New art supplies I’m excited to share with you!

New art supplies are always something to get excited about, right?

I had been holding off for months on purchasing new supplies. It can be addicting and sometimes the ‘idea’ of having something is more exciting the actual ‘having’ and those supplies just lie around feeling lonely. 🙁

I decided to wait and let time tell me if I really needed anything. Here’s how I came to purchase what I really wanted…

What was in the box…

Not too long ago I made The Bee Keeper with acrylic paints and charcoal pencil. I’ve used charcoal pencil before but I don’t do so often and forgot how fun it can be! Once in art school, I recall spraying a large drawing on my art table with fixative once complete. The fixative not only fixed the charcoal to the paper but all the charcoal that had landed on the art table also became permanent! When I lifted up by paper there was a large rectangular white patch where the paper had been! Kind of funny.

Now when I use charcoal I spread it around with clear gesso and this keeps it intact and there is far less mess. I decided to buy a little set of coloured charcoals from Derwent.

I try to buy local when I can or buy from Curry’s Art Store in Ontario. They have a great selection and their customer service is excellent!

Curry’s is also the only store I have found in Canada to carry my favourite watercolour brushes: Princeton Neptune Watercolour Brushes. I’ve been thinking about getting a #0 and #2 brush for some time. As my smallest brush has been a #4 I found it tricky for adding paint in small areas. These brushes hold a good amount of water and the bristles bounce back quite well PLUS they are not made with animal hair. I like that. 🙂

The Mona Lisa Metal Leaf Kit has been in the back of my mind for a while. I have grown to like gold hues as you may see in some of my latest pieces including The Bee Keeper and Maiden, Mother, Crone. Now it’s time to give the gold leaf a try!

Shiva Oil Paint Sticks and Dorland Wax have also been on my list for a while. I’ve wanted to try some cold wax techniques with oil paint. I learned that the paint sticks are like real oil paint so they will dry over time, unlike oil pastels which don’t completely set. If you have experience something different I’d love to know! 🙂

It just so happens that before I made my order I signed up for Juliette Crane’s Wild & Free class.

She uses these two supplies in her work and since I couldn’t decide on colours I chose ones that were suggested by Juliette. Too many to choose from otherwise! 🙂

I am excited to get to work with my new toys art supplies! If you want to see more of my work and works-in-progress you can follow me on Instagram or my Facebook page. I post often!

I’d love to know what some of your favourite supplies are!

And by the way, I just added purple to my hair! You can get the full story on my Instagram or Facebook page (including why I am laying on the bed!). 🙂

Until then, happy creating!

Moongirl xx