course feature Wendy Vecchi's beautiful artwork - I have shown below the larger two that you can't see properly in the above image as I think they're so pretty. I've got the Ranger Dina Wakley Designer Bags (BUY NOW: USA, UK) on order too. Each set gives you a large, medium and small bag as a set (just over £13 when I bought these) and they're pretty useful sizes. I'm also hoping that having Dina's beautiful, bold and expressive mixed media work around me will inspire me somewhat to loosen up a bit when doing mixed media - which I find hard! 

Large Dylusions Journal: My Love And I, In A Small Cafe - acrylic on paper background

I was not feeling very good on Sunday and I wanted a nice, relaxing project that would not take too long and that would take me out of my comfort zone. I decided to make a background very, very loosely inspired by a video of Dina Wakley that I saw on YouTube ages ago making a wet-into-wet acrylic background. As I was working in my Dina Wakley Media Journal, I decided to use my Large Dylusions Creative Journal...but I knew the gesso for this technique would take ages to dry and I wanted to do another layout, so I used the Dylusions Journal Insert Sheets I obtained a few weeks ago in one of my absurd number of art hauls. I started out with the same three Dina Wakley paints I've been using for ages, and one of my regular 3/4" cheap golden taklon brushes - but after the overnight cure, my beautiful Dina Wakley Media Short Handled Brushes arrived, so I used the 3/4" one to finish this off.

As for the title of the background "My Love And I, In A Small Cafe"? It's a line from the 1957 Patsy Cline song "Three Cigarettes In An Ashtray", and it refers to the three stepped vertical lines in this background.

"My Love and I, in a Small Cafe" - acrylic and mica on gessoed cardstock (NB: this is just a background, not a finished layout)

WHAT I USED:

Ranger Dylusions Journal Insert Sheets (Large) [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
(I used one of the mixed-media cream pages from this pack - you could just work direct in the Dylusions Creative Journal (Large) [BUY NOW: USA, UK], obviously, which is the exact same paper)

Prima Finnabair Art Basics Clear Gesso [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Heavy Body Acrylics in:
   Night [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Blackberry [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
   Rosy [BUY NOW: USA, UK]

Ranger Dina Wakley Media Mica Sprays in:
   Ruby
   Lapis
(these are from a pack of three - you can't get them individually - but they're quite economical and last ages [BUY NOW: USA, UK])

3/4" Golden Taklon soft-bristled brush
(this was just a really cheap one - I really don't spend money on acrylic brushes for crafting as for fluid acrylics, it really doesn't matter!)

Derwent Spritzer [BUY NOW: USA, UK]
(obviously you can use any mister but I really like this one as it's economical and has a decent volume, maybe 20 mL)

Palette knife

Ranger Dina Wakley Short-Handled Brushes in:
   3/4" flat
(this comes from a set of 4 brushes [BUY NOW: USA, UK] and arrived part way through the project so I decided to use them)

Container of water

WHAT I DID:

STEP 1: I deliberately worked with the paper landscape and such that the spine of the journal would be at the top once stuck in. I painted the majority of the surface in gesso, but leaving some gaps around the edge. I left it for 10 minutes until it had started to thicken and dry, and then spread on a relatively thin layer with a palette knife, just thick enough to have some texture - I made sure this didn't go all the way to the edge of the painted gesso so that I basically have three "tiers" - paper, painted gesso, impasto gesso. I then left it for about 12h to dry completely.

STEP 2: I spritzed the paper with water and then added a decent blob of Blackberry and made a few bold strokes with my soft golden taklon brush - I tried to vary the texture and ensure there were thick parts, thin parts and impasto parts (aka really thick parts). The paint bleeds beautifully into the wet paper. I also ensured I covered all three "tiers" with some paint.

STEP 3: I added some Night at the bottom (so the outside edge of the page once in the journal), and spread it to make a thick and dense area, and made some strokes from it around the page.

STEP 4: I then did the same with some Rosy, concentrating on keeping it thin as it's more impressive that way, and then worked pretty fast to try and get the next stage done before anything began to dry at all.

STEP 5: Working from the opposite diagonal corners, I sprayed on 2 blasts of each the Lapis and the Ruby mica sprays - one colour from each corner, so that in the middle of the page they made a colour purple effect. The mica hitting the wet paint did make some interesting effects, kind of like when you put salt into watercolour. I then left it to dry for 24h.

STEP 6: At this point, I moved to my Dina Wakley Short Handled 3/4" Brush, and applied 3 blobs of Rosy about 25% in from the righthand edge of the landscape page and worked each one to make a 3/4" wide stripe from that point to 3 different lengths - one almost to the end of the page and the others in between - I wasn't aiming for precision at all. Et voilà! I won't use it for over 24h, and I will re-attach it to the journal before I start adding some collage elements.

Little Tuesday Art Haul

...oops? Well, ok, I ordered this last week so that's ok, right? I couldn't resist - Ken Bromley Art Supplies had a great sale on and I found they still stocked some of the elusive Winsor & Newton Desert Collection watercolours. I did balls up in the video (at the end of this post) and mis-read the tube on INDIAN RED DEEP as PBk25 (it's PBr25!). Oh and I said I would link to Jane Blundell's fantastic website - so here that is!

This time I procured the following - if you're planning to buy from Amazon UK or Amazon USA, don't forget you can get 30 days of Amazon Prime (free shipping and a LOT of free TV/movies!) for FREE right now via these links (USA left, UK right):



PRO-ARTE PROLENE PLUS SIZE 10 RETRACTABLE TRAVEL BRUSH
BUY FROM:
KEN BROMLEY (£12.95 £10.36) 
JACKSON'S (£11.95 £9.60) [ships worldwide]
AMAZON USA (US$39.94 in a set with Filbert and One Stroke)
AMAZON UK (£22.99 in a set with Filbert and One Stroke)
AMAZON CANADA (CDN$127.28 in a set with Filbert and One Stroke)

WINSOR & NEWTON PROFESSIONAL WATERCOLOURS
TRANSPARENT ORANGE
(PO107 Pigment Orange 107 aka Irgazin® DPP Cosmoray Orange)
The vivid nature of this paint is amazing - it catches fire when you add it to water - I wasn't expecting to love it this much!
BUY FROM
Ken Bromley Art Supplies (£6.70 £5.02)

INDIAN RED DEEP
(PBr25 Benzimidazolone Brown)
This is a beautiful transparent red-brown - I can see myself using this a lot on Millford paper which will show off the transparent pigments really well.
BUY FROM:
Ken Bromley Art Supplies (£6.70 £5.02)

In praise of prolene

No, not proline (the amino acid), prolene, the surgical suturing fibre. Makes a lovely watercolour brush, it turns out. I'm going to add to this post with some examples of using a prolene brush but I was looking for a new sword a few weeks back and the only ones the local art store had was one from Pro-Arte's range, which are made of prolene and I really like it thus far. Until then, I'd been using what Daler & Rowney sell as a 'sword' in their System 3 acrylics range, but it's really a dagger if you ask me. It does work really well for painting grass when used with thick suspensions of tube watercolour mixed into just small volumes of water. I really wanted something that could make finer strokes or give me more control - longer sword-liners are designed for lettering and sign-writing and are simply a liner that has been cut on a slant really. If you use them backwards or sideways, you can get some lovely effects.

What really surprised me was how good this fibre was - I was expecting it to be like golden taklon or Dalon or any of the other synthetic watercolour fibres that are all essentially mock sable - this is SO fine - it's hard to see in the photo below but the prolene fibres are finer than human hair and springy but they don't have a snap to them - so the sword is flexible and floppy, and, when wet, the fibres lock together (that's the best way I can describe it, they don't physically lock like hog bristle, however) and one can draw beautiful lines and calligraphy with it. I'm going to buy some more prolene brushes now I think as it's a lot of fun!

I've just shot a video that I'll be posting in the coming few days that shows what you can do with a prolene sword.

My Pro-Arte prolene sword blender - I wanted to show it against some other fibres. From left to right - Dalon synthetic round, white nylon (stained by Phthalo Green) round, prolene swordliner and kolinksy one-stroke. They're sitting on a white goat hair skyflow, just for contrast.