Product Review: Royal Langnickel Crafters Choice Brushes

Welcome Back

In today’s post I will be reviewing;

‘Sheena’s brushes’ aka Royal Langnickel: Crafters’s Choice.

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Royal Langnickel; Crafters Choice. Otherwise know as Sheena’s Paint Fusion brushes
• Item number:
• RRP at time of writing: £10
• Set contains: 5 x White Nylon Brushes:
• Crafters Choice White Nylon Wash – 3/4″
• Crafters Choice White Nylon Wash – 1/2″
• Crafters Choice White Nylon Shader Size 8
• Crafters Choice White Nylon Round Size 6
• Crafters Choice White Nylon Round Size 3

Reason For Buying

These were demo’ed by Sheena Douglass on Create & Craft, for use with Sheena’s Paint Fusion (one stroke) painting stamps. My best friend gave me a set of these last birthday, I had bought several of Sheena’s stamp sheets and just started with acrylic paint for the first time. I have limited dexterity and these appealed to me for the cushion grip area on the handle.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Superb quality
• Grippy sections on the handles. Great if you hands don’t work so well
• Easy to clean
• Great set of sizes
• Perfect for acrylic paints
• Springy without being scratchy, soft without being too delicate
• Very comfortable to use
• Match with Sheena’s one stroke stamp sheets if you are getting into that.

Cons

• Haven’t got any. It would be nice to see a long-handled version of these too.

Build Quality

Excellent

Value for Money

Excellent

Would I buy it Again?

Yes, I use these a lot and they work really well

Summing up

At first glance and with the name ‘Crafter’s Choice’ I can see some artists walking past these as being cheap and cheerful brushes. It would be their loss. These brushes are superb quality for all round crafting and painting and have performed really well. The balance outperforms Daler Rowney System 3 brushes by a mile!

The sizes in the set are ideal for most projects, don’t be an art snob and miss out. Check these out, if you are bewildered by what brushes to buy and get these. Add any extras you need to AFTER you try them, unless you are painting REALLY big, these cover most projects.

Links

Available from

• Crafter’s Companion Hiding under Sheena Douglass tab on the site see direct link below.
• Royal Langnickel Brushes

A great set of brushes, try them, you won’t regret it, they are fab.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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Tutorial: Vintage Gold Crackle

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If you have ever wanted to create a vintage crackle effect for your projects, then you have come to the right place. In today’s video tutorial I’ll show you a really quick and easy way to create a crackle with a vintage look and feel. Here’s the kind of look you can achieve with this technique.

Vintage Gold Crackle. Paint Effect

You Will Need

• Jar of water
• Black mount board or chip board painted black
• Palette Knife
• Piece of rag or cloth for cleaning tools
• Small pot or lid from plastic milk bottle to mix in
• Palette to mix colour
• Winsor & Newton: Galeria; Modelling Paste
• Daler Rowney Interference colour: Shimmering Gold

Method

It’s easiest to understand with the video tutorial, but given the global nature of the internet, I’ll put written instructions in as well so if English isn’t the language you use, click on the translator tab at the side of the blog for translation.

Put some modelling paste into bottle top

Mix some Shimmering gold into the modelling paste, a little at a time

Apply the modelling paset onto the mount board using the palette knife (then put the knife into water so the paste doesn’t dry on to it)

Press another piece of black or dark coloured mountboard on to the paste, move the boards around a little to create more texture.

Peel the boards appart while the paste is still wet.

Set boards aside to dry. The gold colour will be more obvious once the paste has dried. Less paste will show more colour.

Options/Added Extras

Another way to add texture is using a scrunched up plastic bag. Apply layer of paste to the board, then while the paste is still wet, dab into it using the bag. As you lift the bag off it will leave texture on the board in the paste.

You will get different effects depending on

• How much paste you apply to the boards
• How long you wait before applying the board/bag
• Experiment and see what effects you can create and which you like.

Links

For links to suppliers of modelling paste and acrylic paint, please check out the Art tab at the top of the blog.

You can also use the techniques I showed previously in my earlier films, to add different texture effects to your paste

• Faux Crackle
• Embossed Stone Texture

Hope you give this technique a try, it would be great to add small areas of texture to projects or as surface decoration to boxes and cards. Would love to see what you create using the technique, do let me know what you create.

Best wishes and thanks for reading see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Product Review: Winsor & Newton: Galeria; Modelling Paste. Acrylic Medium

Welcome Back

In today’s post I will be reviewing;

Winsor & Newton: Galeria; Modelling Paste. Acrylic Medium

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Winsor & Newton: Galeria: Acrylic Medium: Modelling Paste
• Item number: 304o815
• RRP at time of writing: £7.60

Reason For Buying

I wanted to add some dimension to my projects, and experiment with different mediums to see what they could do.

Description

Quote from packaging: Stir well before use. A fine texture paste with a soft yet thick sculptural consistency. Build up depth in layers. Do not over thin with water. Apply with a palette knife and clean equipment with water immediately after use.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Mixes well with coloured paint, but will lighten colours because its white
• Minimal smell
• Smooth texture – feels like hair mouse but thicker
• Cleans up easily from tools using water
• Dries with a matt finish
• Great size tub with options of nozel for small amounts or unscrew the lid to use with a palette knife.
• Lid fits well and is secure

Cons

Haven’t got any. Does what it says on the tin

Build Quality

Excellent

Value for Money

Excellent, it costs less than the artist quality range, so is more affordable for trying out ideas, but performs well.

Would I buy it Again?

Yes

Summing up

Great for vintage metal and rust effects for adding some dimensional texture. You can stamp into this when it’s still wet or use it over stencils for specific patterns/designs. Great fun to experiment with, a great addition to your creative palette.

Links

Check out the Art tab at the top of the blog for links to suppliers and manufacturers.

• Cowling & Wilcox. Galeria Modelling Paste

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Tutorial: How to make your palette Metallic

Welcome Back

[Appologies for the delay in setting the second video to public, oops!! All sorted, it will work fine now].

As part of the Adventures in Acrylics online workshop series, I’d like to share a way to spice up your existing colour palette. This time with the help of metallic colours. If you are a colour magpie like me, and would love all your favourite colours as metallic or interference colours, there is an affordable way to do this. In today’s tutorial I’ll share another way to achieve this.

Make your Palette metallic with Winsor & Newton Galeria; Metallic colours

Earlier in the series, I showed how to use interference paint to take a regular palette of colours and give them a mica flip.

This is another option to take your colours and transform them into metallic colours of any hue.

You Will Need

• Jar of water
• Non stick craft sheet (for easy clean up)
• Palette knife
• Plate to mix on
• Winsor & Newton Galleria acrylic paint. Options: Silver, Gold and Copper

Method

• Put a small amount of gold paint onto your palette
• Put a small amount of colour paint onto your pallet in a different area
• Mix a small amount of metallic paint into your chosen colour.
• Mix using the palette knife

If the colour you are mixing into is opaque and over powering the metallic, work in the other direction. Starting with the metallic colour and adding just a touch of your straight paint colour until you get the depth of colour you like.

The metallic colour shows up best on or over darker colours and surfaces.

Options/Added Extras

Experiment applying thin washes of metallic colour over surfaces painted in dark colours.

Try painting your surface in the metallic colour and adding a thin watery wash of colour to it. This will produce a more matt effect, but the metallic will show through more transparent colours.

Links

For suppliers and manufacturers, check out the Art – Supplies tab at the top of the blog

Hope you enjoy this tutorial and give it a try. Its fun to experiment mixing your supplies together. By varying the amounts of metallic and colour you can get a huge amount of options from just a few colours.

Best wishes and thanks for reading see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Product Review: Winsor & Newton; Galeria; Metallic colours

Welcome Back

In today’s post I will be reviewing; Winsor & Newton Galleria Acrylic paint in the metallic colours.

Winsor & Newton, Galeria Metallic colours

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Winsor & Newton: Galeria
• Item number
• RRP at time of writing: £3.50 for 60 ml tubes

Reason For Buying

I love metallic colours for adding highlight to projects.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Galeria is a flow formula acrylic paint, which I find very versatile.
• Easy to mix
• Affordable price
• Great quality
• Each metallic colour more than doubles your existing palette by mixing and turning original colours metallic.
• Well fitting lids

Cons

• Haven’t got any.

Build Quality

Excellent. The tubes are durable, metal in the case of the 60 ml size. The lids fit well and the shape means there’s more to get hold of, when you want to remove them. Don’t be put off by the price, these are superb paints and perform well.

Value for Money

Excellent. A great price to try new colours without breaking the bank

Would I buy it Again?

Totally, I bought all the metallic colours currently in the range; Gold, Silver and Copper.

Summing up

If you haven’t tried metallic paint before, these are fantastic. The flow formula acrylic means they dry fast and are easy to clean off tools. They mix well with Galleria colours to turn your existing palette metallic. BARGAIN! I’ll be sharing how to do that in a later tutorial.

Links

• Winsor & Newton Manufacturers site
• Galeria. Manufacturers product page also links to colour chart

Available from all good art stores, check out my art supplies tab at the top of the blog for listings.

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Video Tutorial: Feathered Texture with Texture Paste

Welcome Back

I was looking at Surface Treatment workshop book by Darlene Mc Elroy and Sandra Duran Wilson and they had a technique called pulled paper. In their technique, they were leaving traces of paper behind on a surface to make it look aged, but it gave me an idea for creating dimensional texture with texture paste.

This is a really simple technique but gives a pretty result that is random and interesting, I think it looks a little like that feathered kind of pattern you used to see on marbled paper. Perfect if you are new to texture paste.

You Will Need

• Daler Rowney Texture Paste
• Acrylic colour of your choice I’m using Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylic paint as it has a flow formula
• Plain Paper  or plastic food bag (like you put sandwiches in)
• Mount board
• Flat Palette knife; I’m using Langnickel K4

Method

I’m including written instructions so that if you struggle with English, do use the Translate this site to have the instructions in your chosen language

• Apply a thick layer of texture paste to the mount board, using the palette knife
• Allow the paste to sit for a moment or two, just till the first sheen goes off it.
• Lay a piece of paper over the texture paste and smooth over GENTLY just to make sure the paper is in full contact with the whole surface of the board.
• Carefully peel the paper off the board, in one direction and preferably in a single take.
• Tis will leave a feather like texture in the paste
• Allow this to dry fully and then paint over with your chosen colours.

Options/Added Extras

• As an alternative to pressing paper into the paste, try using a plastic bag. Smooth it on and peel it back, this one can be used repeatedly.
• Try scrunching up your paper before you apply it to the paste for a different effect
• Vary how long you leave the paste before you apply the paper.
• Try scrunching the bag up while it’s on the paste before you remove it for another look again
• For a coloured background, mix your chosen colour of paint into the paste before you apply it to the board. This will lighten your colours as the texture paste is opaque.

Have fun and experiment, it’s often through ‘happy accidents’ that you find new techniques Here’s a few that I found while experimenting with texture paste for the first time.

Just the beginning, a few samples made after only an afternoon with texture paste!

Links

Where to buy materials list

• Daler Rowney
• Jackson’s Art Supply; Stockists of texture paste in the UK

Best wishes and thanks for reading see you soon

Billie

Adventures in Acrylics: Online workshop

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Product Review: Royal Langnickel Palette Knife K4

Welcome Back

In today’s post I will be reviewing; Royal Langnickel K4 Palette Knife.

Royal Langnickel; K4 palette Knife

Product Details

• Manufacturer/Brand; Royal Langnickel/ Artists Palette Knife
• Item number; #LK-4P
• RRP at time of writing: £4.50

Reason For Buying

I have been very happy with the plastic set of palette knives I’ve been using so thought it was time I upgraded to the metal version, now I’m using them so much more.

Pros/Cons

Pros

• Lightweight in the hand
• Comfortable wooden handle
• Flexible blade
• Easy to clean blade
• Perfect shape for applying and blending paint and mediums.

Cons

• Not a deal breaker, just a niggle, but the lettering on the handle comes off. This is only a niggle if you were wanting to replace the knife in the future and couldn’t remember it was a K4 or the brand. The text is also slightly embossed into the wood, so hopefully that will survive the life of the blade.

Build Quality

Great.  The handle is super smooth and very comfortable in use. The blade is quite flexible and not scratchy like some metal knives I’ve had in the past.

Value for Money

Great. a reasonable price for a great little knife.

Would I buy it Again?

Yes. In fact I already have bought a spare as its become a favorite tool and I’d hate to be without it.

Summing up

Love the versatility of the shape of this knife. If you have a pot of paint/medium its great to dig out material that hides under the edges of the pot. I love the option of a broad or narrow areas on the blade too. The flexibility of the blade makes all kinds of marks possible.

I highly recommend you try one.

Links

• Royal & Langnickel Main website, you can choose your country from here.
• Painting knife K4 

Best wishes and thanks for reading, see you soon

Billie

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