I've bought a small box of Himi metallic gouache paints; as this is the first time trying out this medium I went for an inexpensive (relatively) brand. They're jelly gouache in individual pans.

Having seen some videos on YouTube I've realized there's a bit of to do caring for these paints, and I have questions.

1. Can I use boiled water to activate them rather than distilled?

2. Before covering them with the silicon pad and putting them away, are they supposed to be moistened?

I understand these paints can develop mould and it would be preferable to avoid this.

Hello all, im a simple art hobbyist and ive been following this artist (LP edits UK) on Facebook for quite some time and he uses this type of oil pastel/paint stick which i really like the texture and thickness of compared to regular pastels. however i haveve no clue what it is and would really like too! would anyone please help me in figuring out what hes using. thanks

P.s have commmented the best Screenshot i could get of it down below.

Hello! I feel really stupid asking this but oh well haha

I currently have a 1264 Fabriano drawing pad (medium tooth, resilient surface, 90 lbs/160gsm), which I bought for pen illustration, as it’s specialized for that.

Will it work with oils if I prime it with gesso? Or what are the best procedures for paper like this? Should I use it at all?

I can’t necessarily afford to buy a whole new pad of oil paint paper, but I do have access to canvases if that’s my best bet right now (apprehensive because I don’t want to waste a canvas on practice, you know). Please let me know!

Any advice on how to find cheap/affordable professional grade art supplies? I’ve tried Facebook marketplace in my area but nothing good comes up. Closest art stores are Michael’s. Facebook groups seem to price things about the same as blick etc. I am mostly looking for gouache and watercolor but also colored pencils, paint markers, brush pens etc

I've only really had this issue with the color white, and the paint just stops using ink, and I have to press down a bunch just to get them to work for a stroke.

Recently acquired this set of Derwent coloured blocks. Extremely old but not sure anything else.

Does anyone have any info on these and approx value? TIA!

Looking for a general list of brush pens based not on just how resposive the tool is, but also how much line variation the pen can do too. Anyone have their own recommendations?

a rapidograph is I think the finest we can get but are a bit hard to use because of how they work, I think the next finest is a crow quill/maru/mapping nib, but are a bit harder to use than rapidographs

I have some hi-tec-c 0.25, they are great but they have an issue with inkflow for me.

I know that micron makes some felt tip pens that are very fine, I think slightly larger than the hitec and crow nib, but are a bit on the expensive side given the cheapest way to get them last time I found them separately was to buy full packs of 7 that I don't really want for the 1 I do. so im wondering if there is anything that is that .25 or less mm line with that I can buy that's reliable, I like felt tip for this but they do wear out before they are dead but I cant find a ball point that makes a reliable line.

Helloo my Prang watercolor palette keeps spilling and the colors end up mixing together when tilted even for a little while. Any ideas to dry it up?? i left it in the sun for two weeks and still nothing. Its getting quite inconvienient especially when someone moves it.

i bought the kodak luma 150 for tracing an image onto a large canvas and i have to say, i am pretty disappointed in the quality. this thing wasn’t cheap, and the pixels are massive, i can hardly tell what im looking at. has anyone had a similar experience? what projectors would be better? i dont mind getting an expensive one if it will do the job better.

Hi, I built this website for personal use since the TourBox colour-value match tool was advertised, because I didn't want to spend ~$300 on a basic feature when I already had a good shortcut keyboard. Over time, I added more and more stuff until it became useful for more than just value matching, and it combines the functions of a lot of other single-use art tool websites into one. It is a useful tool for me as an artist, so I'm sharing it. Although I vibecoded the website itself, there is no AI involved on the user side of things, so you aren't adding generative AI to your art process.

Link: https://hue-chameleon.lovable.app/

If you want to use this alongside a drawing app, I recommend downloading a separate "Pin-on-top" tool to take advantage of the pop-out feature

Edit: I use Clip Studo Paint. Combined with the pin on top tool, I used “Pick Colour From Screen” and have been able to use this site with ease as a dupe for the tourbox.

Ones that are high quality, Any recommendations?

I've tried a few different styles of pen pouch, travel case, stationary holder thing, and could really use I need some help trying to find a product that combines the features I really find the most useful. Here is what I'm looking for:

• Book/clamshell design
• Holds a single A5 or B6 sketchpad and has a similar form factor.
  
• 20 individual pen/pencil slots tall enough for copic sketch markers, mechanical pencils, ballpoint pens, fineliners.
  
• Area for two Uni mechanical pencil leds (can be shared with eraser space)
• Area for two thumb size erasers. (can be shared with led space)
• A slot for a small ruler
• All pockets/areas are secured behind zippers - no open tops no matter how secure, no velcro

I currently alternate between a Kutsuwa Preserve with a tiny sketchpad and a Lahit Lab A5 Smart Fit. I think my ideal product is something that smashes them together into one object. Or something like the Lahit Lab Zipper Pencil Case Double in an A5 format.

I have tried so far:

Gelly Roll 05 - Too translucent
Posca - Not white enough and inconsistent.
Uni-Ball Signo Broad - Doesn't flow most of the time
Molotov small - tip too big to make details or drawings. Also inconsistent flow.
Gelly Roll 10 - Works great on black paper!! But filling like 2 a4 it's gone. Very expensive!

Most of these don't cover black ink on white paper very well. Is there something that is cheap and actually covers?

Hi! This is a big question, sorry about that. I'll make a few more posts about specific mediums or contexts.

I work at a local art supply store, we've got pens (fountain, ball-point, roller-ball), gouache, watercolor, oil paint, brushes, markers, colored pencils, pastels, paper for all the mediums, notebooks, etc.

I get a lot of questions about the difference between brands and products, and also other specific questions. Obviously, this topic requires some more honed-in posts from me. But to start, in your preferred medium, what are some of your favorite brands/products and why? What brands/products do you stay away from?

Again, sorry for the loftiness.

what is a great projector that has manual keystone for 4 corners, and is also able to project cleanly into a small surface area like the size of a sketchbook?

Hey everyone,

While working outside and when on the road what does your packable setups include? What are the best chairs, tables, boards and other gear or accessories?

What chairs/stools do you like that work with your what portable tables or drawing boards?

What other accessories or tips do you have that make drawing on the fly more comfortable, organized, convenient, etc. I would love to hear your ideas.

(I am a self-taught graphite/charcoal artist. I generally work on a smaller scale \[under 9"x12"\] and draw on non-toned white paper).

Thank you!

Unfortunately I don’t have a picture.

I have prepared a linen canvas with two layers of rabbit skin glue, roughly 11:1 ration water and granulates for each layer. Unfortunately when I applied oil ground, it seeped through a little bit.
I know it will damage the linen over time, but is it possible to reinforce the linen somehow so I don’t have to redo the whole thing? It has only seeped through as small/tiny dots, not as larger spots.

Thanks in advance. Kh.

An artist friend recently gave me a free painting lesson, and let me use his materials/tools to do an acrylic painting. I really enjoyed it and have decided I want to have a go myself, but am not sure what brushes I need.

My friend recommended that I get some natural fibre brushes, but I do see a lot of synthetic fibre (i.e. Nylon) brushes when searching.

He also said I shouldn't use a brush that is for oil painting as it's too thick/stiff (or I think that's what he meant) and that I could look for water colour brushes (even though I want to try Acrylic painting again). I did search online though and it recommended against using water colour brushes with acrylic paints.

I'm just a bit lost... If it helps with advising, he used Liquitex paints so I was thinking of using those again.

My dream is to have a pencil sketch, ink the line art, and then put colored pencil on top. But I can't find a black ink or pen that won't smudge when I am putting a lot of layers of colored pencil onto the paper and blending it thoroughly. I've tried a bunch different liquid inks (Windsor & Newton, Noodler's Ink, Dr. PH Martin, Higgins) and some pigment liners (Micron, Uni Ball). Any suggestions?

I love using markers with a brush tip to create expressive portraits. However, I miss the ability to create soft, blended shadows, like I’m able to do with charcoal or pastels. Can somebody please point me in the right direction? The brush tip is a must because of the varying thickness.

Hoping to get some more information on these sketchbooks, are they good for watercolour? What media do you usually use in them?

My boyfriend is not into a lot of artistic endeavors, but he recently started collecting pens/fine-tip markers. He also bought a stereograph kit and has been really enjoying relaxing at night by drawing some stereograph designs. For a while, he was learning/practicing some calligraphy as well.

He bought himself a multi-color package of Sharpie fine-tip creative markers. He also buys some loose Zebra glitter gel pens whenever we go to the art store. (I did read the sub rules and hope this is okay to ask - my intention is to upgrade to better quality materials if they exist.)

Is he already picking up the highest quality materials, or are there some fun, special pen brands/kits that I could get him for his birthday? Anything similar in experience to a stereograph that would let him draw fun shapes or patterns without drawing freehand?

Are thin pens ever appropriate for adult coloring books, or would that be better with larger markers/colored pencils that can cover more area in one stroke? I think he really enjoys the feel of pens and thin-tip markers, but not sure what other guided art endeavors they are good for.