Often my students will ask me "What are your favorite paints/brushes/materials? And I have to answer with this: "Well they do vary, but here are my steadfast faves.."
So I'm posting them here for you too. And just a note: I'm not an affiliate anywhere and I write about these painty things because they really are my favorites.
Let's begin with paint!
Here's my favorite white (and of course white can be the one you use the most).
Titanium White by LUKAS STUDIO
Linseed oil, sunflower oil and a dash of bleached beeswax make for a smooth, buttery consistency in this brand of paint that's made in Germany. I've tried many different white oil paints and this has the easiest mixability and it seems to love my softer, faux-sable brushes and my bristle brushes too.
ARTIST'S LOFT Orange Acrylic
I use an orange acrylic to tone my canvas and help bring rich, fiery movement to my paintings.
It's great for still life, landscape and occasionally figurative work although I seldom use it for portraits. In an earlier post I talk about the application and you can see that here.
And brushes? Well I am very, very hard on my brushes and I have to replace them all the time. Because I use the titanium white by Lukas the softer texture of my paint allows me to make good use of faux-sable flat brushes along with hog bristle flat brushes like this Imperial Professional at Jerry's Artarama:
What would my list be without a mention of my favorite gallery wrapped canvas?
Currently I use Artist's Loft Level 3 canvases. The quality is very good, the canvases are frequently on sale, and Michaels has a Bulk Buy department where you can order for home delivery at a substantial discount. The best of all worlds!
I'm going to be listing more of my favorites over time and hope I can introduce beginner or experienced artists to some new things to try.
Do you have favorites you'd like to share? Post your lists in the comments section!