Q :: What type of paint do I prefer to use?
I started using all kinds of brands of acrylic paint. It was a budget thing, but as my budget grew I was able to slowly start mixing more professional grade paints. My favorite: Golden's heavy body acrylics.
The inexpensive paints were full of "fillers" like a cheap burger from a drive-thru joint and couldn't cover or consistently do what I needed it to do.
Heavy body paints give me a lot of options for texture making. I mix in Fluid Matte Medium (30%) for better viscosity, a satin sheen, and to extend my paint, saving me money.
Fluid paints are fun but only create a mess as I paint vertically on a wall, not nice and neat on a tabletop.
Q :: Why do I use a limited palette of colors?
It's almost like my cheater cheater pumpkin eater way of making sure my colors will always jive with each other.
It also helps artists who work in collections by giving their work a recognizable and unified color palette. Artists, like brands, want their work to be recognizable to them like a signature look.
It saves me money because I can afford to buy in bulk quantities the colors that I do like and use often.
And I don't go crazy over-buying too many paint colors and then not knowing when or how to use them...if at all.
Q :: What brushes or tools do I love to use?
Oh man! Too many to list fully here but I can do my best if I make this section just a list of my favorites:
- Derwent Nail Set Pro tool
- Small Kitchen Silicone Spatula
- Messermeister Bowl Scraper
- Royal Sovereign Colour Shapers
- Liquitex Freestyle #12 Palette Knife
- Liquitex Freestyle Paddle Brushes
- Escoda Oval Bristle Brushes
- Blick Mega Soft Synthetic Brushes
- Blick Mega Natural Bristle Brushes
- PanClub bristle chip brushes
- Malibu Art Crayons
- Stabillo Aquarellable Pencils
- NeoColor II Watercolor Crayons
- Creatacolor Chunky Charcoal
- Extra Fine Graphite Powder
- ArtGraf Tailor Squares
- Sennelier Delacroix Fixative
- heavy duty metal tube wringer
- plastic palettes with walls
- blue nitrile exam gloves
- GreenWorks wipes
- Blue Shop Towels
- fine mist water spray bottle
- 24" and 48" metal rulers