Art is not something one does; it is a life one lives.....
Palette and Materials
Buy good tools and materials and you will save yourself money and aggravation in the long run!
Oil Paints:
Materials I like:
Winsor & Newton: Flake White Ivory Black Raw Sienna Cad Yellow Medium Cad Lemon Permanent Alizarin Crimson (I like Van Gogh brand as well) Burnt Sienna Colbalt Blue Ultramarine Blue Viridian
Optional colors for landscape: Pthalo Blue Sap Green
Portrait Naples Yellow ( a really good color to have)
Odorless mineral spirits Brush cleaner (the soap in the case, not the liquid) Viva paper towels
Either Stretched canvas or canvas mounted on Masonite
PASTELS If you are just starting out, I recommend A set of 90 half stick general use Rembrandt Soft Vine Charcoal Canson Mi-Tientes Pad Drawing Board (bigger than the paper you buy) Kneaded Eraser
If you want to add to your collection I also recommend Winsor & Newton Soft Pastels Terry Ludwig extra soft Pastels (Terry is a great guy and makes awesome pastels)Sennelier very soft pastels Carb Othello pastel pencils
Terryludwig.com Dickblick.com aswexpress.com canvaspanels.com (I like claussens #13 linen for portraits) Raymarart.com MadisonArtShop.com (I have only shopped here once but have had an extremely favorable experience).
Pochade box: openboxm.com Julian half box easel available at aswexpress. com or dickblick.com