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Tagged: canada, cheapjoes, supplies, watercolor
- This topic has 75 replies, 27 voices, and was last updated 10 months ago by
Donna Macauley.
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I stay away from WC with honey because we have tons of ants in Southern California!
Oh my, they DO?? I’ll have to go check that out, damn another reason to shop!
I wish we had discount art supplies in Canada! The best I can get is free shipping sometimes if I order over a certain amount. Shipping from the U.S. is too expensive. sigh. That means I don’t have a lot of choice in W/C papers or a variety in paint manufacturers. I’m envious.
Yes, Susan, I so agree!!! It’s frustrating not having many sources for affordable or good quality art supplies here in Canada. I live in a very rural area of Nova Scotia and the nearest craft/art store is 2+ hours away (Michael’s and a Deserres store recently opened around the same area).
I basically order almost all of my supplies online – a lot from the UK, some from Deserres.ca and some from Amazon.ca. Shipping, duty and the dreaded exchange rate from USD to CAD usually prevent me from ordering from US-based stores. 🙁
How I wish we had a CheapJoe’s or something similar in Canada! I’m always drooling over their selection and prices.
Deserres.ca isn’t too bad; if you purchase over $50, shipping is free. Besides that and Amazon.ca (where prices are usually double or more compared to the same product on Amazon.com!), there are not many other choices! *sigh*
I know, it truly SUCKS in Canada for sales. I nearly NEVER shop in Canadian stores because of prices and shipping. I actually find shipping in Canada at least as expensive or more than from the UK or US. I shop Amazon.ca, WetpaintArt, Jackson’s and Ken Bromley usually. WetPaintArt can be really reasonable about shipping, although amazon.ca does much of the time have prices double or more as their US counterpart, you have to compare to canadian stores instead. I also find that as long as what I purchase is well below $100, there’s no duty. It’s hard to be Canadian sometimes!
So true, Jennifer!
Thanks for mentioning WetPaintArt too – I’ll have to check them out!
Also, those of you in Canada, Curry’s isn’t too bad either, though I do find their site could be a wee bit more user-friendly. Once in a while they have really good deals. In fact, they have a great sale on right now of DaVinci watercolours (though not all are in stock). I have a few tubes of DaVinci watercolours right now and really like them. Their earth tones are particularly lovely. So thought I’d stock up on some of their 37 mL tubes. Right now they also have a lower free shipping minimum (usually $75, now $35) for a limited time!
I order from DeSerres and from Curry’s. I got in on a great deal from the latter for my Christmas present: order a 150.00 gift card and get a 16 piece sampler size bottles of acrylic mediums……… then once the gift card arrived, I went shopping with free shipping. Yay!
But you’re right Beverly, we do need a discount art store in Canada! Anybody listening?
Snehlata, I totally agree with Charlie, use layers of glazing instead of a heavy layer of color. Transparent is the way to go to get brighter and glowing artwork. Also, if you put a beginning layer of a mid tone transparent yellow (I use Pure Yellow by Schmincke) on before you start your painting it’s like adding the sunshine early. Even when I’m painting something blue or purple I’llstart with that yellow and especially under anything red, pink, orange or green. Try to only do about 3-5 layers of color, working from dark to light and as transparent as possible. I try only to buy transparent paint and also try to only buy paint colors with two pigments at the most. I only break this rule for colors that I won’t be using them as mixing colors. The more pigments you mix together the muddier the color. IF you mix more than three or four the mixed color dull.
Thomas, at least you then get something for that money instead of throwing it away on shipping. ;o)
Michael, if you save your DO points you can get a sample dot card for Da Vinci paints in the shop. The seem really really good paint,I”m surprised and thrilled as they’re prices are also lower. I use Daniel Smith, Schmincke and Winsor & Newton is about equal amounts but now am about to try Da Vinci paints, just ordered some for Christmas. They rewet really well. Sandra was right, look for professional paints and you can’t go wrong. If you feel like you’re wasting good paint then you could try the student grade VAN GOUGH watercolors. They’re the only student grade paint I’ve ever liked.
Tom, you’re right it works and makes the plastic easier to use. I just find that since I tend to choose the more staining colors, I can never get the darn plastic clean enough. It makes porcelain my personal choice when in studio and metal palettes out in plein air painting
- Hi, I love Daniel Smith watercolors. He has the most beautiful colors! And I love the way they paint. Second choice is probably qu o r. I love the stuff. I love the flow, the colors, the way it handles, everything about it! I know it has mixed reviews but it is wonderful as far as I am concerned and the price isn’t any worse than anyone else’s in my opinion. I really like M9 Graham also, because it’s always ready to go. It doesn’t matter how long it’s been setting and drying… It’s always ready to go with a touch of a wet brush. I’m not having any problems with bugs in it, which might be surprising in North Carolina. I love Winsor Newton too, but good grief, the price point on that one is pretty much outside my budget, I’ve bought about 10 of them when they go on sale one or two at a time. So there’s my paint supplies. And a few cheap Brands to play with, that I bought when I started out. I love Superior brand watercolors that came from overseas, they have beautiful colors but they do tend to dry out in the palette quickly and I can’t find out what the fade is on them so I painted something and stuck it in my Southern window to find out. That’s a lot of paint, but I wanted to try a few. And now I know what my favorites are at least so far. I don’t know much about brushes I need a suggestion or two please about brushes. What brush do you like and why? I’ve got a Black Velvet inch and a half for big washes and I do like that… I’ve got some red Sable brushes from overseas at the jury is still out on those and I’ve got a couple of Robert Simmons that I like. I even got some Polar Flow brushes from Jerry’s that seem to be pretty good. So there it is! Too much paint but I’ve had a good time with it even though the experts say not to try a whole lot of different paints at once, lol.
Are you in the U.S.? I did a review on some Aquanaut Series brushes a couple of weeks ago. They have to be bought in sets, but you get great sets at a very reasonable price. They are ProArt brushes, and I’ve been using them almost exclusively lately because I really like the way they pick up and release water and pigment. They keep their shape well.
The ferrules look reasonably cheap, but what I’d expect at the price. I’ve had absolutely no shedding, but I suspect the most wear will occur in this area. The handles are acrylic plastic with beveled edges.
The bristles are white, and while I find the pigment itself is easily cleaned, the stains are not and these rapidly become UGLY. I don’t mind that myself, but it might bother some.
Contents of 5-piece set: 1” One stroke, 1” Large angle shader, 1/2” Medium angle shader, 12 Large round, 8 Medium Round. Currently $15.97 on Amazon U.S.
Contents of 7-piece set: 3/4” Action Flat, 8 Filbert, 1/4” Angle Shader, 1/4” Action Flat, 7 Medium Round, 4 Long Liner, 3 Small Round. Currently $12.97 on Amazon U.S.You might also want to check out the review on Trekell brushes that Jessica Seacrest did a week or two ago. I haven’t tried them, but I suspect they are comparable in quality to the Aquanaut brushes, and you can buy one at a time and there is a 15% off coupon you can get for only 25 DO points in the DO shop.
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