ABOUT THE MATERIALS

PAINTINGS

Paint

I never got on with oil paints. I loved the smell but I hated having to use turps/white spirit and I hated how messy it was and how long it took to dry.
At school I got to try all sorts of different paints and watercolor was the one that I liked the best because it was clean and dried almost instantly. It wasn’t until I left school and started earning a wage that I discovered the existence of Designers Gouache. Gouache is similar in property to watercolor paint, however it is much brighter and far more opaque due to the inclusion of very fine chalk dust. It has excellent longevity and can be reworked once it has dried unlike oil paint. I mainly use Windsor & Newton paints, however I also use Rowney for some colors.

I used to use cartridge paper stretched over board for all my paintings, but the paper surface proved to be too soft for my method of painting. I now use Daler "Not" board for all my paintings, it has a similar surface texture to cartridge paper but it is 3mm thick and is far more hard wearing and durable.

I only use the very finest sable brushes that money can buy. The extra money is justified because sable has a particular strength and tactile response far superior to the synthetic brushes available. In addition a sable brush will last twice as long as a cheaper brush if it is properly looked after. I have recently discovered that Daler "Dalon" brushes are quite good - especially the 1/2" wide one and the very small ones.

PRINTS

Printing Ink

I have researched the printing methods I should use for Giclée reproductions very carefully. The inks I have decided upon are Epson pigmented inks, which have a very good durability (in excess of 75 years).

Media

I want to use an English paper from a sustainable source for all my printing. I am halfway there so far having chosen a company called Innova for the greetings card media. Their paper is a 315g museum grade coated card made in England. Innova are still developing a thinner paper for use with larger prints, so until then I am using Epson Enhanced Matte 190g paper. Both media are top of the range materials with a luxurious image quality that will not disappoint - only the best for my art and my customers.

Brushes

The “brushes” I use for the printing are an A3 printer (Epson 2100) for the greetings cards and smaller prints, and an A1 printer (Epson 7600) for the larger prints. They are both incredibly efficient (almost magical) pieces of equipment, and I still get a thrill every time I run off a print. The choreography of this miniscule graffiti makes my head ache just thinking about it but it works and that’s what matters.

You can research any of the paints/inks/media or brushes I use for my products further from the links page by looking directly at the various manufacturers web sites.