A. Gallo – YInMn Blue

A. Gallo – YInMn Blue

Reading Time: 6 minutesIn my quest to try every weird and wonderful pigment under the sun, I have of course had my eyes set on acquiring some YInMn Blue (PB86). For those who don’t know, YInMin Blue (also known as Oregon Blue, or Mas Blue) is a relatively …

Inside The Sketchbook Vol. 2

Inside The Sketchbook Vol. 2

Reading Time: 6 minutesWelcome to Volume 2 of my Inside the Sketchbook series, where I have scanned and presented my sketchbooks, in the hope that they will be of use and interest to other Artists. This is a black sprial bound A4 Sketchbook, from Poundland – they produced …

Hebden, Todmorden and Wallace Seymour

Hebden, Todmorden and Wallace Seymour

Reading Time: 6 minutesFor something to do, this last week, we decided to go over the Hebden Bridge – the archetypal day out in West Yorkshire. Of course the climate-changed English Weather being what it is after a lovely hot Monday (which was actually quite beneficial to get …

The Finest Green (making a similar sort of mess as Percy…)

The Finest Green (making a similar sort of mess as Percy…)

Reading Time: 7 minutesAfter a bit of a flurry of pigment buying, I have got to the point I have enough different pigments to have a bit of a go at making my own colours, to slightly more defined recipes than before. Though as weill be seen, it’s …

Verdigris

Verdigris

Reading Time: 4 minutesA long time ago I decided to try and make verdigris. Verdigris is the common and historical name to for a number of salts of copper and acetic acid, or more simply copper acetate. Salts which could be characterised as copper acetate have a number …

Rosa Watercolours

Rosa Watercolours

Reading Time: 4 minutesI have been meaning to try out Rosa Watercolours for a while, in my general quest/obsession to try every colour or preparation on the planet. Rosa are a Ukranian brand, with a good reputation. They are also very inexpensive, and lets face it buying Ukranian …

West End, Colourmen and The Turner Appreciation Society

West End, Colourmen and The Turner Appreciation Society

Reading Time: 4 minutesLondon, day 2. The general itinery seemed to split itself into West End, East End, and today we head off towards Covent Garden and the west end shops. I have enduring memories of visiting Covent Garden Market as a child, though my last quick visit …

Inside the Sketchbook Vol. 1

Inside the Sketchbook Vol. 1

Reading Time: 5 minutesOne feature I very much enjoy on the Jacksons Art Blog is the insight into other artists sketchbooks. Often this is something very personal and many artists would flinch at this idea – it is reputed that Turner once chased a woman round a table …

To Temu, or not to Temu, that is the question…

To Temu, or not to Temu, that is the question…

Reading Time: 4 minutesIt’s probably impossible to have escaped knowledge of Temu over the last couple of years. The site that (apparently) lets you “Shop Like a Billionaire” became the darling of the younger Gen Z and the oldest Gen Alpha, amid concerns abouy Viruses, data protection, poor …

Mungyo “Passion for Masterpieces”

Mungyo “Passion for Masterpieces”

Reading Time: 9 minutesAfter picking up the Munyo “Nostalgia of Pastels” set a while ago I was interested to find a larger Mungyo set in The Range for £11.99. While I keep a large “professional standard” pallete it’s always nice to have a few more paints, and I …

Avocado Ink

Avocado Ink

Reading Time: 3 minutesPrompted by my continual playing with natural pigments in my paints, I made a batch of Avocado ink the other day. This is perhaps one of the better known vegetable dyes, creating a relatively stable and lightfast dusty pink colour. I’ve brewed up a couple …

Reflections on Making Watercolours

Reflections on Making Watercolours

Reading Time: 12 minutesIt’s been a few months since I started off on the journey of beginning to make my own watercolours and I thought it was time of a bit of a review of where things are up to, as I have learned quite a lot and …