pen, ink and aldi

[ethandron]

happened to be near a hobbycraft yesterday so popped in and had a look at their pen and ink stuff. decided to buy a fairly cheap dip in pen with 5 different nibs, and a pot of black acrylic ink. tried it out and am pretty pleased with it, easier than i was expecting and although a bit scratchy it was smooth enough to draw with. so thanks for everyones help and advice on my earlier thread :)
also just back from aldi with some canvases and a large tin of all kinds of pencils - charcoal, metalic, watercolour, etc. whilst most certainly not of the highest quality i'm sure i will enjoy having a fiddle with them all.

[heathfield]

Well done, Ethie. Kind of you to let us know - have fun!!

[ethandron]

'ethie' - i like that heathfield :o)
you were all so helpful i just thought it was polite to let you know. also, being a complete novice, it gave me a bit of confidence to know what to actually look for.
pixi, i'm really not wonderful myself and it's taken me a while to realise that i'm doing this just for me and not for other peoples approval. i really like tony curtis's artwork, all colourful and vibrant.
http://shop.tonycurtis.com/Posters_c17.htm

[Buenchico]

Hi Eth/Ron:
Just another source of cheap art materials for you.

Most towns have a branch of 'The Works', which mainly sell remaindered books. But in each store you'll also find cheap art pads, canvasses, brushes, watercolours, oil paints and lots more:
http://www.theworks.co.uk/corporate/Stores

Chris

[ethandron]

thanks chris, i have been in a couple of 'the works' shops and bought stuff and you're right, they really are good value. trouble is there's not one very near to where i live, have to wait till i visit my son.

[seadogg]

Also thanks chris. I enjoy pen and wash and didn't realise we had one here that might be cheaper than a specialist shop I use. Must go and compare.

[SpookyMan]

If you paint onto canvass do you have to pretreat the canvass or do you paint straight on just like when using paper.

[Souldarkness]

Just go for it ...the treatment on the cheap mass produced canvasses will take oil or acrylics perfectly well

[SpookyMan]

Thank you

[saxy_jag]

If Aldi's art materials are anything like the quality of any of their other 'specials', they should be OK. I bought a photographic tripod a while ago for £12. It's not the carbon fibre Manfrotto I've got my heart set on, but it's sturdy, stable and light and I can't complain at the price.

[ethandron]

yep, i paint straight on to canvas with acrylics, the ones i've ever bought have some sort of finish on them.
agree with you saxy, have had lots of their specials and mostly been pleased with them. only thing i wasn't was a lopper which broke after lopping about 6 branches. the metal blades were fine, it was the plastic (hollow as it turned out) handles which snapped. if they'd made them out of solid plastic it would have been fine. crossed my mind to buy a scope from them a few weeks ago but didn't get round to it.

[DTCwordfan]

how do you upload a photo anyone and then ethandron and I can share some work and with you?

I uploaded my web site but then realised I had some pricing info (thx ttfn) so declared myself to the Ed and the answer was removed.

[DTCwordfan]

[IMG]http://i54.tinypic.com/mjo6fm.jpg[/I

may have had some success.....

[DTCwordfan]

http://i54.tinypic.com/mjo6fm.jpg[/I

I will retry that - could we see yours ethandron?

[DTCwordfan]

weird - its left off the left side but you get the gist
of my drawing....

[ethandron]

yikes DT, not sure i'm ready to share yet....
(your link thing hasn't worked for me)

[ethandron]

yes it worked:o)
i'm REALLY not ready to share now after seeing that, it's wonderful, you're very talented DT.

[DTCwordfan]

come on ethandron - I am sure your work is great......

here is one of mylor yacht club (before the club is pulled down and the Grade 1 pier restored)

[DTCwordfan]

http://i52.tinypic.com/beydqb.jpg[/IMG]

sorry