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).

Product Review: Millford Watercolour Paper - Part II

I posted Part I on of this review with some background information and product links a week or so ago. The full review is now online:

If you like the look of Millford too and want to try it out:

Millford only comes in 300gsm (140lb) cold-press paper in the form of Imperial, Half Imperial and Quarter Imperial sheets [US readers can buy it here], which is very economical even though it's quite a large outlay as one has to buy 4 or 10 sheets as a minimum from most suppliers, but do shop around. If you find a vendor that sells it by the sheets, please let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the post! You can buy Bockingford and Saunders Waterford papers via my Watercolour Supplies page.

Product Review: Millford Watercolour Paper - Part I

EDITED 19/07/16 - I have just found somewhere you can buy original Whatman watercolour papers - albeit antique sheets. I've not bought anything from them and know nothing about them but I just found it online - please post a comment if you know if they're a reliable person to buy from or not. Thanks.

As astute viewers or readers will note, I have reviewed recently the tinted Bockingford range (Review. Video.) from St Cuthbert's Mill. In amongst the same package of sample papers from St Cuthbert's Mill was a paper I'd never even heard of before - Millford Watercolour Paper. The notes in the package said it was designed to replace the discontinued Whatman Watercolour Paper, which ceased production in the 1980s. I was curious about this because we use Whatman filter paper, chromatography paper etc day in day out in my research laboratory. I've since done some reading, so here's a little history lesson for you!

The Whatman Paper History
Waaaaaay back, about 1750, Mr Whatman (or probably one of his staff) discovered a new way to make paper using a super-fine mesh that created a smooth paper without impressions from the mesh. This was the first of the modern printmaking papers - remember that back then, watercolour paper didn't really exist yet. Mr Whatman noticed that since the paper was lovely and smooth, he could impress things into the wet paper - like sheets of felt or hot metal rollers - to create pressed paper or rolled paper. These lead to the cold press and hot press papers we all know and love, though they were "printmaking paper" or "drawing paper" at that time. Sizing then started to be added and what Mr Whatman is usually credited with is the hard size - this being at the time made of gelatin cross-linked with aluminium potassium sulfate (potash alum aka alum) - alum connects gelatin chains together, making a gel that, when it dries out, is nice and hard and, importantly, holds back water for quite a long time. This was obviously popular with the watercolour painters of the day! Nowadays, there's a bit of an issue with potash alum with regard to archival properties - so synthetic sizes often get used, or are made with strong buffers to get the pH stable.

So what was modern Whatman paper?
As I understand it, it was a heavily sized, cotton-and-linen rag paper with a strong gelatin sizing both internally and surface sized too, which makes the paint float on the paper for a really long time. This means that:

• Washes sit on the paper for a really long time before drying, so you can play with them for a long while.
• Even staining-colours can be lifted because the sizing is so strong.
• Because the paint sits on the surface and doesn't soak in, it retains full colour and has wonderful luminosity and glow.

How does Millford paper compare?

Millford only comes in 300gsm (140lb) cold-press paper in the form of Imperial, Half Imperial and Quarter Imperial sheets [US readers can buy it here], which is quite limiting. So I am told, St Cuthbert's Mill have actually obtained Whatman's recipe, so what they make is pretty similar, and it has really good reviews. 

I decided to compare it with all of my other papers in stock at the moment and with both granulating mineral-based paints and with light-stain and heavy-stain dye-based paints. This is what I'm going to test:

• How long washes sit on the paper and how different they are when they dry.
• How well the 3 different colour types lift, both immediately and after drying totally.
• How the paper responds to masking fluid (heavy sizing should making this easy to remove and use).

I'll be posting a video and blog post of my findings tomorrow!

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.

Watercolour Papers For Stamping 1: Why, What and How

This post is really just a pre-amble to some product comparisons I've done this weekend - they will be posted over the next few weeks in 4 parts.

A lot of cardmakers and papercrafters use watercolour paper to make card-fronts or to create special effects. Two of my favourite cardmakers are Kristina Werner and Jennifer McGuire, both of whom do beautiful watercolour effects - either with 'proper' watercolour paint or using inks or liquid-watercolours and so on. I've noticed that a lot of cardmakers on YouTube, for example, use what I would called 'craft watercolour paper' (craft, not kraft!) - this is often very expensive for what it is and is nothing more than student-quality 100% woodpulp watercolour paper - usually hot-press or a very low-texture cold-press. Now, I'm not going to waste my professional-quality £30-per-block watercolour paper for cards or similar, so I always  have a stash of student-grade paper that I buy when it's on offer and I use it for making colour-charts (screw the whole "make them on the paper you use" thing - I have a master set on cheap paper and then before painting something 'proper', I paint swatches on the edges of the paper, outside of the picture area) - I use the same paper for cards, for example, if I need a watercolour panel. These kinds of techniques range from the beautiful hand-lettering that Kristina is famous for to no-line-colouring (ditto) and the watercolour painting of stamped images.

The lovely, generous and friendly people at St Cuthbert's Mill located in the county of Somerset (where my mother's father's family were from), here in the United Kingdom just a few months ago sent me not only a few dozen Imperial sheets (30 × 22" or 76.2 × 55.9cm) of beautiful Bockingford cold-press (my main go-to paper), but also a block of Saunders Waterford cold-press High-White (an ultra-white) to try out and maybe 50 or so small swatches of all the different papers, textures and weights so that I could try them all out and share the results with you!

Amidst the samples was a non-watercolour-paper, to my surprise! Somerset Printmaking Paper - this is a 100% cotton, archival-quality printmaking paper - they sent me a piece of 300gsm Textured White, which feels a bit like a cold-press watercolour paper and reminds me a lot of Saunders Waterford in terms of how the surface feels - that is also a 100% cotton paper. At first I was like "but I don't do printmaking - I don't need this!" but then earlier this week, I had a kind of epiphany - what is rubber-stamping? PRINTMAKING!

So, whilst Somerset Printmaking Paper is NOT cheap if you buy it by the 25-sheet-pack (it's about the same price as Bockingford when it's on a per-sheet basis at Imperial size - which is actually pretty economical), I wanted to see how it performed for stamping and maybe watercolouring of stamped images...but, being a scientist, I can't just look at a single paper and review it - oh no - I had to do a proper comparison! 

The products I decided to compare are as follows - I opted to use hot-press watercolour paper since it stamps better as a rule, owing to the flat surface:

Somerset Printmaking Paper (SCM) - 300gsm, Textured, White.
[100% cotton; internally sized; long grain; 88% TAPPI]
Bockingford Watercolour Paper (SCM) - 300gsm, Hot Press, White.
[100% bleached chemical pulp; internally sized; short grain; 89% TAPPI]
Saunders Waterford Watercolour Paper (SCM) - 190gsm; Hot Press, White.
[100% cotton; internally sized + gelatine surface sized; long grain; 76% TAPPI]
Saunders Waterford Watercolour Paper (SCM) - 190gm; Hot Press; High White.
[100% cotton; internally sized + gelatine surface sized; long grain; 89% TAPPI]
Bristol Board (D&R) - 250gsm; Plate Finish; White.
[unknown composition]
Premium Smooth Card (HC) - 300gsm; Smooth Finish; White.
[unknown composition]

SCM = St Cuthbert's Mill; D&R = Daler & Rowney; HC = Hobbycraft
TAPPI = Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry [Brightness Scale]

DECLARATION St Cuthbert's Mill provided me with samples of their papers for review - all other items used in this review I bought myself. Note when items are provided to me for review, I am not obligated to give a good review and my agreement with companies is that I must be able to give a 100% honest review.

Other Materials Used:

Stamps
Craft Asylum "Home Sweet Home" photopolymer stamp set
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection "Papillon CMS 106" red rubber stamp set.
Brushes and Tools
Winsor & Newton kolinsky sable artist's brush - Size 0 Round.
Papermania acrylic stamp block - 4.00 × 5.25".
Alcohol Markers
Promarker - Cool Grey 2 (CG2) 
Promarker - Cool Grey 3 (CG3)
Promarker - Cool Grey 4 (CG4)
Promarker - Shale (R215)
Promarker - Slate (V715)
Promarker - Sunflower (Y156)
Dye Ink
Tsukineko Memento dye ink - "Rich Cocoa ".
Ranger Archival dye ink - "Jet Black ".
Pigment Ink
Tsukineko VersaFine fine-grade pigment ink - "Onyx Black ".
Watermark Ink*
Tsukineko VersaMark watermarking ink.
(* NB: only used to pre-prime photopolymer stamps - glycerol can be used instead)
Specialist Inks
Ranger Distress Ink - "Iced Spruce ".
Ranger Distress Ink - "Hickory Smoke ".
Ranger Distress Ink - "Barn Door ".
Ranger Distress Ink - "Gathered Twigs ".
Ranger Distress Ink - "Fossilized Amber ".

[...to be continued...]