This and That

Just received the latest e-mail from Ken Bromley. Bromley have taken on Maimeri watercolours and also have Daniel Smith, as well as the long-standing Winsor & Newton and Daler Rowney artist watercolours. They also sell St Petersburg which they describe as `artist quality', as do the other mail order specialists. Maimeri are excellent paints with one or two reservations.  A very good French professional artist who I met on a Charles Reid course said, when I mentioned them, that they were `too bright'. I think I know what he meant but others may like that. I've used them for some years and they are mostly pretty good, but avoid `Quinacridone Gold' (called Golden Lake) which isn't. They are well priced but watch out for the more expensive series. Maimeri Cerulean is more expensive than the excellent Winsor & Newton paint. Series 1 & 2 are reasonably priced but 3 and 4 are expensive and you might prefer Daler Rowney or Lukas. Interestingly Bromley stocked Schminke a year or more ago and soon decided to drop them. Richard Bromley said this was due to `lack of demand'  but it seemed a very hasty decision to me. They are selling off what they have left. Bromley continue to prosper and each edition of the twice yearly catalogue contains a photograph of the staff, who seem to increase each time. I had an issue with  them a while ago when the wrong surface paper was supplied. They offered to replace it but required me to send it back at my own expense. I still have it and contrast this with Jacksons, who if they make an error, send a freepost label for  returning the incorrect items. Bromley have an excellent well-designed website and many loyal customers. www.artsupplies.co.uk

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Great Art have www.greatart.co.uk/    just redesigned their website and I placed my first order on the new one last week. I didn't like it at all and found it much less user friendly than previous. When I placed an order by post recently I complained but have had no response except an e-mail has now arrived with `your step by step guide' to the new website. I don't imagine this has just gone out solely to me but perhaps they have had other complaints. A lot of the problems with these things are they are designed by computer `geeks' who seem to assume everyone has their level of expertise. When I bought my first PC - a long time ago - the lady who owned the shop in Bath told me  a popular seller was a series of simple `how to' computer books, actually designed for children. In this respect the series of `Dummy' books are pretty good.

I've found Great Art very efficient, although they won't keep out of stock items on backorder and are a little inflexible. They don't accept the order.  However they stock Lukas at excellent prices as well as many other makes, a large range of different papers and brushes. Currently Winsor & Newton watercolours are on offer at excellent prices and the first order on the new website qualifies for an extra 10%. Saunders Waterford blocks are also very well priced but only the original as they don't appear to stock the newish `High White' version.

Great Art have a very large range of products including many not stocked elsewhere, even by Jacksons.

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I am also awaiting another order from Jacksons ordered late yesterday. An e-mail has just informed me it has been despatched today. I find their service excellent and mistakes (infrequent) are rectified with a freepost label supplied for returned items. I noted that Winsor & Newton watercolours are being offered at well below the current catalogue prices.  This may be in response to the Great Art offer or Bromley. The same thing seems to be happening as occurred last year. We had quite a hike in W & N prices in January but they were soon being discounted. I thought at the time that this was due to the threat from Daniel Smith, not because they were cheaper but due to the vast range and many unusual and unique colours. The reason for so many orders is I order for Avon Valley Artists so we can avoid carriage charges. With the price of paints, paper and much else so high it is very easy to exceed the amount needed for free carriage. This also applies to Bromley and Great Art. I've ordered a Mijello palette for myself with 24 paint wells. www.jacksonsart.co.uk/

 Added 13/04/2013. Jacksons have just announced they have the exclusive UK rights for the well-regarded American Strathmore range of art papers.

Added 18/04/2013 Jacksons have also announced they are now selling the Frank Herring designed palettes comprising five units. Two are half and full pan plastic versions of the Roberson, two versions of the Liz Deacon and the Dorchester. All sturdy palettes made from hard plastic.

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Another pigment bites the dust! Apparently PY153 Nickel Dioxide Yellow has been discontinued so the hunt is on for existing supplies or a suitable replacement. There are many yellows so this isn't a major problem BUT this was the pigment used in the very popular Winsor & Newton New Gamboge.  Daniel Smith also call it the same name but others usually list it as `Indian Yellow' including Rowney one of my staples. Well okay I have too many staples but this is an excellent paint praised by Bruce McEvoy, even if  less than enthusiastic about Rowney generally. Winsor & Newton have been quick to replace it with a two pigment mix of PY150 and PR209, another yellow and a red. When asked why they seem to do this quicker than everyone else - Daniel Smith still list the genuine Quinacridone Gold PO49 - the reply was their usage is so large that stocks are exhausted very soon! I may return to this pigment in a separate piece including suggested replacements.

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Finally yet another Craig Young `lookalike' has emerged in a new website calling itself  `The Watercolor Paintbox Prototipes Company'. I assume they mean `prototypes' . Is this Chinese (?) as no indication is given and the English used contains several basic mistakes. They also have some Holbein palettes, the Spanish Pierra  as well as the Craig Young `lookalikes', claiming to having been making them for some years. Hmmmm! If you are interested the website is www.watercolorpaintbox.wordpress.com/ but I suggest proceed with caution before ordering anything. 

More Incredible Deals from Great Art

Just received the Great Art magazine - actually a large pull out leaflet - with some incredible paper deals for watercolour artists. The Winsor and Newton artist quality paint offers, previously highlighted, are included and  prices for Fabriano, Waterford and Arches are the best I have seen for a long time. There are great deals for other media artists.

To give some examples the Fabriano Artistico 18" x 12" 20 sheet block (all surfaces including Extra White) is only £14.75p which is half price! Waterford 16" x 12" 20 sheet blocks are £17.95p and Arches of the same size £27.50p. These are just examples. www.greatart.co.uk/

Another Newsflash!

Great Art www.greatart.co.uk are offering free delivery until the 28th October, providing purchases exceed £29.95p (normally £39.95p). They specify on the website any exceptions to this. The website is complicated but can be navigated with care.

Great Art offer a huge range of items for the watercolour artist. For the budget conscious, aren't we all, I suggest Centenaire paper is worth consideration. Centenaire is 100% cotton, whereas amongst the other budget papers sold, for example Bocklingford, Veneto and Brittannia,  are made from cellulose. Bockingford,  is usually described as made from `high quality wood pulp'. They also offer two `own label' budget papers in blocks. I have tried both but wasn't overly impressed - too hard a surface my main criticism.

 Great Art are German and deliver from Germany, but have a UK ordering telephone service and an English website. I have found their service excellent and have had no problems. It was suggested to me (by a competitor)) that they were a bit `rigid' if a problem occurs or items are out of stock.

Other products worth looking at are various watercolour paints, First Van Gogh, made by Talens whose premier line is the well-respected Rembrandt. I have used Van Gogh in my early days and it is good. The range of colours, 40 in all', is adequate unless you desire a really exotic palette. Downsides? No Cobalts or Cadmiums,with `hue' equivalents for the expensive blues, usually based on Phalo Blue (PB15) and white. They have other `student' makes, a misnomer if ever there was one, and have recently introduced the Pebeo range of 28 shades. Amongst artists quality Lukas is a great buy.

They also offer a massive range of brushes including synthetics and mixed hair brushes like the Da Vinci Cosmotop Mix B (used by Viktoria Prischedko and Piet Lap) much cheaper than sables.

My advice is always to shop around and compare prices before buying.

Landscapes

As readers might have noted I have suffered something of a relapse in my landscape paintings, not helped by a very limited number of plein air outings this year. This has resulted in a reliance on photographs. Concentration on portraiture and still lifes has brought about improvement in those areas but one step (or more) backwards with landscapes. What actually defines a definitive landscape? Is it just a rural scene depicting trees and fields, perhaps dotted with animals like sheep, cows or horses? How do you define a scene with buildings the main shapes? Does it all depend on the variety  or which are the major players?

A few weeks ago I showed the painting below of a scene in Keynsham park, somewhere I know well and have painted several times in the past. I've lost count of the number of times I've walked around this relatively small area bisected by the River Chew.

 

Keynsham Park looking along the River Chew.

Painting No.1 Gerstaeker Acquarell 16" x 12" Not

This is the original painting which failed to get  single vote at Bathampton and generally went down like a lead baloon with most others. I rather liked it (!)

When at first..... I then thought hard about this subject and consulted both Gerda Mertens (`A way with Trees' ) www.gerdaaquarel.be/  and John Palmer to see if their approach might help.

Keynsham Park Version No.2 Waterford (?) Not 16" x 12"

I rather liked this initially but the more I study it the more I can see it is overworked,and much too busy with too many trees crowded in, and a more simplified approach would have been better. Still progress of a sort or not? I frequently do more than one version until I arrive at a better result.

 Keynsham Park Version Number 3. 16" x 12" Centenaire Not

This is my `definitive' version and I am quietly pleased with it. This has been simplified and the large tree stump at the front eliminated. Although essentially a `cool' painting I have added some warm colours. Brushes for all three paintings  Isabey 6228 No.8, Da Vinci Artissimo 44 No.2 mop, Da Vinci Maestro Size 6 and Isabey 6201 retractable Size 6, together with a Pro-Arte Series 103 Size 4 rigger. The rigger is a synthetic, all the rest Kolinsky sable.

My usual palette featured with much reliance on  the earth colours, Burnt Sienna, Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Umber and Gold Ochre (W & N). I mixed the greens mainly with various blues and yellows, the yellow the Daniel Smith Hansa Yellow Medium (PY97). The blues primarily Cerulean (W & N) and Ultramarine with some Cobalt Bue (+ Phalo Blue?). I do like Grahams Prussian Blue and it is in there somewhere. I also incorporated some Graham Hookers Green, a colour I like a lot as it is, in my opinion, more natural looking than other Hooker Greens. For darks I seem to frequently use Ultramarine with Burnt Sienna, or less often Burnt Umber, not overmixed but the Charles Reid way in which you can still see the original colours and let them intermix on the paper. There are many other combinations that make good darks and I will probably do a post on this in the future. Not an expert view just mine as a hobby painter.

I'm not absolutely certain what the paper is on number two (or is it three?), as it was painted on the back of a failure. I've gone off the Gerstaeker Acquarelle paper completely. I don't know if this latest block is somehow different but it doesn't take the paint terribly well. In future I'll just use it for  drawings with perhaps a small amount of paint.  I like Centenaire and both Yvonne and Jan from my AVA group have given it  qualified approval, especially at the current price. This is exclusive to Great Art www.greatart.co.uk

What do you think? Comments welcome.

Latest Special Offers

It seems the slowdown in the economies of Western Europe is beginning to show in the increasing number of  special offers. As art materials are very expensive, especially for watercolour artists, this is to be welcomed.

Great Art are offering until 31st August Daler Rowney artists quality watercolours at 50% off. This applies to all sizes and means the 15ml tubes cost £5.10p for the A,B colours and £7.25 for C. This is an incredibly good offer. In addition Great Art have reduced the minimum £ amount for free delivery to £24.95p. Check them out because there are other offers. www.greatart.co.uk

Lawrence of Hove www.lawrence.co.uk/ are becoming more competitive on price and next to Jacksons have the largest number of artist quality watercolour brands. These include Lukas, Art Spectrum, Old Holland, Da Vinci and Graham. They are the only UK source of Graham and Da Vinci and you won't find Art Spectrum very often. To my mind Art Spectrum are overpriced and I have no experience of them. They do seem to have a lot of mixed pigment paints in their range.

With Graham Lawrence have increased their offer when you buy 6 tubes from 20% to 30%. This makes the price of this highly regarded American brand competitive with Winsor & Newton. Prices  range from £7.95p to £12.95p (30% off £5.56p - £9.06p). The website www.mgraham.com/ has a very good accurate colour chart and details, pigments etc, of the watercolours. The offer is now back to 20% off if you buy 6 tubes and the extra 10% has expired. 4/09/11

Da Vinci have both 15ml and 37ml tubes, the latter in a limited number of colours. Prices range from £7.95p to £14.95p (20% off for 6 - £5.50p to £11.96p). The 37ml tubes start at £10.95p to £25.50 (20% off £8.76p to £20.40).  The new Da Vinci range is highly regarded in America and £8.76p for 37ml!!!. The Da Vinci website is also very good www.davincipaints.com/ with an excellent colour chart, again with pigment details.

That isn't all. Lawrence, together with Great Art, also sell the German Lukas brand in 24ml tubes. Prices are very competitive from £5.50p to £7.95p. The Lukas website has details of the watercolour range, colours, pigments etc, which can be downloaded as a pdf. www.lukas.eu/

In addition for this weekend only Lawrence are offering a further 10% of all purchases. The only downside is they have a fixed carriage charge of £4.99p so this has to be added. Why can't they follow the lead of Jacksons, Bromley and Great Art and have a minimum price over which carriage is free? I would certainly buy more if they were to do so.