Search results for 'painting'
-
Cornelissen Sable Bright
Starting at: £5.80
Made from the same quality red sable as the rounds and used for short, thicker strokes of paint. Learn More -
Cornelissen Series 42 Hog Bristle Flat
Starting at: £5.00
Finest quality selected interlocking Chinese white hog hair. Seamless copper ferrule. Green handle. Learn More -
Cornelissen Series 44 Hog Bristle Filbert
Starting at: £5.00
Finest quality selected interlocking Chinese white hog hair. Seamless copper ferrule. Green handle. Learn More -
Cornelissen Sable Round
Starting at: £5.55
Finest quality red sable to all types of oil techniques. This brush has good sping even in the smaller sizes and retains its point well. Learn More -
Cornelissen Sable Filbert
Starting at: £8.25
Similar to the sable round but with a filbert shape combining the characteristics of rounds and flats. Excellent spring and colour holding capacity. Learn More -
Cornelissen Series 41 Hog Bristle Bright
Starting at: £5.00
Finest quality selected interlocking Chinese white hog hair. Seamless copper ferrule. Green handle. Learn More -
Cornelissen Series 43 Hog Bristle Round
Starting at: £5.00
Finest quality selected interlocking Chinese white hog hair. Seamless copper ferrule. Green handle. Learn More -
Illumination Gold and Colour Book
£15.00Patricia Lovett is one of the world’s leading authorities on the techniques and practical processes of making mediæval manuscripts. She lectures and teaches all over the world on calligraphy and illumination, and has written about a dozen books on these subjects, as well as producing a DVD – Illumination – Tools, Materials, Techniques, Projects. Patricia has run calligraphy courses as well as those on traditional manuscript gilding and painting techniques, and was awarded an MBE for her services to heritage crafts and calligraphy. This book takes the beginner and those with more experience through step-by-step processes to produce simple and easy projects using cheap metals and modern adhesives, and also to create mediæval miniatures and illuminated scrolls on vellum (animal skin). Learn More -
Gum Damar
Starting at: £7.50
Damar is a pale, almost colourless tree resin, which is soluble in turpentine, but not in alcohol or mineral spirits. It can be used as a varnish or as a glossy painting medium in conjunction with vegetable oils, and is generally preferable to other resin-based varnishes, such as mastic varnish, as it retains its colourless appearance for a longer period of time. In encaustic painting, the inclusion of damar resin imparts toughness and gloss to the paint surface. Learn More -
Gum Sandarac
Starting at: £8.60
Gum Sandarac, derived from a coniferous tree, is available in powdered or lump form. It can be dissolved in alcohol to create a varnish that is suitable as an isolating layer in oil painting and as a traditional top coat for egg tempera. It forms a brittle layer, so is only suitable for use on a rigid support. Another application is as a surface preparation for calligraphy; the ground gum can be dusted across a piece of prepared vellum or paper to create a resist, which shrinks ink strokes slightly, making them appear finer, with crisp edges. Learn More -
Liquid Glass Mediums
Starting at: £19.50
Renaissance Materials by Dr. David Cranswick.
A thick glazing medium of the 'Old Masters'. Liquid Glass Mediums facilitate building up layers of transparent glaze. Gloss or Satin.
Contains: Damar resin, linseed oil and beeswax (for Satin medium only)
Learn More -
Whiting
Starting at: £3.80
Whiting is powdered Calcium Carbonate, which can be mixed with rabbit skin glue to create a chalk-based ground for oil, tempera, distemper or encaustic painting. Traditionally, whiting was an important ingredient when preparing painting surfaces in the north of Europe, as opposed to gypsum (Calcium Sulphate), which was widely used south of the Alps. Learn More -
Carnauba Wax Yellow
Starting at: £6.50
Carnauba Wax is the hardest wax commonly used in the production of artists' materials, with a melting point of 83-86°c. It is derived from a tree native to South America, and is available in a natural colour (grey), or a refined colour (pale yellow). Small amounts of carnauba wax are commonly used in both oil painting mediums and encaustic painting, usually in conjunction with beeswax to add toughness, durability and sheen to the paint film. It creates an inflexible surface, so works best on rigid supports such as gesso panels, and it should be noted that it will raise the melting point of encaustic mixtures. It can produce a glossy finish; as such it is used in waxes and polishes for shoes, cars, musical instruments, furniture, and wooden floors, especially when mixed with beeswax and turpentine. Learn More -
Bleached Beeswax
Starting at: £12.30
Beeswax is derived from melted honeycomb, and is available in two grades. Bleached Beeswax Pellets are white, having been bleached by the sun, and are an appropriate choice for using with pale colours, although they may revert to yellow over time. Natural Beeswax Pellets are yellow in colour, and offer a more flexible structure with a higher resin content. Beeswax has a melting point of 63-66°c, and may turn brown if over-heated. It is the most widely used wax in artists' materials, having a wide range of applications. Please see below for more details.
Learn More -
Verdigris Pigment
Starting at: £4.90
Verdigris is an artificial pigment that dates from antiquity. Originally, it was produced by exposing copper to vinegar; nowadays acetic acid is used. It is acidic, so can contribute to the deterioration of paper supports. For this reason, it is more suited to oil or tempera painting than it is to watercolour. In tempera painting, it should be bound in animal glue or isinglass glue rather than egg york. When used in oil painting it should be held in a resin oil or balsam such as Venice Turpentine, as it can turn brown when ground directly into linseed oil. It is a fast-drying, transparent pigment, with a visible crystalline structure.
Larger quantities are available by request.
Learn More -
Kelmscott
Starting at: £13.00
Specially prepared to give a very smooth surface for painting or calligraphy. Learn More -
Gum Mastic
Starting at: £20.30
Gum Mastic is a tree resin, which dissolves into a clear varnish with alcohol or turpentine, but not with mineral spirits. Mastic varnishes are more prone to blooming and darkening with age than damar-based varnishes, and painting mediums that contain gum mastic can deteriorate in unpredictable ways. For this reason, it is primarily used in restoration, rather than in the production of artwork. Learn More -
Casein Lactic
Starting at: £18.30
Casein is a protein derived from dried milk, which has been used in painting since ancient times. It can be combined with Ammonium Carbonate to form an emulsion, which acts as a durable, non-resoluble binder for pigments, producing a matte, fast-drying paint, similar in appearance to egg tempera. We use casein as a binder for our L. Cornelissen & Son Pigment Colour Charts, as it is a medium that clearly showcases the characteristics and behaviour of each pigment in its pure form. Casein paints can be applied in thin layers to watercolour paper, but would require a more rigid support, such as a gesso panel, to be applied thickly, as the comparative inflexibility of the paint layer means that it can be prone to cracking. Subsequent layers of paint should be more diluted to aid adhesion, and impasto effects are not recommended. It is possible to varnish casein paintings using an acrylic or damar varnish to obtain a glossy surface if desired, although this is not a necessary step. Casein can also be used as an ingredient in gesso, and is a suitable binder for fresco secco techniques.
Some pigments may require a wetting agent in order to fully disperse within the binder, in which case alcohol may be used.
Learn More -
Cinnabar Pigment
Starting at: £16.00
PR106
Cinnabar, composed of mercuric sulphide, is a mineral pigment found in crusts or veins in sites of volcanic activity. It has good tinting strength and opacity but, like many red pigments, it dries very slowly in oil media. Due to its high toxicity, it is no longer an ingredient in commercial paints, but is a prominent colour in historical palettes.
Generally, Cinnabar refers to the natural mineral, while Vermilion refers to the synthetic pigment. Cinnabar has been mined since at least the tenth millennium BC, and used as a painting material, gemstone, and ritual object by many cultures around the globe.
Larger sizes available on request.
Learn More -
Paraffin Wax
Starting at: £6.60
Paraffin Wax is a by-product of the petro-chemical industry. It has a low melting point of 50-60°c and a brittle texture, making it unsuitable for encaustic painting or as an additive to oil paints, but it can be used to impart softness to lithographic crayons. As a petroleum product, it is more inert than animal or vegetable waxes, and is therefore not saponified (turned into soap) by alkali substances. Learn More -
Alumina Hydrate Light
Starting at: £8.30
Alumina Hydrate is an inert pigment with highly absorbent properties, which can be ground into oil paint as an almost colourless extender. It is often used as an additive in commercial oil paints, particularly in conjunction with transparent or lake pigments, as it provides stability and a homogenous consistency without effecting colour or gloss, although it may effect the pigment strength. When combined with linseed oil, it produces an almost transparent painting medium for extending oil colours. Sometimes referred to as Lake Base. Learn More -
Gypsum
Starting at: £5.70
Gypsum is powdered Calcium Sulphate, a traditional ingredient in gesso grounds used in southern Europe. One of the advantages of preparing your painting surface with gypsum is that it allows for a particularly even absorption of the paint film. It can also be added to acrylic primers to increase absorbency or add tooth to a surface. Learn More -
Carnauba Wax Grey
Starting at: £8.40
Carnauba Wax is the hardest wax commonly used in the production of artists' materials, with a melting point of 83-86°c. It is derived from a tree native to South America, and is available in a natural colour (grey), or a refined colour (pale yellow). Small amounts of carnauba wax are commonly used in both oil painting mediums and encaustic painting, usually in conjunction with beeswax to add toughness, durability and sheen to the paint film. It creates an inflexible surface, so works best on rigid supports such as gesso panels, and it should be noted that it will raise the melting point of encaustic mixtures. It can produce a glossy finish; as such it is used in waxes and polishes for shoes, cars, musical instruments, furniture, and wooden floors, especially when mixed with beeswax and turpentine. Learn More -
Natural Beeswax
Starting at: £11.20
Beeswax is derived from melted honeycomb, and is available in two grades. Bleached Beeswax Pellets are white, having been bleached by the sun, and are an appropriate choice for using with pale colours, although they may revert to yellow over time. Natural Beeswax Pellets are yellow in colour, and offer a more flexible structure with a higher resin content. Beeswax has a melting point of 63-66°c, and may turn brown if over-heated. It is the most widely used wax in artists' materials, having a wide range of applications. Please see below for more details.
Learn More -
Cornelissen Larch Venice Turpentine
Starting at: £18.00
Venice Trupentine is a thick, resinous liquid extracted from the Larix decidua, a larch tree native to Austria. It can impart luminosity, brilliance and gloss when used in mediums and varnishes, and as such it was highly valued during the Golden Age of painting in Venice. It is a slow-drying balsam, which can be diluted with turpentine or placed in a bath of warm water to aid flow.
Learn More -
Colour Shapers
Starting at: £6.15
Unique silicone tipped tools for painting heavy mediums such as acrylic and oil paint. Excellent for spreading adhesives and appplying masking fluid. Can be used with Batik and encaustic wax. Available in soft ivory tip and firm grey tip. Learn More -
Parchment Clippings
Starting at: £9.90
Parchment Clippings, usually waste goatskin vellum, were utilised throughout the Middle Ages to make an animal hide glue. This continued to be commonly used as a sizing for canvas before rabbit skin glue came to prominence in the nineteenth century. Parchment glue is comparable to isinglass glue, as it also produces a very pale, almost transparent glue with a degree of flexibility. Our parchment clippings are a mixture of vellum scraps, and may include goatskin, calfskin and sheepskin. Cennino Cennini gives a recipe for gesso using parchment in his treatise about painting; please see below for our recipe. Learn More -
Lemon Shellac
Starting at: £8.20
Shellac is a natural resin that is deposited by the female lac insect on the branches of trees in India and Thailand. It is soluble with alcohol, but not with mineral spirits or turpentine. It forms a tough yet flexible film, with many applications. It is suitable as a top coat for gilding when applied thinly, a sealant for porous surfaces, an isolating layer for tempera paintings, a base for pigmented inks, a protective layer for collograph plates, and a warm varnish for wooden floors and furniture. As it is prone to darkening with age, it is not recommended as a varnish for oils, and its solubility can reduce over time. There are various grades of shellac. When mixed with alcohol, it may initially form a cloudy mixture, due to traces of wax in the shellac, but this should become clear once it has dried. The highest grades of shellac are Clear Dewaxed Shellac, which has been de-coloured using the carbon filtering method, Lemon Shellac, and Orange Shellac, which are pale in colour. Button Shellac is less refined and therefore produces a reddish varnish. It was, in fact, widely used as a red dye before synthetic dyes became available. Learn More -
Precipitate Chalk
Starting at: £6.30
Precipitate Chalk is fine and white. For use in aqueous mediums as a ground for oil and tempera paintings. Learn More -
Lapis Lazuli Dark Pigment
Starting at: £12.20
PB29
Lapis Lazuli is a natural mineral pigment, mined in Afghanistan and South America. Different shades of Lapis Lazuli are determined by the intensity of colour of the lazurite vein; we offer the pigment in light and dark. For many centuries it was the most reliable blue pigment available, and became particularly significant during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, when its inclusion in a work of art denoted the wealth and status of the patron, or the holiness of a painting's subject. In commercial paint production it has largely been replaced by the more affordable Ultramarine Blue, although it still has a place on modern palettes due to its unique soft violet tone. It is a transparant pigment, with a low tinting strength.
Larger quantities are available by request.
Learn More


