My Art Materials

Painting materials…where do I start. 

When I promised to share with you details of the materials I use, it sounded like a simple enough task. Now, as I look around my studio at paints, canvases, sketchbooks, pencils, spray bottles and brushes everywhere I realize that I have my need more that one article.

Winsor & Newton Acrylic Paints

Well, here goes. Firstly, paints. I use Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic paint. This is a high quality acrylic which in my opinion, delivers professional results. Technically, it is a high-end student grade paint but it gives good quality colour at an affordable price. Additionally, unlike the more expensive “professional paints”, it is available in Barbados.

I use a very basic colour palette. I started with the 3 primary colours plus black and white but I am now up to these 10 basic colours. Titanium White, Ultramarine Blue, Cerulean Blue, Phthalo Blue, Cadmium Yellow, Medium Yellow, Cadmium Red, Mars Black, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna. With these I can mix any colour that I may need. I am a little heavy on the blues because I do a lot of seascapes and landscapes and the combination of sea and sky is a recipe for an almost endless collection of shades and intensity of blue. I added the Burnt and raw Sienna as they are very useful in painting skin tones for portraits of dark skinned people.

My Palette

I use a Masterson Stay-wet palette. This saves me a lot of money on paint. Before I used a disposable palette or a Styrofoam plate. Both were wasteful and very bad for the environment. Acrylic paints dry very quickly. If left unattended paints become useless in about 15 minutes. The stay wet palette can keep paints usable indefinitely.

Where to start with brushes? I own a lot of brushes! But, I use only a few. Every painting that I do will involve the use of most of the following: #8 Short Flat/Bright, 3/8 Wash, #2 Bristle white Filbert, #6 Flat Short,(for the initial layout and block in), #3 Pony Hair Round, #1 Liner, #5 Round,  for detailed work and Medium fan brush for grass and foliage and a large blender brush for clouds.

Finally, I will touch on canvases. I used Stretched cotton canvases that are triple primed with gesso. I have used Fedrix, Blick and Winsor & Newton. All are very expensive in Barbados. I am now trying a less expensive one by Color Factory out of Canada. To date,I have painted the "Flying Saucer" and I am now working on "Mushroom Rock" on these canvases. So far I am really pleased with how they are performing.

"Mushroom Rock" Acrylic Painting by Mark Phillips"

Talking about "Mushroom Rock". I had promised to show you my progress." I was hesitant because it is at the "ugly" stage that all painting go through. This is when you have everything in place but you need to keep working on colors and contrast to get the visible impact that you want. I remember that this was my weakness at school. I would take a painting to the ugly stage and get disheartened because it was not looking right. Thankfully, I had an art teacher by the name of Stuart Jenkins that encouraged me to keep working until I truly thought that I could do no more. Mr. Jenkins was a very talented artist and he took the time to share his experiences with his students. It was he who pointed out that every painting has a transition point where it goes from just OK to spectacular. If... you spent the time working on it. 

Today, I have come full circle. I find it very hard to stop working on a painting. I always feel that there is more that I can do. In this, I am in good company. Leonardo da Vinci is thought by some to have begun painting the "Mona Lisa" in 1503 or 1504 in Florence, Italy. According to Leonardo's contemporary, Giorgio Vasari, "after he had lingered over it four years, [he] left it unfinished".

Leonardo, later in his life, is said to have regretted "never having completed a single work". He was also quoted as saying "Art is never finished, only abandoned."  

I console myself with the fact that the Guinness World Records lists the Mona Lisa as having the highest insurance value for a painting in history. On permanent display at The Louvre museum in Paris, the Mona Lisa was assessed at US$100 million on December 14, 1962. Taking inflation into account, the 1962 value would be around US$650 million today. Not bad for an unfinished painting!

As always, thank you for reading. Until next time when I will again share a little piece of Barbados through the eyes of an artist, please feel free to leave a comment and share this post with your friends. And to make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.

Mark Phillips
Artist

Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com

Website:- www.phillipsbajanart.com

Online Store:- PhillipsArtStore