When you have thousands of people who are part of a community, such as plein air painters, you can bet there are certain qualities we have in common. One that I’d be willing to put a dollar on is that we all love art supplies. Am I right, or am I right?
As your PleinAir Today newsletter editor, it’s my pleasure to share with you when new art materials hit the market. That’s why today, even if you weren’t able to attend the Plein Air Convention & Expo this year, you can see what our vendors had new for you. (A fun inside joke — we referred to the expo hall as the “candy store” because that’s how exciting it was to browse all the mini-stores set up just for artists!)
So without further ado, here are the newest art materials from some of the suppliers you know and trust:
(Content provided by the following:)
Golden Artist Colors
QoR® Mini — Compact Color for Artists on the Move
The new solid half pans of color within QoR Mini re-wet beautifully and deliver the lively painting performance artists expect. QoR Mini fits 12 half pan watercolors in a tin smaller than an index card.
Features include:
• Stamped wells on tin lid offer convenient mixing space
• Innovative non-staining silicone insert with embossed letters next to each pan
• Standard size removable/refillable half pans
• Watercolor paper insert to paint out a color reference key
Williamsburg Oils Adds Seven New Colors
Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors adds seven new colors to its product line. Now with close to 180 colors to choose from, Williamsburg Handmade Oils has one of the most extensive lines of quality professional-grade oil paints worldwide. New colors being introduced include Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, Transparent Red Iron Oxide, Pyrrole Red, Pyrrole Orange, Nickel Azo Yellow, Bismuth Vanadate Yellow and Titan Buff.
Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle Harmony Watercolor Paper is a natural-white paper for all wet-painting techniques. Harmony Watercolor features surface sizing. Colors stand out excellently on the paper and impress with their natural brilliance, thus giving every subject its very own unique presence. Masking fluids or masking tape can be used and removed residue-free, while wet colors can be easily corrected or taken off. Harmony 300 g/m2 Watercolor is acid-free, light-resistant, and features extreme longevity. It is available in cold pressed, rough, and hot pressed. All are eraser resistant due to the surface sizing. Available in a variety of sizes in blocks, sheets, spiral pads, and roll formats.
Jack Richeson & Co.
Grey Matters Pocket Brushes: perfect for plein air or in the studio
• Convenient for travel
• Brush head is protected in transport
• Neutral grey for minimal color distortion
• No reflecting metals to distract
• Nothing between the artist and the canvas
• Available in Synthetic for Oil & Acrylic, Synthetic for Watercolor, and Interlocking Bristle for Oil & Acrylic
Winsor & Newton
The introduction of the new Professional Watercolor Paper is testament to the company’s commitment to art and science. The 100% cotton paper is made from the highest grade cotton fibers and is exceptionally resilient and durable. The papers are made on a traditional cylinder mould at the paper mill, following a practice that dates back to the 19th century. The archival acid-free paper offers superior absorbency and color performance. Available in 140lb. and 300lb. in cold press, hot press, and rough surfaces.
Artwork Archive
Artwork Archive has just released a new public profile to connect artists with collectors around the world. Artists can now publish their artwork directly from the Artwork Archive inventory with the click of a button to create a beautiful portfolio of your works online — no web development skills needed.
The Public Profile features a contemporary portfolio design that displays your images in a clean portfolio and gives you the ability to organize your work into collections. Like a website, the Public Profile offers dedicated pages for your artist biography, artist statement, and CV. You can even keep your fans updated about upcoming shows with the new blogging feature in the News section.
With an online portfolio linked directly to your inventory, you can seamlessly manage your online presence as well as your personal records.
You can test out this new feature on Artwork Archive, plus all of the other tools to manage your art business free for 30 days. See how easy it is to generate inventory reports, price lists, and invoices and to showcase your artwork — all from one place.
Strada
The STRADA MID is a middle size easel that’s best for travel situations where you need generous palette space but having lightweight gear is important.
The STRADA MID measures 11″ x 12″ x 1.5″, weighs just over three pounds, and can hold 1/16″ and 1/8″ canvas panels of any size up to a 16″ high with an unlimited panel width. The stretched canvas adapter package can allow for thicker canvases.
The STRADA MID is made from high quality aluminum. With fewer than half the parts of more complicated wooden easels and pochades on the market today, there is less to break down and wear out. It is a simpler, stronger, thinner, portable box easel with a unique self-locking component. The STRADA MID features only one adjustable hand screw, uses two position control hinges to hold the box open at any angle, and has a simplified tripod attachment. These features reduce weight and setup time. Furthermore, there are no parts that protrude from the sides, top, and bottom surfaces, making it easier to slip in and out of a backpack or carrying case.
Dixon Ticonderoga
Maimeri Puro colors are specialty oil paints made with single pigments in the maximum possible concentration. With the ability to achieve impeccable mixes with sharp, brilliant hues and clean undertones, each color was uniquely developed to be mixed and to create shades with an incredible chromatic balance and extraordinary brightness. Eighty-three single-pigment colors are made with safflower or poppy oil, both of which are non-yellowing, for color stability over time. Each color has been individually calibrated and tested for maximum lightfastness of the entire palette. Precise and intense changes in shade are the result of the purity of the materials in each tube of oil paint. To buy, please see your local or online art retailer or reach out to our customer service team at [email protected].
MaimeriBlu watercolors were reformulated to 90 single-pigment colors with the highest degree of lightfastness. Each color holds extraordinary transparency according to the characteristics of the particular pigment. Individual pigments go through ultra-fine and delicate milling for graduated shading and are bound with Kordofan gum Arabic and glycerine to prevent cracking. The real value lies in the transparency of their colors and in the freshness of their washes, allowing the whiteness of the paper to illuminate the watercolors. The light is behind the color. To buy, please see your local or online art retailer or reach out to our customer service team at [email protected].
Canson Plein Air Canva artboards allow artists to express their creativity indoors and outdoors. With an innovative substrate that is portable, rigid, and convenient, these artboards will be the perfect companion for any artist. They’re primed and ready for oil paints, oil sticks, oil pastels, or acrylic paints without the need for priming or preparation. The natural canvas-like textures evenly absorb the oil mediums. Available in three convenient sizes. To buy, use our store locator to find your local art retailer.
The L’Aquarelle Canson Heritage is a distinctive 100 percent cotton artisan-crafted watercolor paper made on a traditional cylinder mould machine featuring non-animal sizing. This unique paper is sensual to the touch, worthy of the finest “handmade” papers. It offers ideal absorbency, exceptional rendering, improved color-lifting, superior strength, and color intensity. The paper offers balanced open wet time, giving the artist ample time to work larger areas. Available in variety of formats. To buy, use our store locator to find your local art retailer.
Method Lights
The ML-EL is the first Smart Easel Light available and offers numerous exclusive and patented features, including a remote control, color temperature control (2700K to 7000K), dimmer, memory settings, rechargeable battery pack or plug in, and a compact carrying case. It also has a flexible neck and adjustable light head so the light is exactly where you need it.
Masterpiece Artist Canvas
All too often, artists are locked into painting panel sizes for which there are carriers available, limiting their ability to paint whatever their hearts desire. To solve this problem, Masterpiece has created the PANEL PORTER™ carrier, a patent-pending carrier. Panel Porter’s hardwood frame is tapered and touches only the extreme outside edge of the panel, so as not to harm your painting. With its locking hardware, it makes a very secure carrier. For example, with a pair of 8’s, 10’s, 12’s, and 16’s, you can create an 8×10 and 12×16 carrier. You can also mix and match the components to create an 8×12 (2:3 aspect ratio) and a 10×16, which is one of Masterpiece’s Golden Rectangle series.
Masterpiece introduced its Hardcore Pro Canvas Panels in 75 standard sizes from 4×4 to 18×24, including many unique and interesting proportions, like its Golden Rectangle series. Many of the popular and beloved surfaces are now available as panels, including six new Belgian Linens that were featured at PACE. Masterpiece features three acrylic primed cottons, including Monterey (most popular), Carmel Portrait Smooth, and Sausalito (textured heavyweight). There are four acrylic and four oil primed Belgian Linens. Hand-primed by Masterpiece, Muir and Malibu are more textured surfaces, and Santa Cruz and Ventura (PACE favorites) are smoother. Primed by Artfix, Saint-Cloud and Versailles are slightly smoother still, and Pau and Poitiers are portrait smooth.
First, each panel is sized to seal the MDF board. The canvas is mounted using a pH-balanced PVA adhesive, and then beautifully finished with a vinyl backing. Some artists use the vinyl back to sketch or paint a study using acrylics. With its proprietary process, Masterpiece is able to achieve a flat panel after the canvas is mounted. Each piece is painstakingly and personally inspected to ensure that only the best panels make it into your hands.
Available at: www.masterpiecearts.com
Savoir Faire
The Austrian manufacturer Cretacolor is now launching a range of Jumbo Graphite Pencils that are polished gray with an extra-wide 10mm diameter body and 6mm lead. Rightly named MegaGraphite, these pencils are available in the most popular grades — HB, 2B, 4B 6B, and 9B.
From Fabriano, our Tiepolo Paper is now available in a lighter weight 130gsm sheet (19.5”x27.5”). Tiepolo withstands the wear and tear of harsh mediums and techniques. This mould-made, 100% acid-free cotton paper comes with four deckle edges and a watermark, in a traditional Italian soft white color. With its particularly smooth surface, it is great for drawing, loose watercolor or ink washes, and other fine art media.
Another Sennelier innovation, Rive Gauche is French for “Left Bank” (Paris), the location of such landmarks as fashion houses, famous art galleries, the “Beaux Arts” school, and, of course, the Sennelier store. Rive Gauche Modern Oil Tubes feature 60 colors (56 for 200ml), 7 cadmium-free colors, reduced drying time, non-yellowing, luminous and opaque, highly pigmented (32 single-pigment colors), lightfast, heavy cream body, and satin finish.
Available at: www.savoirfaire.com
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I’d like to thank you for taking the time to see what our family of manufacturers and supplies has come out with for you. We appreciate their sponsorships and your support, all of which makes the plein air community a growing force of artists.
Until next time,
Cherie
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Amazing ! Really helpful to inspire kids creative work. Art can increase kids mental growth and creativity. So it is essential to provide best art supply to inspire kids creative work. Thanks for such a nice blog.
I’d like to add one more new product to the list of artist’s supplies, the LederEasel. You can view it at http://www.ledereasel.com. It’s a small, compact easel and palette holder that attaches to a tripod but looks and functions like no other set-up available. It’s a lot of product for the money at only $119. for the tools and a handy carrying bag too.