Art Supplies

Choosing a good brand of paint is essential for artists, and homeowners alike, in order to get the best value of paint for the money they spend. The paint manufacturing industry has numerous brand...

Plaster has been a part of civilization for centuries. One of the first recorded uses of plaster is in ancient Egypt, when Egyptians used a gypsum and water mixture to construct blocks for...

Silkscreen and lithography are both styles of printmaking. Selecting the correct lithograph or silkscreen ink depends on the results desired. Lithograph ink and silkscreen ink have specific...

As the old saying goes, "Diamonds are a girl's best friend," yet knowing you have a quality diamond, not a flawed gem or a fake, can ensure the friendship lasts forever. When paying top dollar for...

Plaster of Paris is a fine white powder that, when mixed with water, is used as a building material. When it is sufficiently mixed with water, the plaster is heated to 140 to 180 degrees...

Many people enjoy the smooth and colorful writing produced when you use a gel pen. Unfortunately, writing can be a frustrating ordeal if your gel pens will not work because they have gel ink...

Acrylic paints are water-based and come in a variety of vivid colors which, when water is added to them, have a smooth flow for easy application to most porous surfaces. Paints in tubes tend to...

The longer paint has set on felt, the harder it is to remove. Try to remove the paint as soon as possible after the initial contact. Be careful not to overscrub the felt, as doing so can damage...

Wheat starch paste is special glue used for adhering paper. Bookmakers use wheat starch paste, as do some wallpaper hangers. Make wheat starch paste easily in a home kitchen using wheat starch...

Quartz crystals and other gems do not begin their lives as pristine, lovely rocks, but as scarred, oddly shaped stones called rough. They may have chips or undesirable sections that need to be...

Gator board is a thick sponge-type board that is a mixture between Styrofoam and cork board. It is a solid structure and is capable of housing and displaying items from everyday notes to...

Exacto blades are useful tools for detailed cutting work. They are also very dangerous if proper precautions are not taken. Wearing gloves, cutting away from you, and storing and disposing of...

Tempera paint is one of the oldest known paints and was used in ancient Egypt, Babylonia and Greece. Made originally from pigment mixed with egg yolks, today's tempera paint comes in a dry...

Murals have been painted outdoors for centuries, starting with ancient cave paintings dating back thousands of years. They can take many hours to paint and add an artistic flair to buildings,...

Making tempera paint the traditional way will make the paint permanent. The old tempera paintings that predate oil painting lasted on wooden boards. Do the same paint making work as the old...

Canvas storage racks are a necessity for protecting delicate canvas frames and the works of art made on them. Storage racks for canvases provide a safe place for wet canvases to dry as well as...

Tempera is the oldest known type of paint. It was found on the sarcophagi of ancient Egypt and on Byzantine, Medieval and Renaissance works. Michelangelo's paintings were done in egg tempera....

Artists make the colors seen in acrylic paint from fine colored powders. In acrylic gel, the pigments exude the color.

Oil-based paint is a slow-drying paint made up of particles of pigment that are suspended in a drying oil. To dissolve oil-based paint, a solvent or paint thinner can be used. Turpentine is a...

There is nothing better for sticking things than wheat paste. Wheat paste is strong, cheap and easy to make. And not only can wheat paste stick things like flyers to walls in a very secure way, it...

When working with super glue, it is a good idea to wear some sort of protective glove. If not, it is extremely easy to accidentally spill super glue onto your fingers. If the glue isn't remove...

Foam-center boards are used to frame artwork; they consist of a light and rigid plastic foam. Acid-free foam boards have a paper facing that is alkaline. Acidic materials degrade and discolor artwork.

Today, the term "camel hair" brush is used as an umbrella term to describe animal fibers with a softness and absorbency comparable to that of genuine Bactrian or dromedary camels. To withstand the...

Glass blasting is a method of designing glass pieces by means of etching, and it requires the use of special abrasion equipment. Abrasion is no longer popular in designing glass, but if you are...

Color changing paint is comprised of liquid crystals, leuco dyes, chemicals and/or other dyes that react when exposed to changes in temperature (thermochromic paint) or certain wavelengths of...

Employ natural beeswax to create a beautiful picture with a non-toxic art medium that is sustainable. Learn to mix and manipulate color on the heated surface of an iron for one of a kind organic...

Thanks to the great wide world of the web, there's no reason to bother going to the craft store to find stencils for your next arts and crafts project. Virtually any image that you can think up...

Paint markers are effective art supplies that permanently decorate a wide variety of materials and mediums. Unfortunately, at most art suppliers the markers are expensive to buy individually. ...

Artists and designers of all sorts use color wheels and charts. Color wheels are circles that resemble a rainbow. Find complementary colors by pairing colors opposite each other on the color...

Painting is a personal activity, grounded in the particular desires of each painter of what to create and how. With so many different art styles and personal preferences, it is impossible to...

Many artists expand their audiences by reprinting some of their works onto canvas. This gives the prints a museum-like quality and, in many ways, replicates the look of an actual painting. Two...

A photograph on a stretched canvas can make the image look like it was painted or drawn rather than printed. Transferring a photograph to canvas is easy. The canvas can be stretched onto a frame...

Color theory posters are reference posters used to guide and inspire artists using an array of diagrams and color palettes. They are displayed on the walls of studios or wherever artists choose...

Graffiti artists either buy or make their own specialty markers for tagging. An "artist" will never just use a sharpie or cheap marker for his or her work. Markers differ from spray paint cans in...

Baked potato bags are incredibly useful small bags which can ideally hold a baked potato, but can also hold tortillas, corn on the cob, candied apples or anything else that will fit inside of it...

Studio lights are an important factor in quality photography and production. While established businesses can many times afford to purchase the best quality lighting, up-and-coming artists,...

A fountain pen is a nib pen that contains an internal reservoir of ink that automatically feeds the writing point of the pen. The ink flows from the internal reservoir to the nib of the pen and...

As an artist, your materials are almost as important as your ideas and skills in creating your art. Brushes can be quite an investment, especially the good ones, and you might as well throw away...

Each manufacturer of oil paint prides itself on an unique blend of pigments and oils. Some of the pigments used are synthetic, while others come from compounds found in the earth. Sources from...

When they think of stenciling, many people picture the application of paint to the openings in a stencil to imprint an image onto a surface. You may be surprised to learn that artists also use...

To create graffiti art, you'll need special markers often used by artists to create the vivid colors and swirling designs common to this medium. Although these types of markers are available at...

Marble dust has various contemporary uses, both in the arts and in industry. According to the Sinopia Pigments website, marble is what is known as a metamorphic rock, which is created when...

Storing paint brushes can be a bit of a chore. The desire to just stand them in a cup is fine, but doesn't protect the bristles from dust or gravity. Laying then down on a desk or in a drawer...

Oil paint comes in a variety of grades, from student oils, which contain less pigment and more oil, also known as binders or vehicles, to artist's oil colors, which usually contain higher grade...

Each oil paint color is a unique construct of ingredients. Though they are packaged the same within each manufacturer's brand, both the pigments and the oils that the pigments are suspended in can...

The color wheel helps apply the principles of color to design tasks. With a basic understanding of what colors are on the wheel and why, designers can create balanced blends of color in their art,...

Play sand is not just for children's sandboxes. It can be used to mark time, to cast candles and, when colored, to make paintings. Play sand will level patios and fence posts and thicken paint for...

There are many uses for balloons. They are an item that can be utilized when they are inflated or deflated. You can use them for arts and crafts, as protection against the elements or for keeping...

An airbrush is a painting device that allows artists to paint many different types of surfaces and to create intricate and unique effects without ever touching a brush. Airbrushes combine paint...

Paint markers are colorful drawing utensils. The body is the shape of a pen, and the pens are filled with paint instead of ink. These tools are used for drawing pictures and lettering on posters,...