I primarily work with single-pigment professional-grade paints that have the highest lightfastness ratings. I paint with synthetic or ethically sourced brushes and self-made implements, using eco-friendly materials whenever possible and reasonable.
Lightfast Paints and Mediums
Pigments and Paints
My main art media are based on acrylic polymers of various properties (fluid, heavy body, and pastes), natural gum arabic, and distilled water.
Pains I choose by quality and ingredients after substantial research and testing. Ideal pain for me should contain a single pigment of lightfastness 8 on the Blue Wool Scale, ASTM excellent, and have a high pigment load with minimal non-animal necessary additives. Most of my paints are made from permanent minerals and based on natural gum arabic or pure polymer, without fillers or solvents. Some paints I make myself. I often manipulate permanent pigments like iron oxides in my way to make fluid paint, sticks, pastes, and tools to apply them to pre-treated surfaces.
My palette has always been narrow. I create even more limited color palettes for each series or a single painting. About 12 pigments I keep in the studio permanently, and my maximum was 24 at a time during testing periods of paints from different suppliers with varying particle sizes, quality, etc. I usually choose only 2-5 of them for each artwork, often splitting the range even further for transparent layers.
Brands
In acrylics, my favorite brand is US Golden in New York (Rothko's choice) for both fluid and heavy body paints and mediums. I also like acrylic paint inventors Ohio's Liquitex, and sometimes used Holbein Japan and German Lukas Professional from Dusseldorf, where I started acrylics.
In aquarelle, I choose tubes from Californian Da Vinci, British Winsor & Newton, plus sometimes Seattle's Daniel Smith, and Turner of Japan.
Some of these brands do not keep the quality of their materials at the same level, probably because they were bought by a bigger company. For example, Liquitex and Winsor & Newton are now owned by Lindéngruppen via a London-based subsidiary. In my opinion, there is a crisis with the art material quality consistency due to the concentration of capital when corporations and private equity firms buy established brands and squeeze the maximum profits short term.
Permanent Varnish
Almost all my works are sealed with a clear isolation layer, sometimes with additional UV protection for color permanence if needed.
My Brushes
My favorite watercolor brushes are:
- Princeton Neptune (#4750 Synthetic Squirrel): Flat 1", Round 12, Mottler 1-1/2", Dagger 1/2;
- followed by Mimik Kolinsky Round 16, Mimic Round 30, 12, 6, 4, 2, Wash 3", Rigger 2;
- and finally Sterling Edward's large brushes.
For acrylics, almost any synthetic long-handle filbert brush would do, but I prefer imitation hog bristle filberts. The only preference I have in brand and model is the Da Vinci Cosmotop-Spin 5584, pointed oval wash, #16 and up. I had mine for 20 years.
I still gently use my repurposed from oils childhood natural hair brush, and keep my early soft goat hair calligraphy brushes.
I made a few big ones from my own long-cut hair.
Other Art Tools
I often use sticks from the bottom layer of the orchard with varying endings to use as dip pens.
My easels are made from metal, and I use a minimal amount of storage equipment, much of which is repurposed.
