What art supplies have you bought recently?

I've just ordered a giant piece of alabaster so that I can do a larger
version of the sculpture that I'm currently working on .
This particular stone is not large enough to do the complete figure [see photo]
Cheers,
Patricia

'Enlightenment'

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Angela, what were the new neocolor II 's that you got? Are you enjoying them? I never did get more, but still think I want a few.
I'm still moving things in and out of my cart. I usually play around with items in my cart for a month or so before I place my order. I have all of the neocolor II colors that I don't already have either in my cart or on my saved for later list. Eventually I'll get them all. I haven't used the ones I have in a while, but then again I haven't had much time for any kind of art lately.
 
Some of my recent finds from clearance sales, a thrift store and an estate sale:

The book "The New Artist's Manual" by Simon Jennings $4.
Sennelier 30pc Landscape set pastels $25, almost unused.
Six Fredrix Red Label 5x7 canvases for $2ea.
Two M. Graham 8oz bottles of Walnut Oil $8ea.
Two M. Graham 8oz bottles of walnut Alkyd Medium for $8ea.
A Tran Oil Paint carrier $20.
Twenty two Derwent Lightfast colored pencils for $1ea.
Two 20pc sets of Pan Pastels for $30ea.
A very nice store paint brush display rack for $15.
Ten sheets of Canson Mi Tientes Touch for $5ea.
 
That reminds me that, while I'm still moving things in and out of my Blick cart, I did buy three oil painting books from Abebooks.:
Encyclopedia of Oil Painting Techniques by Jeremy Galton
The Art of Basic Oil Painting (Walter Foster)
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Oil Painting (editor Marian E. Appellof).
I didn't even go to Abebooks for oil painting books. I was there to buy something else, but the seller I chose had a bunch of art book bargains.
 
Not bought, but was gifted some thin, translucent, corrugated plastic panels of varying widths and lengths.
Both sides are smooth unless damaged, but have thin white lines across them, easily seen in the photo. . I applied transparent WC & opaque WC (gouache) on bare panel, then applied 2 patches of acrylic gesso, to try Trans. wc, opaque wc, and oil and acrylic, which I'll also do on both bare and gessoed. For the bottom patch I applied water first, then gesso, whereas on the two side pieces I did not. The top section was heavy, which did not work well, below I did two thinner applications. Both WCs could be somewhat easily scratched off, I don't know about the gesso yet. The dark area is a darker work that this plastic was laying on when the photo was taken.
If nothing else, it may work for practice for various media. These panels can be cut with a utility knife or work scissors of some kind.
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I've experimented with this "plastic cardboard". It's the same stuff they use for yard signs. I wanted to use it as a support for Nara paper.
Nara paper is made of the same stuff as Yupo - has slightly different characteristics. For Nara (or Yupo) to stick only certain spray glues will work - Loctite is the one I use. You get a smooth surface none of the ridges show up. If you glue two pieces of "plastic cardboard" together it is stronger than hardboard(masonite). To get larger sizes and for it to be cost-efficient you have to buy in quantity - like around $50 worth or so. Painting directly on it, didn't work out for me.
 
Ooogee. Thanks, Bongo. That's too bad. I have access to some as construction throw-aways. \
Any ideas on what glue to use to glue two sheets of this together?
 
Ooogee. Thanks, Bongo. That's too bad. I have access to some as construction throw-aways. \
Any ideas on what glue to use to glue two sheets of this together?
the plastic cardboard and Nara/Yupo are non-porous so regular glues don't work. You might be able to glue some regular paper/watercolor paper etc. to it. To glue two pieces of "plastic cardboard" together --This works instantly and you'll never get them apart.

 
Two more things I've had experience with: Dap/Weldwood Contact Cement. This is what builders use to glue down formica counter tops. Apply it to two surfaces, let air dry for a minute, then stick them together. Do it right, they will not come apart. This is available from hardware stores, Home Depot, etc.
I also had a plastic sheet I wanted to paint on. I primed it with Liquitex Modelling Paste, very sticky stuff, it stuck hard and fast and I could paint on it. Two years later, it's still hard and fast.
 
Not bought, but was gifted some thin, translucent, corrugated plastic panels
A few years ago I wanted to paint on some plastic masks, in the manner of Venetian Carnival masks. I had in mind to use some spray color for a general uniform color base layer. Looking in a hardware store for such a spray, I was told by store's people to start by some primer spray that would make the plastic able to receive and keep further color coats. Perhaps you have to look for such a primer spray.
By the way, I didn't go further with that mask story, so I can't tell more about how this works.
Plastics can be very tricky concerning color adhesion. I think harder plastics like hard pvc are easier to work with than soft, flexible or rubbery plastics.
 
I saw on YT where the artist got some pegboard, pegs and a bunch of mini binder clips. You attach the clips to the tubes of paint then hang them on the board. Can see what you've got and keeps them organized. As it is now I have like thirty tubes of acrylic and maybe a dozen oils in boxes. I don't even know how many watercolor tubes I have anymore. When I paint I just pour them out on the table but it's messy.

So I've ordered the clips and pegs from Amazon and picking up the peg board at the Home Depot and we'll see how it works out. I think it will look cool having all the paints displayed on the wall like this. But now I have to clear a space on a wall somewhere. As usual one project leads to three more.

This is the vid. I'll let y'all know how it works. Instead of making pegs like she did I ordered these https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B092HW3QRM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 
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I bought a 2H and a 2B pencil today. Because I'm away from home for 2 weeks, I decided it would be nice to do some pencil work for a change, and I didn't bring any pencils 😄
 
I saw on YT where the artist got some pegboard, pegs and a bunch of mini binder clips. You attach the clips to the tubes of paint then hang them on the board. Can see what you've got and keeps them organized. As it is now I have like thirty tubes of acrylic and maybe a dozen oils in boxes. I don't even know how many watercolor tubes I have anymore. When I paint I just pour them out on the table but it's messy.

So I've ordered the clips and pegs from Amazon and picking up the peg board at the Home Depot and we'll see how it works out. I think it will look cool having all the paints displayed on the wall like this. But now I have to clear a space on a wall somewhere. As usual one project leads to three more.

This is the vid. I'll let y'all know how it works. Instead of making pegs like she did I ordered these https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B092HW3QRM?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Who has this kind of wall space to spare?
 
I was torn between buying these 24 Derwent Procolours and the 12 Lightfast pencils, but ultimately chose the Procolour because the deal was so good ($35 vs the usual $70). I know they aren't all lightfast, which is disappointing for professional quality (and priced!) pencils. But for $35? I ain't stressing 🤣
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Arty, nice cabinet! I know you'll put it to good use!

Jessie, your new toys look wonderful.

Congratulations to you both.
 
Four secondhand books from a local Church shop for the equivalency of 16 US dollars. All in very good or better condition.

'The Nude' by Kenneth Clark, previously owned by Elizabeth Osmers of London 1964, (Wonder if she's still around?) NM 'Pieter Bruegel' by Christian Vohringer, 'The History and Techniques of the Great Masters; Whistler' by Michael Howard, and lastly 'Raphael' by Stephanie Buck and Peter Hohenstatt.
 
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