I’ve been painting professionally for a little over four years now. And throughout those four years I have gotten a pretty good grasp of what kind of materials I prefer and work best with. That isn’t to say that I won’t continue to learn and evolve in my methods but more so that I have a pretty good foundation and knowledge of what works best for my particular style and practice.
For those of you who are curious about what I use to create my paintings, here is a list of my must haves.
Heavy Duty Gallery Wrapped Canvases
It took my a while to figure out the kind of canvas to use since there are so many. But for the past two years or so i’ve been using the heavy duty canvases from Art District. They come hand primed and stretched on a super solid 1.5 inch wood frame. It has a SUPER smooth finish to it which is perfect for blending and getting small details into your work. I find canvases with a rougher tooth to them so much more harder to work with. It becomes frustrating having to fight against the texture of a rough canvas.
Golden Paints
You can find these in most major art stores or online (obvs). These are the heavy body paints Golden offers which basically means they have a creamy, buttery texture. They are super pigmented so a little goes a long way when applying them to canvas. They come in either tubes or tubs in various sizes. A tub usually lasts me almost a year.
Since you can make almost any color with the primaries, I only use these few colors listed below to mix my colors which is more than enough.
Colors
-Alizarin Crimson Hue
-C.P. Cadmium Red Medium
-Hansa Yellow Medium
-Raw Sienna
-Chromium Oxide Green
-Burnt Umber
-Teal
-Phthalo Blue (Red Shade)
-Titanium White
-Mars Black
Wide Flat Brushes
These are essential to paint your backgrounds!
Filbert Brushes
These are probably my favorite type of brushes. They come in different sizes with rounded flat ends.
Flat Brushes
These make painting straight and linear lines so much more easier.
Round Brushes
These apply paint really nicely especially if you need to make a pointed tip.
Small Brushes
These are life savers when you need to make fine details to your paintings. The sad thing is they fray after a while of using them so stock up!
Brush Cleaner Tank
This is basically a glass jar with a mesh wire at the bottom. You fill it about halfway with water (or paint thinner if using oil paints) and use it rinse and scape off any paint off your brushes. What a marvelous invention!
Plastic Palette
Palettes come in many different materials but I find plastic palettes SO MUCH more functional. With the one I use theres no need to scrape, rinse, or wipe to clean off any unwanted paint. Just peel!
Brush Cleaner and Preserver
This is perfect to clean off any dried on paint from your paint brushes. It makes it so your brushes look and paint like new. Using it regularly will definitely help you brushes last longer.