It’s Flashback Friday and we’re feeling nostalgic for the series of comics we used to run, Wonton’s Art Lessons! Created by a former employee, the very talented artist, Lisa Kash. This comic is called, “Lesson 13: Types of Ink”. Enjoy!
Tag: art supplies
November 16: Understanding Contemporary Oil Painting Materials
Since its founding, Gamblin Artists Colors has handcrafted luscious oil colors and contemporary mediums true to the working properties of traditional materials, yet safer and more permanent. Gamblin’s dedication to today’s oil painters extends beyond offering the finest possible materials – they believe in sharing their knowledge so painters can choose those materials that best support their own artistic visions.
Understanding Contemporary Oil Painting Materials, a 90 minute Lecture Demonstration will cover the following:
- Color Theory – 2-dimensional vs 3-dimensional Color Space
- Color Mixing – Navigating Color Space: Gamblin’s practical approach to color mixing
- Artist’s Oil Colors – Gamblin’s approach to color making
- Mineral vs Modern Pigments – How to create a personalized palette of colors
- Indirect vs Direct Techniques – Historical application of opaque and transparent colors
- FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors – Benefits and uses of fast-drying, matte oil colors
- 1980 Oil Colors – True Color. Real Value.
- Painting Mediums – Choosing the right medium, including working properties and drying rates
- Building Permanent Paintings – Understanding Fat Over Lean
- Supports, Sizing and Grounds – How they affect color and permanence
- Gamvar Picture Varnish – Understanding contemporary varnishes and controlling surface quality
- Studio Safety – Create without compromise in a safe studio
Gamblin Artist Colors will provide each attendee with a FREE sample bag including products and literature.
About the Presenter
Timothy Robert Smith is a Los Angeles based oil painter and muralist, using observational techniques to portray a multi-dimensional perspective of the universe. Since recently graduating from Laguna College of Art and Design with an MFA in studio art, he has had two exhibitions at Copro Gallery in Bergamot Station. He currently teaches at CSU Los Angeles, where he received his BFA degree. Timothy’s artwork can be viewed at www.timothyrobertsmith.com.
We made the news!
Nic Cha Kim reported for Spectrum News 1 SoCal with his segment, “Raw Materials Art Store Reopens in Larger DTLA Location.”
Thanks for the spotlight, Nic!
Introducing Wrapped Wood Panels by Lucius Hudson, Inc.
Lucius Hudson, Inc. has been making fine art stretcher bars and wood panels for artists since 1966. Their dedication to detail and the quality of their products is legendary, and you may have heard of some of their clients. (Does Takashi Murakami ring a bell?)
When they approached us to be the first-ever retailer for their products, how could we not want to put these beautiful surfaces into the hands of our amazing customers? We are excited to start with a selection of their linen-wrapped wood panels in two popular sizes.
These aren’t your every-day cradled wood panels: these are made using torsion box construction: a matrix of 4″ × 4″ inch boxes glued between two plywood sheets produces greater strength and stability over traditional cradled wood panel designs. For acid and moisture protection all panels are sealed with shellac. Each panel has a full cleat, allowing it to be hung from any side. Panels that are wrapped in canvas or linen are cut with notches in the corners so the fold doesn’t protrude.
Let’s talk a little more about that notch, because this is one of those design details that just demonstrates the commitment to quality that Lucius Hudson, Inc. has. When you stretch a canvas (either on stretcher bars or over a panel like these), you have probably noticed the bulges on the corner where the canvas has to be folded. (Or, worse, had a canvas eventually fall apart because someone had the bright idea to cut the overlapping fabric.) They’ve solved that problem by engineering the panel with small notches, so the fold naturally tucks in and no longer causes that unsightly bulge.
So dig deep into your wallet and prepare to pay highly-inflated prices for these highly-engineered surfaces, right? Wrong. Lucius Hudson really wants to get these into the hands of artists, so they’ve worked with us to offer special pricing on a curated selection of sizes and varieties. We have started with a couple of sizes of panels wrapped with PVA-sized linen, and we would love to hear from artists what other varieties they would like to see us have on hand.
(And they don’t just make wrapped wood panels, stay tuned for more exciting products in the future!)
Happy Inktober! Meet the New Piñata Alcohol Ink Colors
5 NEW reasons to love Piñata Color: Golden Yellow, Pink, Coral, Blue-Violet, and Teal! Piñata Colors are fast-drying, super vibrant alcohol inks for non-porous surfaces like glass, metal, plastic, ceramic, YUPO®, leather, polymer clay and resin. Indelible and impervious to water, Piñata Colors clean up and re-wet with alcohol, allowing for unique effects and techniques not easily achieved with water-based inks.
WHY 5 NEW COLORS? Some colors are more challenging to mix from scratch than others. This is especially true of complex colors like teal and coral. Alcohol ink artists have been asking for these colors, and Jacquard is proud to announce their release.
NEW PIÑATA EXCITER: Jacquard is also proud to introduce the NEW Piñata Overtones Exciter Pack! This collection of 9 alcohol inks includes the 5 NEW colors + Blanco Blanco, Copper, Brass, & Pearl. The Piñata Overtones Exciter Pack makes a superb companion to the original Piñata Exciter Pack, offering a complex palette to compliment the more elementary colors in the original set.
Watch below as artist Annie Morcos (@AnniesArtStudio) creates a resin petri project featuring the new Piñata Colors!
InkTober 2019 Official Prompt List
🕷️ Ready for InkTober? Above is the InkTober 2019 prompt list, in case you wanted to join in the inky fun. 🕸️
InkTober rules:
1) Make a drawing in ink (you can do a pencil under-drawing if you want).
2) Post it
3) Hashtag it with #inktober and #inktober2019
4) Repeat
Them’s the rules. We urge you to tag us during the month of October so we can help you to show off your inky creations.
Warm Welcome from the Fashion District BID
Our friends at the Fashion District Business Improvement District (FDBID) @lafashiondistrict shot this fun video to welcome us and to introduce us to the neighborhood! 🧡
Thank you Miranda and the entire marketing team at the FDBID, you guys rock! 😘
Farewell, Swain’s and C2F!
It has been a rough start to the fall in the art materials industry. The Los Angeles area lost an institution with the closing of Swain’s HQ Art Supplies, which has been supporting artists and selling art supplies in Glendale for seventy years, and we are very sad to see them go.
Read Karl’s message to customers. Thank you Karl for mentioning us and the other independent retailers still fighting on in Southern California.
The imminent closure of C2F, one of the few distributors of art materials was also announced. They were the primary source for a few of our favorite brands (such as M. Graham, Bee Paper, Pentalic, and Cheep!), but it looks like most of those will find new homes so we plan to continue stocking them as long as we’re able!
We live in interesting times for retailers and the art materials industry. Sometimes we feel like we’re mice scampering beneath the feet of giants with names like Amazon, Blick Art Materials, and Artist & Craftsman Supply, and it’s tough to lose friends and allies like C2F and Swain’s.
We, and our employees, thank all of you who have stuck with us, are just discovering, us, and hope to feed your artistic endeavors for years to come.
David Arquette Teaches Bob Ross Technique @ Raw Materials to benefit Inner-City Arts
We’ve been lucky enough to get some press on the Bob Ross Painting Class that actor David Arquette taught at Raw Materials (thanks to Emmy-winning reporter Nic Cha Kim at Spectrum News!) but we felt it was important for you to know, as mentioned in the news story, that the proceeds from the class went to support one of the nation’s most effective arts education providers, Inner-City Arts. Not familiar with the organization? Check out this video:
We recently visited Inner-City Arts‘ beautiful, award-winning campus in Downtown Los Angeles, and came away so inspired. We are even more committed to continue supporting them and invite you to join us in advocating for arts education for our communities.
Throwback Thursday: Alex Schaefer and Chris Hernandez
Five years ago these guys went shopping at Raw Materials with help from our then-mascot and head of security, Wonton. Good times. And today, we open for business at our new location at 645 S. Los Angeles Street. Will you be there?