raw materials

Liquitex BASICS brushes are the perfect complement to Liquitex BASICS acrylic paints or other acrylic paints (or even water-mixable oil colors). These white nylon brushes hold ample amounts of color, a durable, and easy to clean. Their medium soft bristles provide the ideal responsiveness for soft to medium-bodied acrylics, and their economical price makes them perfect for students, amateurs, or professionals. The brushes come in five popular shapes with long handles and a range of sizes. And for the rest of May, these brushes are 50% off.

Canson Infinity is the brand name of a line of digital fine art and photographic papers crafted in the Canson and Arches mills, which have been making finest art and creative papers in the world since 1557. We have the full range of papers available in packs of 8.5 x 11″ sheets, and a selection of papers in packs of 13 x 19″ sheets.

The line includes a variety of textures (from ultra smooth surface to highly textured papers) and media aesthetics (from natural white to ultra white) that enable you to express your creativity and produce high-end prints.

Until the end of June, all of the Canson Infinity papers will be 20% off the list price, and you can get the nine-sheet Discovery Pack for 50% off (while supplies last, limit one per customer).

(And yes, once we have our printing services available, we will be offering prints on these Canson Infinity papers in addition to other brands.)

Liquitex free•style brushes are brand new to the market, and we now have them at the store. This line of brushes is made with the muralist in mind, but it perfect for any painters that like to work large. Check out the video below to see a project done using the brushes (and towards the end, the artists talk about how they liked them).

For a limited time, all Liquitex free•style brushes are 50% off.

The papers we have out so you can test markers, pens, pastels, and all manner of other things become sort of collaborative art pieces, as you can see. (And click on any of those pictures to make them bigger.)

You may have noticed the Art Alternatives Clutch Pencil Set we’ve had kicking around for a while, with it’s large 5.6mm leads. We now have in stock replacement graphite leads (a four-pack with two 2B and one each of the 4B and 6B) and sketching leads (in five-pack traditional sketching colors: black, bistre, sepia, sanguine and white).

The clutch pencil set and both sets of replacement leads are 25% off every day.

Just in time for spring, we’ve brought in a new line of affordable watercolor paints. Van Gogh Watercolors from Royal Talens use top-quality raw materials with an intensity, clarity, fineness and ease-of-handling that artists will appreciate. We have the full range of 40 colors available in 10ml (¼oz.) tubes, and at 25% off their already low list price, these watercolors are a steal.

Update: There is also a mail-in rebate to get $3 back with the purchase of $20 worth of Van Gogh products. Pile up the colors, or grab one of the sets we have available.

We’ve brought in new pencils from Koh-I-Noor. While supplies last, get a free Mobius & Rupert brass round double-hole pencil sharpener (a $7.50 value) with the purchase of six or more Koh-I-Noor pencils.

As for the pencils themselves, they come in several varieties:

Hardtmuth Toison d’Or Drawing Pencils: These pencils feature high opacity, clean erasing leads and strong, durable, California cedar wood casings. They are a high quality drawing pencil for professionals, students, draftspeople and artists. Available in 20 degrees.

Progresso Woodless Graphite: These lacquer-coated smooth graphite pencils feature excellent laydown properties with a solid weighty feel. They are available in six degrees plus one aquarell variety.

Triograph Graphite Pencils: These extra thick, three sided pencils are ergonomically designed for ease and comfort of use. Their triangular shape fits the hand well, and the over-sized, 10.5mm Hardtmuth graphite artist-grade lead provides an extremely smooth laydown. Sharpened easily with a large-hole pencil sharpener.

Magnum Black Star Large-Lead Pencils: These fat, creamy 9mm soft graphite layout pencils are great for sketching, drawing and illustrating. Constructed from the finest Hardtmuth graphite, they are smooth, soft, deep black graphite pencils that produce stunning effects.

Gioconda Artist’s Pencils: No sound is more sublime than the krrrrrrrrsh of these wood-cased pastels as they cross paper. Lightfast, blendable and fade-resistant. Perfect for drawing, toning and coloring. The natural wood casing provides a no-slip grip.

We took the plunge and brought in a starting assortment of the 72 most popular colors of Copic Sketch markers (plus the colorless blender).

Copic markers are versatile double-ended refillable markers with fast-drying, permanent non-toxic ink. The Sketch marker features a comfortable oval barrel with a super brush nib on one end that is perfect for doing professional illustration, fashion design, manga, and adding detail to your images. The Sketch super brush nib acts like a paintbrush both in feel and color application. For more control, use the medium broad nib on the opposite end of the marker. Both nibs are replaceable.

We have the Copic sketch makers at 20% off every day. We have them behind the counter right now, so you’ll have to ask us to see them.

Art Alternatives has introduced a new line of Academy Portfolios and Presentation Cases, and we have them in stock and are offering them at 20% off every day.

Light-weight and water-resistant, the Academy Portfolios are constructed of durable polypropylene with 2″ gussets. They feature a dual-action zipper, an inner pocket and an elastic cross strap that keeps artwork secure. Plastic feet provide stability. The 32 × 42″ portfolio features a 2.35″ gusset and a side handle for extra support.

The light-weight Presentation Cases lay completely flat for easy presentation. The water-resistant, durable polypropylene construction features a spine-mounted handle that allows pages to hang flat and a one inch multi-ring binder with 20-page capacity. The inner pocket and elastic strap keep artwork secure. Each case includes ten archival polypropylene pages with acid-free black inserts.

The drumbeat we’ve been hearing for Copic Markers has started to get deafening, and we are looking at bringing in at least a small selection of them right away, and we plan to expand our selection over the summer.

But which type of Copic markers do you really want? The original Copic marker normally sells for $6.49*, and there is a wide range of replacement nibs available. The Copic Sketch marker also retails for $6.49, has a more limited range of nibs available, but comes with a “Super Brush” nib that isn’t available for the original Copic markers.

What do you prefer? Which should we bring in first? Leave a comment here or on Facebook, drop us an email, or just Twitter us.

* That’s the manufacturer’s suggested retail price, or MSRP. We will almost certainly sell it for less. We don’t take those suggestions very well.