OK so this blog is turning into a sort of online book / resource centre which is exactly as I dreamed it might one day be… Of course not all the sections below are ‘finished’ and, in a way, they will never be as new products come out etc. But for now anyway, only those that are underlined will actually take you to a page, the others are still under construction. You can read the whole section by going to the main title in caps or pick your choice. (Hope you are not tooooo disappointed if you find nothing on one of the sections below… I am working on them… I promise!)

I thought it would be helpful however to put products already in their category to get a bigger picture and not in a dozens of tags at the top of the website… hope this was a good idea, you can also use the search engine of course and the alphabetical index.

Also, I’m pleased to share that my book Hues in Tubes, everything you have always wanted to know about Paint without daring to as the shop assistant, is now available online, too. If you would like to browse its Table of Content, just click here.

I. PIGMENTS

If you are truly into pigments, you will find my free online book, Hues in Tubes, more comprehensive than the below sections. If you want to have a peek at its content, you can go to the Table of Contents and navigate from there!

I. a) an introduction + you can read here the whole 6 articles about pigments
I. b) What is a pigment? Pigments vs Dyes; Pigment classification by characteristics; Inorganic vs Organic Pigments; Historical vs Modern Pigments
I. c) Historical pigments Prehistory; Antiquity followed by the next 15 centuries
I. d) Modern pigments
I. e) Colours and families of pigments A description of the most commonly found colours organised in broader categories: blues, greens, etc. followed by a bit about the most important families: the Cadmiums, the Earth, the Quinacridones, etc.
I. f) A little bit about binders and making your paint

If you have an interest in Pigments you might also enjoy reading about my visit to
– Guerra Paint and Pigment Corp. (New York City, New York, U.S.A.)
– Golden Artist Colours (New Berlin, New York, U.S.A.)
– The PIGMENT store in Tokyo
– Daniel Smith, (Seattle, U.S.A.)
– The Forbes Pigment Collection, (Boston, U.S.A.)
– She-who-whispers-to-the-ochres: Heidi Gustafson

II. DRAWING MATERIALS
II. a) An introduction
II. b) Dry drawing materials
II. b1) Carbon based drawing materials: Introduction + you can read here the following 3 pages
– Charcoal (And if you have an interest in charcoal you might also enjoy reading about my visit to Coates (Stoke-St-Gregory, Somerset, England))
– Graphite
– Carbon
II. b2) Chalk based drawing materials: Introduction
Soft (and semi hard) pastels
If you have an interest in pastels you might also enjoy reading about my visit to La Maison du Pastel (Paris, France)or to Unison (Northumberland, England)
Chalk pastels
Hard pastels and Conté crayons
Pastel pencils

II. c) Wax based drawing materials: Introduction
Oil pastels
If you have an interest in oil pastels you might also enjoy reading about my visit to Sennelier (Paris, France)
Oil sticks
If you have an interest in oil sticks you might also enjoy reading about my visit to R&F (Kingston, New York, U.S.A.)
Crayons
Coloured pencils

II. d) Ink based drawing materials: Introduction
Pens: Bamboo, Dip pen, Fountain pen, Technical pen
If you have an interest in calligraphy you might also enjoy reading about my visit to
Mélodies Graphiques (Paris, France)
Ball point, Felt pen, Markers and Gelly pens

II. e) Accessories: Introduction
Erasers
Fixatives
Sharpeners
Extenders
Blending tools
Masking tape
Rulers, Protractors, etc.

II. f) Drawing Supports
Papers and Boards
Primers

III. PAINTS (more or less in order of appearance on the world stage)

If you are truly into paint, you will find my free online book, Hues in Tubes, more comprehensive than the below sections. If you want to have a peek at its content, you can go to the Table of Contents and navigate from there!

III. a) an introduction

III. b) Gouache
III. b1) Gouache paint
III. b2) Gouache mediums
III. b3) Gouache varnishes

III. c) Ink: 1) Introduction
III. c2) Shellac ink
III. c3) Acrylic ink
III. c4) Fountain pen ink
III. c5) Etching ink
III. c6) Block ink
III. c7) Calligraphy ink
If you have an interest in sumi ink you might enjoy reading about my visit to the Kobaien sumi ink factory (Nara, Japan) or to Mélodies Graphiques (Paris, France)

III. d) Encaustic
III. d1) Encaustic paint
If you have an interest in encaustic you might also enjoy reading about my visit to R&F (Kingston, New York, U.S.A.)
III. d2) Encaustic mediums

III. e) Tempera
III. e1) Tempera paint
III. e2) Tempera mediums
III. e3) Tempera varnishes

III. f) Oil
III. f1) Oil paint
If you have an interest in oil paint you might also enjoy reading about my visit to
–  The Blockx factory (Belgium)
– Langridge Artists Colours (Melbourne, Australia)  or read an interview of Master Paint-maker David Coles at Langridge
III. f2) Oil sticks
If you have an interest in oil sticks you might also enjoy reading about my visit to R&F, (Kingston, New York, U.S.A.)
III. f3) Oil gessos & grounds
III. f4) Oil mediums, oils and solvents
III. f5) Oil varnishes

III. g) Watercolour
III. g1) Watercolour paint
If you have an interest in watercolours you might also enjoy reading about my visit to Daniel Smith, (Seattle, U.S.A.)
III. g2) Watercolour sticks
III. g3) Watercolour markers
III. g4) Watercolours mediums
III. g5) Watercolour varnishes

III. h) Acrylic and Vinyl
III. h1) Acrylic and Vinyl paint + you can read here all four pages
III. h2) Acrylic and Vinyl gessos and grounds
III. h3) Acrylic and Vinyl pastes, gels, mediums and additives
III. h4) Acrylic and Vinyl varnishes

If you have an interest in acrylics you might also enjoy reading about my visit to
–  Chroma (Sydney, Australia)
–  Golden Artist Colours (New Berlin, New York, U.S.A.)
–  Guerra Paint and Pigment Corp. (New York City, New York, U.S.A.)

IV. PAINTING MATERIALS
IV. a) an introduction
IV. b) Brushes
If you have an interest in brushes you might also enjoy reading about my visits to brushmaking companies: Escoda (Barcelone, Spain) or Houkodou (Kumano, Japan)
IV. c) Palette knives and other ‘instruments’
IV. d) Palettes
IV. e) Easels

V. SUPPORTS
V. a) an introduction
V. b) Walls
V. c) Wood panels
V. d)  Stretchers + Canvas, Linen, Polycotton, etc.
V. e) Papers
V. f) Others…

VI. In bed with… (read about some of my visits to art material making companies)
Jacques Blockx at the Blockx factory (Belgium)
Jim Cobb from the Chroma factory (Sydney, Australia)
The Coates dynasty (Stoke-St-Gregory, Somerset, England)
Two generations of Escodas (Barcelona, Spain)
166 Golden owners (New Berlin, New York, U.S.A.)
Art Guerra from Guerra Paint and Pigment Corp. (New York City, New York, U.S.A.)
She-who-whispers-to-the-ochres: Heidi Gustafson
David Coles (and Louise!) at Langridge Artists Colours (Melbourne, Australia)
Master Paint-maker David Coles at Langridge Artists Colours (Melbourne, Australia)
The Natural Pigments company (Willits, Cal., U.S.A.)
R & F, aka Richard Frumess (Kingston, New York, U.S.A.)
Isabelle Roché & Margaret Zayer from La Maison du Pastel (Paris, France)
Dominique Sennelier from Sennelier (Paris, France)
The Daniel Smith factory (Seattle, U.S.A.)
The Unison factory (Northumberland, England)

VI. Art stores I love
The paper store in the Canson Museum in Annonay (France)
The Charbonnel shop, quai de Montebello in Paris
The Charvin shop, quai des Grands Augustins in Paris
The Guerra Paint and Pigment Corp. 510 East 13th Street in New York City
Mélodies Graphiques (10 Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, Paris)
The PIGMENT store in Tokyo
The Sennelier shop, quai Voltaire in Paris
The 3rd Sennelier shop, 6 rue Hallé in Paris

VII. My favourite books about colour (just click on the title to go to page)

VIII. Bits and pieces about me, what I feel in the moment, what I believe in…

in bed with… myself (just in case you had an interest in who’s writing all this)

the oldest profession in the world? Could my trade -swapping something useful to me (money!) for something useful to you (colour!)- be the oldest one human beings have ever exercised? Based on a National Geographic article: The first artists, how creativity made us human, that is totally the case…

What is Art? Café philo Byron Bay How could I resist. Of course I went. A wonderful facilitator and philosopher from Sydney was there, to help the discussion going and to help the new born branch with a few practical hints as to how one runs a café philo. These have been the rage all over the planet for some nearly twenty years I gather.

in bed… at… the Golden residency! (I wish) An article about my visit to that wonderful place the Golden Foundation opens to 18 different artists every year and, too, the story of the Golden family and through them of acrylic paints

2015, the year of… the pencil! From the Charlie Hebdo events to the worldwide rage for colouring books, this gentle and modest drawing implement seems to have been centre stage all year.