A review by one of our customers on our website:

“Botanical Sketchbook is an excellent display of improvement in watercolour technique. It takes us through the process a student went through during a Course of 2 years offered by the Society of Botanical Artists. This student, Mary Ann Scott, was already a good wartercolour painter when she started the course, but when we compare her first works with the last one, we see a big improvement. I recommend this book for anyone interested in scientific illustration with watercolour techniques. This is not a book to teach you how to paint, but is a way of learning concepts by watching how others have progressed. The illustrations alone are reason enough to buy it. -by Nuno Barreto”

Botanical Sketchbook by Mary Ann Scott

This useful, inspiring book is discounted off the cover price at Jackson’s and as always all books come with a free sable brush.

Click on the link or image to go to the book on the Jackson’s Art website.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

You might like to read:
Making A Mark blog’s interview with Mary Ann Scott

He also hosts an educational blog: Essential Concepts of Landscape Painting that runs alongside the information in the book.

Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice by Mitchell Albala

This useful, inspiring book is discounted off the cover price at Jackson’s and as always all books come with a free sable brush.

Click on the link or image to go to the book on the Jackson’s Art website.

The Landscape Painting Books department on the Jackson’s website.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Jacksons Canvas

If you stretch your own canvases we have canvas available by the metre or in 10-metre rolls in a variety of weights and textures of cottons and linens with unprimed, oil primed or universal primed surfaces. And we have an even better price than usual on the universal primed 8oz and 12oz canvas in 10m rolls. They are on offer at 20% off until February 20th.

Primed Cotton Canvas roll

If you used pre-stretched canvases we also have an extra discount on Jackson’s stretched canvases, singles and boxes of 10 and 20. These good, standard quality economy canvases are 20% off the already low price until February 20th.

Jackson's Stretched Cotton Canvas

Click on the links or images to go to the offers on the Jackson’s Art website.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

NBframe is an innovative aluminium stretcher bar system for professional artists, museums and restorers. Its patented design creates a perfect framework for canvas stretching, free from deformation, twist and warp caused by humidity or dryness.

The inner aluminium structure is made of premium grade aluminium and provides for optimal structural integrity and stability. The FSC certified outer wood profile is shaped to smoothly guide the canvas along the flexible edge and allow for easy back stapling of the canvas. The flexible outer wall absorbs excess tension and ensures evenly and consistently stretched canvas.

NB Frame Stretched Linen Canvas

These high quality, assembled stretcher bar systems use triple primed Linen canvas. See below for specifications:

Grade: 100% Linen
Grain: Medium 1st Quality
Weight Unprimed: 280grs/m2
Priming: Triple Acrylic Gesso
Weight Primed: 450grs/m2
Staples: Backside Stapling
Packing: Individually Shrink Wrapped

Click on the links or images to go to the canvases on the Jackson’s Art website.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Click on the link above to go to the item on the Jackson’s website.

The book is discounted off the cover price at Jackson’s and as always all books come with a free sable brush.

How To Paint Flowers in Acrylics by Tim Fisher

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

The book includes illustrated sections on the benefits of the materials you will use, and demonstrates the various techniques that help make the most of your paints. Colour and paint theory is also covered, and Tim Fisher’s friendly explanations make this vital aspect of producing successful paintings simple. The three step-by-step demonstrations showcase the richness and versatility of the acrylic medium and how flowers can be portrayed in very distinct styles. This book contains everything you need to learn to paint flowers; ranging from sun-drenched poppy fields to abstract compositions, taking in still life and garden-style painting along the way. Tim’s style of painting uses acrylics in an impasto manner as you might use oils.

The Ready to Paint book series is designed for those who want to learn to paint but cannot rely on their drawing skills. Re-usable A3 (42 x 29.5cm; 16½ x 11¾in) outlines of paintings are provided to pull out from the centre of the book. Clear instructions and step-by-step photographs show how to transfer the outlines onto paper and then how to create beautiful watercolour, acrylic or oil paintings, although the tracings could of course be used as the starting point for painting in any media.

Use this voucher code: READY at the checkout to get the special offer. Offer valid until January 12th.
Click here to go to the Ready to Paint books on the Jackson’s website.

This book series has been very popular- it shows just how many people want to get right to the fun part and enjoy the pleasure of the paint while skipping past the drawing step which for many people is the frustrating bit. This new concept bridges the gap between painting by numbers and conventional art instruction books.

Ready to Paint Books

Presented by well known art teachers the selection is growing fast and more titles are scheduled. At Jackson’s we stock all 31 titles in the series so far.

Click on the links above to go to the items on the Jackson’s website.

As always all books from Jackson’s come with a free sable brush.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

These include the Inktense pencils and blocks, Watercolour pencils, Metallic pencils, Aquatone pencils, Studio pencils, Coloursoft pencils, Pastel pencils, Graphic pencils, Graphitone pencils, Onyx pencils, Graphitint pencils, Charcoal pencils, Tinted Charcoal pencils, Drawing pencils and the new Just Add Water sets.

Derwent Sets

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You can also request a free tin (will hold 12 pencils) with purchase of any 10 single pencils (sets not included).

Free Silver Tin with a purchase of 10 single Derwent Pencils

Free Derwent tin offer is available until the 12th of December or while stock lasts.

Click on the links above to go to the offers on the Jackson’s Art website.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Paint with the Impressionists

In this approach to Impressionism and its methods, the author’s instruction sets out to enable amateur artists to paint like the Impressionists. Illustrated throughout with well-known works of art and step-by-step examples, the book shows how the masters achieved their diverse effects and how their ideas and styles can be adapted to today s tastes. Sections on the artists provide insight into individual technique: learn how Monet produced his oil colour sketches, or how Sisley created his landscapes.

Using examples of landscapes, portraits, still-life paintings and figures, the book gives a series of demonstrations, showing how to achieve the desired effects in stages, from the initial sketch to the finished painting. An introduction provides historical background to Impressionism, and a section is included on artist s materials. This book should appeal both to beginners and to more experienced artists, as well as those inspired by Impressionist painting.

This useful, inspiring book is 20% off the cover price at Jackson’s.

Click on the link above to go to the book on the Jackson’s Art website.

As always all books from Jackson’s come with a free sable brush.

Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.

Soft Pastels

Health concerns about breathing in dust from the soft chalk pastels have caused some pastel artists to switch to oil pastels. An oil pastel has the pigment bound with non-drying oil and wax. Quite different results can be achieved using a variety of techniques. For example: oil pastels dissolved with solvents look very different to ones used lightly over the surface of a textured paper. Some wax or oil pastels are also water-soluble. A fixative exists for oil pastels though some artists feel it isn’t necessary.

A soft pastel is made to be as soft as possible without falling apart or breaking too easily. Because colours are mixed on the surface by layering and not mixed on a palette beforehand pastels usually come in a huge range of tints and shades of colours. Soft pastels can be used dry or with water and also come in a pencil format that is tidier to use.

Finished paintings are often sprayed with a fixative for longevity as the soft colour may not adhere completely to the surface (especially if many layers are built up) and the colour remains somewhat smudge-able. Some artists find fixative changes the colour or texture too much and they rely solely on framing behind glass as protection from smudging.

Hard pastels are usually square and are often called carre crayons. They have been baked at a higher temperature and their hardness allows finer lines to be made with their edges.

Like all artist materials the quality of a pastel is measured by the amount and quality of pigment – the higher quality pastels have little or no filler and the minimum amount of binder required to hold the pastel together. Every artist develops a preference for a particular brand, often based on colour choice or level of softness or hardness. A beginner would be wise to buy a colour in each brand and as they need to replace each colour buy the brand they have come to like best.

The surfaces used with soft pastels usually need to have a tooth to hold the powdery colour onto the surface. Pastel painting is usually done on paper though there is a textured ground by Golden Acrylics that can be painted on primed wood or canvas so that those surfaces can hold the pigment from soft pastels. Pastel paper comes in a variety of colours and textures designed to be able to hold the pigment in the texture of the paper and for the colour of the paper to be a part of the painting.

Clicking on the links above will take you to that product or department on the Jackson’s Art website.

Drying oils are the binders used when making oil paint. These include linseed (flax), safflower, poppy and walnut oils. They are also the ingredients used when making painting mediums to add to the paint to adjust its qualities. Mediums are usually made from a drying oil and either a resin (like damar) or a solvent (like turpentine).

The various drying oils have different drying times and properties. Mixing them with oil paint modifies the characteristics of the paint. They can make it thinner, lengthen or shorten the drying time, make it more transparent or opaque and change the gloss. Some oils and mediums cause yellowing but dry faster and others do not affect the colour but dry more slowly. You need to make choices about the qualities most important to you. For instance you might want to be sure to use a non-yellowing oil with white paint even if it means you must wait a longer time for it to dry.

The principle of painting ‘fat over lean’ must not be forgotten as any partially dry layers that are being painted over will continue to dry and shrink and may affect the layers on top. By insuring that later, upper layers dry more slowly than earlier, lower layers the paint will not crack or separate. If the layer has more oil it will dry more slowly and be more flexible so you are assured of a stable structure.

Types of drying oils:
Cold Pressed Linseed Oil (Unrefined):
Pale yellow in colour, increases gloss and transparency. Reduces brush marks. Produces a flexible film. Dries relatively fast. May yellow over time so many artists and paint manufacturers avoid using it with whites. The traditional oil to use.
Refined Linseed Oil:
Hot (steam) pressed oil, alkali-refined for artists’ use. This pale coloured oil increases gloss and transparency and slows drying time.
Stand Linseed Oil:
Oil heated until it changes at the molecular level. Heavy and thick it may need to be thinned with solvents. It is lighter in colour and yellows less with age than other oils. Dries to a smooth, elastic, enamel-like finish not showing brush strokes. Slow drying.
Poppy Oil and Safflower Oil:
Natural pale or colourless oil that yellows less than linseed oils so good for making white paint and mixing with whites. Dries more slowly than linseed oil. Weaker film than linseed oils which can promote cracking with aging, so less useful for the lower layers of a painting.
Walnut Oil:
Non-yellowing and dries a little faster than safflower and poppyseed oils. Glossy, and hard-wearing over time. Adds vibrancy, fluidity and resistance to cracking and yellowing.

All seed and nut oils will go rancid (oxidise) when exposed to air. This is part of the natural drying/curing process of the paint. But when in the bottle they can spoil. So like nut oils for use in the kitchen you will want to keep them cool, in the dark and in small, fully-filled bottles so less air is inside the bottle, and don’t buy too much in advance.

Oil painting mediums on the Jackson’s Art website.