Watercolour is a popular medium all year around with the prospect of taking it outdoors in good weather. With not much to do outside in the winter, it is equally fun to cosy up and wait for spring with a warm cup of tea and a watercolour palette.
If you haven’t tried this medium before, negative painting can be a fantastic way in; it is quick and simple and making mistakes with it is virtually impossible!
There’s a new kid on the block, a synthetic watercolour brush called Sablene. It was developed to replace the need for natural sable which is generally regarded as the best watercolour brush because of its’ capacity to hold a lot of water. I am testing the new Sablene brushes,comparing them to other types of brushes.
Our Lawrence Art Shop has been working on a collaborative craft project since early October to bring a Christmas forest scene to life. Our talented crew of artists made over a dozen figurines and set up a wintry street leading to a miniature model of the Lawrence Art Shop. Using commonly available materials in the household such as newspaper, cardboard and glue you can make your own paper mache models by following this simple guide.
Yupo is a new synthetic paper with an incredible versatility, available in loose sheets and pads. You can use it with almost any dry and wet media which makes it great for mixed-media artists and experimenters like myself. I got excited when I heard Yupo is suitable for watercolour – I couldn’t imagine how this glossy, cotton-free, tree-free paper takes water – and I couldn’t stop there! I conducted a series of tests with watercolour, gouache, acrylics, Indian ink, pencil, alcohol markers and charcoal to find out what this paper is capable of – have a look at the results!
Relief printing is an exciting art form with amazing creative possibilities but just like with any craft, you need to be equipped with the right tools and information to get the best of your materials and your ambition. We compiled 5 tips and hints to help you on your journey to learning block printing.
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Once again the Lawrence staff got together for an evening of fun, learning and culinary delights. This time, the demo was lead by Georgia Flowers who taught us about lino printing. Some of us have never tried this medium so we were very excited to put practice behind our product knowledge and test the different relief printing materials we offer. Stay tuned for our finished results!
Relief Printing Materials: Bench Hook, C Set of Pfeil Tools, Safety Hand Guard, Inking Slab, Tracing Paper, Japanese Woodcut Tool Set, Lawrence Durathene Roller, Cranfield Black Water Soluble Relief Ink, Faber Castell PVC-free Eraser, 2B Faber Castell 9000 Pencil, 10 x 15cm Lino Sheet, 10 x 15cm Japanese Vinyl Sheet, Imitation Japanese Vellum
In this blog post we will be comparing brush types for watercolours, oils and acrylics to aid anyone starting out in their choice of medium. We will discuss materials, shapes and sizes you can expect to find in each category and help you chose the right brushes for your needs. We also asked three artists working at Lawrence Art Supplies to give us some hints and tips and share their experience with different brushes.
My patio needed a good summer clean so to get in the mood I planned a craft project around it: painting flower pots! This step-by-step guide will explain how to use acrylic paint to decorate your pots and other terracotta ornaments. Patio before and after pictures – stay tuned!
We had a fabulous evening of fun last month where Lawrence staff members were given a screen printing demonstration by Vicky Ramsey printmaker. We thought we would share some photos and wisdom with those of you fascinated by this craft or looking to start out in screen printing.
Screen printing materials: Cutting Mat, Wooden Screen, Fabriano Accademia paper, Speedball Acrylic Screen Printing Inks (Medium Red, Process Blue), Artist Quality Squeegee 15cm, pencil, Craft Knife and stencil paper
What better way to kick off the new year than to pick up a new medium you haven’t tried before, from a manufacturer that you can trust. In this post, we will tempt you with one of our favourite brands – M Graham – who manufactures oils, acrylics, watercolours and gouache too. Their paints are of superior quality – made with ingredients such as honey and walnut oil – if you have tried one range you will certainly want to try them all and if you are completely new to M Graham, read on and find out why we recommend them for the serious artist.
