Ask me about art supplies!!

You can call me Bunny-bot. No, I'm not a robot, or a bunny. I work at an artist's supply store, and I love answering questions about art supplies!! Please feel free to ask any sort of question, don't feel silly for asking, either. Also see my Artist Product of the Month posts!

[asktheartstore-blog]

So I’ve officially missed two POTM (Products of the month) in a row. I apologize, and will have them posted as soon as possible. I’ve come up with a different schedule for myself, and that should allow me to get them done easier and quicker, therefore they’ll be posted on time.

Reminder; I check this blog weekly for questions and the asks are my top priority! Don’t be afraid to send a question, because it will get answered quickly. 

[asktheartstore-blog]

Product of the month #2

This month’s featured product is;

Jaquard Pearl-Ex pigments~!

Overview

These little pots of sparkling powder are like actual fairy dust, and probably just as useful. Besides being a glitter-philes dream come true, they seem endless in their use for making beautiful art. They can be combined with binding agents to make them directly into a paint, also!

Below are some of the more popular uses I’ve seen;

making Paint

adding a shimmer or special effect to paints

applying in powder form onto paper like a powdered chalk

adding into resins/mold-making supplies for a shimmering result

do not recommend-> someone used these for hair highlights?? PLEASE DO NOT USE THESE FOR HAIR OR COSMETIC PURPOSES. THEY DO CONTAIN PIGMENTS AND MINERALS NOT SUITABLE FOR BODY USE. Use loose eyeshadows instead! They’re almost exactly the same thing. 

Tech Notes

I don’t know of any similar products from other brands, but at the price and quality Jaquard is offering, I wouldn’t look further.

They have a crazy color selection available for these, even including interference (only visible in certain lighting/surfaces) and duo colors (color shifting) (For more info, you can ask me specifically about these specialty colors). They look UNBELIEVABLE and whenever I get a chance to put these out on the sales floor I get so distracted. They have an amazing payoff since the powder goes a long way, BUT, because this is a powdered pigment, don’t breathe in the particles if you can help it. (By that, I mean, don’t stick your nose right above the stuff and breathe deeply. If you’re just using it like you should, the amount you breathe is fine.). 

As of my research now, they have 49 colors available (with 1 not available in the standard rack they usually provide stores) in 4 different sizes (3g, 14g, 21g, 113g, and 1lb/0.45 kg) but you’re likely to only find the 4oz (14g) racks in physical stores. It also appears they do offer sets, depending on where you’re buying them.

Opinion Time!

Seeing as Jaquard is the only brand who offers something similar to this product (as far as my research will reveal) I’d say they’re a perfect company to buy this from. Personally, Jaquard has been a really reliable brand for all my uses, and make some really interesting products. 

As far as how much you think you’ll need, the 4oz (14g) jars available in physical stores seems to be a nice amount. It’ll last you longer than you think. I say give it a try! My personal favorites are all of the available duo colors and the sparkle gold. 

Picture 1 source

Picture 2 source

Thanks for reading! Feel free to inbox me suggestions on improving this series, or even other products I could promote!

*note I am NOT sponsored by any of these companies

-Bunny-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

POTM update

Reminder that a new product of the month (first one found here!) will be posted in two days! You can always send in suggestions or even a medium for me to focus on highlighting, if you want! Or even feel free to reblog and add suggestions, even in the tags if you wish! (I read all the tags. all of them, ;v;) 

Also feel free to drop in feedback, like extra information I could include, or maybe posting more frequently? Seeing as this is a new thing I’d like to make sure it’s the best it can be.

Note; all Product of the Month posts will be available under a link on my blog, and under the tag “apotm” for ‘art product of the month’. (potm was being used more frequently so i decided against it)

-Bunny-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

Product of the Month #1

This month’s featured product is;

Liquitex Acrylic Paint Markers~!

Overview

It actually astounds me to know that not a lot of people have heard of these. Of course, I am posting on the internet, so things are more likely to be spread about this kind of invention, but I digress.

Ever need a fine point and are too shaky for brushes? Want to sign that freshly completed painting, but brush strokes or carving your name just doesn’t suit you? Let me introduce these amazing inventions, bringing the wonder of acrylic paints into an easy to use, marker form!

Customers come in for this for a variety of reasons, but main ones include;

Signing paintings

Decorating ornaments, wine glasses, etc

Graffiti lettering on urban artwork pieces

Fine detail in a painting

and obviously so much more.

Tech Notes

There are many other brands of acrylic paint markers, some of the better selling being Motlow, Decocolor, Amsterdam and a few more, but Liquitex is the easiest to find, and usually a nice price for the quality.

Because Liquitex does offer their full color line, you have a REALLY high chance of finding the perfect color that you need! The Liquitex brand comes in 2 sizes, a broad tip, and a fine tip. The Broad tip is a flat rectangle, measuring 15mm wide. The fine tip is a slanted chisel tip, measuring 2mm. 

Check your local vendors for the prices available, and look for sets, if they offer them! 

Opinion Time!

Other brands do have different tips available, a lot offering more sizes, but Liquitex just happens to be my preference, especially when you see how expensive these markers can get. 

For someone needing a full coverage, please note that each marker has it’s own opacity level, depending on the color in question. Leaving your stroke to dry, then coming back with a second coat seems to always beef the opacity up though, so no worries there!

Picture 1 source

Picture 2 source

Thanks for reading! I know it was a mouthful. Pass it along if you’re interested in seeing more, and remember, my inbox is always open for product suggestions!

*note; I am NOT sponsored by any of the companies I review/promote

-Bunny-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

Product of the month

I’ve been toying with the idea of promoting cool products and certain brands every month. That way, people could discover different products or brands that they hadn’t heard of/seen before!

I’d be taking suggestions for either brands or specific products, even product categories. I’ll probably start doing this whether or not I get interest on this post, in order to maintain a constant update rate. 

Feel free to send messages regarding your suggestions, or maybe even suggestions for how I should post them (weekly feels too often, and monthly doesn’t feel often enough). :D

As always, my inbox is open and I’m ready to help!

Reblog or share this page so the fellow artists in your community can get advice or these cool product suggestions! I’ll be posting the first product suggestion on the 20th of this month (December), so be on the lookout!!

-Bun-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

If anyone would like to, I’ll be welcoming any questions that get sent to me by tumblr’s new chat feature. I don’t have it yet, but if someone would rather use the chat than the askbox, that’s fine by me! This is also a way to stay anonymous, even though I myself would know your URL, I will not be posting any questions off my chat. I may copy and paste the question but your URL/ name/ specific situation WILL NOT be named.

:>

-Bunny bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

If anyone would like to, I’ll be welcoming any questions that get sent to me by tumblr’s new chat feature. I don’t have it yet, but if someone would rather use the chat than the askbox, that’s fine by me! This is also a way to stay anonymous, even though I myself would know your URL, I will not be posting any questions off my chat. I may copy and paste the question but your URL/ name/ specific situation WILL NOT be named.

:>

-Bunny bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

Because of my ever-busy personal schedule, I’ll be putting those paint posts on hold for a while.

Don’t worry; I’ll still be answering any questions that hit my inbox, but no longer posts like the starter kits. 

Sorry everyone! And if you’d like to request a starting kit list as part of your question, feel free! Sort of like a loophole around this problem, I guess. 

-Bun-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

Because of my ever-busy personal schedule, I’ll be putting those paint posts on hold for a while.

Don’t worry; I’ll still be answering any questions that hit my inbox, but no longer posts like the starter kits. 

Sorry everyone! And if you’d like to request a starting kit list as part of your question, feel free! Sort of like a loophole around this problem, I guess. 

-Bun-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

asktheartstore:

Would a similar post to “About White Paint”  {that post found here}

(but with Black Paints)  be something that I should write up? 

There’s really not as many questions in our store about black paints as there are white paints but I’d be glad to do it!

Reblogging to get more opinions for this. I’ll probably end up doing it anyway, but wether I post it before or after the Oil and Acrylic sets is the real question.

[asktheartstore-blog]

Would a similar post to “About White Paint”  {that post found here}

(but with Black Paints)  be something that I should write up? 

There’s really not as many questions in our store about black paints as there are white paints but I’d be glad to do it!

[asktheartstore-blog]

About white paint

Since we’ve recently gotten a new hire who confused a lady about paint, I figured it was about time to make this post explaining all the differences between the many shades of white paints.

Please note that oil paint tends to come in a much larger variety of whites, and any questions about specific white colors for ANY medium (or brand) can always be sent to my askbox <3

Titanium White - Typically the most opaque white you’ll find. Most pigment                                     load.

Zinc White (could also be known as Mixing White) - Usually used for mixing                       flesh tones, as it’s more transparent than Titanium.

Flake White- A warm, quick-drying white. Exclusive for Winsor & Newton (?)

China White (also Chinese White) - Usually just for watercolor or gouache, this                          is a less opaque white, but mixing isn’t as transparent as Zinc.

Warm white - A slightly warm tinted white oil color. Cream, almost. 

Cool White - A slightly cool tinted white oil. Faint blue tinge.

Radiant White - A gamblin exclusive. Part of their radiant line of colors,                                      brightest white that Gamblin produces, adds almost a glow.

If there are any more you’d like to add to the list, please don’t hesitate to let me know!  These are just a few I could name, there are several more depending on brand and medium. 

Please reblog to let more people know about this blog and white paint!! xD

[asktheartstore-blog]

These two ladies are browsing nearby while I’m sitting in the corner of the store on my lunch break

they keep going back and forth while looking at watercolor postcard paper

“Nice.”

“Nice, nice!”

“Nice.”

“Nice!”

“Nice, nice...”

“Let’s go look at oils.”

“You know where they are? Nice.”

I wish I was joking. They’re adorable.

[asktheartstore-blog]

~

Sorry everyone! Admin has been super busy with homework and getting ready for a convention she’s going to. 

Too busy to work on the paint colors lists, but I’m never too busy for questions! :D Don’t be afraid to pop on in.

[asktheartstore-blog]

I've been curious about this, what is the main difference between regular Watercolor pans and semi moist pans?

Sorry I’ve taken so long in answering this question dear anon.

Well, after almost a week of research, there are a few things of interest I’ll share with you.

The semi-moist pan concept seems to be of French origin, apparently?

This might be irrelevant, but I’ve noticed a good deal of cheaper sets of watercolor tend to be semi-moist. Maybe they’re cheaper/easier to produce for the cost prices of certain companies?

Back to your question though, the main difference is that semi-moist pans are produced with a binder that doesn’t completely dry. You can press your finger into the color and at the lightest pressure get a fingerprint, and at the highest pressure get a huge glob of the goo on your finger. :/

Dry or regular watercolor pans are made with gum arabic as their binder, and dried out completely, making them hard and completely solid, able to be moved around in palettes.

From what I’ve read, the semi-moist apparently rehydrate (and produce paint) quicker, and are less strenuous on the brush you use.

From my experience, neither of those facts are true. I own a few Prang watercolor sets (metallic and glitter) just for the fun of owning them, and in my personal uses I’d find it more convienient for them to be completely dried. As far as my coworker and I can tell, there isn’t really an advantage timing-wise to using the semi-moist.

TL;DR version;  Semi-moist is gooey and regular pans are rock hard. 

I hope I helped you out! Let me know if you have any more questions!

-Bunny-bot

[asktheartstore-blog]

Watercolor starting colors

Usually with the ‘traditional’...er, purist way of painting watercolors, white of any sort isn’t included. I find this notion to be ridiculous so for the sake of color mixing it’ll be in my list.

This list is HEAVILY based off the Winsor & Newton color sets. Other colors have been substituted where I see a different color fitting better. 

Titanium White (or really, Chinese white. If they’re the same price, get Titanium. If they aren’t, get whichever is cheaper ((usually the Chinese will be cheaper)). You only need to be worried about this if you’re doing a lot of opaque work or need a stark, bright white, usually going over a darker color. In that case, get Titanium regardless. It’ll be worth it, I promise.)

Aureolin  Very popular yellow shade, especially amongst teachers in the area I reside.

Cadmium Yellow Hue   Classic requirement of any set will include the cadmium colors.

Cadmium Red Hue   Refer to above^   Nice warm red.

Alizarin Crimson  Beautiful shade of cool red that I am very partial to. Included in almost all basic sets of any medium.

French Ultramarine  (In almost all cases, regular Ultramarine blue will suffice. Regular Ultramarine is also usually cheaper and easier to find.)

Prussian Blue  (Dark blue, very popular in almost every medium)

I’d suggest picking out a purple. PICK ONE THAT YOU FIND TO BE MOST USEFUL TO YOU. Remember that you can add reds to get more of a mauve, and blues to get more of a violet. Whichever brand you get, try and find a purple/violet that seems as in-between as possible. 

Phthalo Green (Blue shade)  If you’re thinking landscapes, I’d suggest you go for a Sap Green or Green Iron Oxide, or something similar.

Yellow Ochre  Staple in the paint set world. Very useful for mixing.

Burnt Umber  Classic brown for watercolor besides Van Dyke Brown.

Ivory Black  (Alternatively, Neutral Tint, or Paynes Gray. Paynes grey is a very blue-gray-black, so be aware of that when mixing. Neutral Tint will make the color darker, without a warm or cool bias.)

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND

These are just the most talked about, suggested, and recommended colors in my experience at the store and talking with teachers of watercolor. 

Note that this is a standard set, built to help you mix the most possible colors without buying the entire brand’s line of paints. With landscapes and other more focused sets, the colors needed and most suggested will change. Feel free to ask me for those at any point in the future!

Acrylic and Oil sets coming as soon as possible!!

[asktheartstore-blog]

Is there a brand of watercolor you would recommend for a beginner? I generally stick to acrylics

I use a (beginning) set by the Marie’s company that I am in LOVE with, but in my experience;

Winsor and Newton has a Cotman line for beginners (please do keep in mind that you are going to be paying a bit for the name. They were once known as one of the only professional brands like... ever..... But their quality on certain items has decreased noticeably)

Lukas Studio (carried in the U.S. only by Jerry’s Artarama. But they do ship from online if you don’t have one nearby)

I would ask someone in the store that you’re buying in, if possible. Honestly, I tell people 2 things about beginners sets;

1) It does you no good to learn on a bad product.

2) If you’re buying something better than a Walmart (-nothing wrong with Walmart or those types of stores guys, bear with me-) brand or kids (like... kindergarten kids) sets, it’ll be a good step up to take, no matter how it ranks on the scale of professional paints.

It’s usually a good idea to get a... nice, but no where near the professional (price) range set so that you can see if you’ll like the medium to begin with.

I hope your transition into watercolors goes swimmingly! Don’t be afraid of the water. :> Tell me how it goes, and maybe what brand you bought! :D

-Bunny-bot