Blog

Artists Lighting: The Daylight Company

September 18, 2025

Part two of our Artists' Lighting series, this time we're shedding light on The Daylight Company.

No matter your medium or discipline of choice, any creative endeavour can be ruined with the wrong lighting conditions.  When it comes to the "right" lighting, you can't get much better than natural sunlight.  Daylight LEDs have become the go-to choice for this very reason, which is where The Daylight Company comes in.

The Daylight Company's ever-growing catalogue of artists' lights, lamps and magnifiers seamlessly blend quality, aesthetics and a clear love of artistry for a professional-quality range of bespoke options designed for a variety of techniques, applications and scenarios.

So, whether you prefer painting with acrylics, oils and gouache, producing bold graphic pieces with markers, or illustrating intricate designs with fineliners, The Daylight Company have the lighting you need.

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Artists Lighting: Benefits of Daylight LEDs for...

September 17, 2025

Part one of our illuminating two-part Artists' Lighting series covering daylight LEDs & The Daylight Company.

If you’re an artist producing expressive sketches, penning intricate calligraphy or painting with oils, acrylics or watercolours, you know that lighting can make or break the creative process.  Having the right illumination can make all the difference to the accuracy & consistency of your work, along with ensuring a comfortable working space.

Daylight LED lamps, like the ones from The Daylight Company, have become the go-to choice for artists seeking true colour and fine detail.  Today we’ll be exploring daylight LEDs, discussing technical details, what makes them a true game-changer and recommending some lighting options for watercolourists, sketchers, calligraphers and painters.

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Safer, Cleaner, Smarter: Zest-It Mediums for...

September 11, 2025

Let's be honest - traditional solvents like turpentine or white spirit have never been anyone's favourite studio companions.  We all know how useful they are for oil painting, but the fumes, the headaches... is it worth it?

That's where Zest-It steps in, a leading innovator in eco-conscious art materials, their range of low odour mediums and additives prioritize safety above almost all else.  Enhancing artistic techniques with a zesty citrus twist, these amazing mediums make brush cleaning, blending and painting not only much safer & easier, but even more fun!

Whether you’re layering glowing oil glazes, blending coloured pencils into buttery smooth gradients, or rescuing brushes from dried masking fluid disasters, Zest-It has a solution that keeps your creativity flowing... all without the toxic cloud.

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Water-Mixable Oil Paint: A Solvent-Free Revolution

September 11, 2025

Water-mixable (or water-soluble) oil paints are a modern evolution of traditional oils.

Unlike conventional oils, which require harmful solvents like turpentine for thinning and cleanup, water-soluble oil paints are both non-toxic and specially engineered to be thinned and cleaned up with nothing but ordinary water.

A game-changer for health, safety, environmental impact and accessibility, whether you’re working a small studio, shared classroom or at home, water-mixable oils offer the same luxurious feel and rich texture of oil paints, all without exposing yourself or your workspace to hazardous chemicals or VOCs.

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The Ultimate Guide to Liquitex Professional...

September 09, 2025

Developed in collaboration with artists, the Liquitex Professional Brush range offers a versatile selection of specialist artist tools focused delivering quality, precision and durability whether you're painting tiny marks on canvas or bold, expressive strokes across a mural.

In this short guide, we’ll be exploring Liquitex Professional Brushes to understand just how these amazing professional tools function and how they can enhance your work.

So, join us as we break these down into several distinct, easily understandable categories; the Core Collection, the Large-Scale Series, and finally, Specialty Tools to discover the right brush for your next acrylic painting project!

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Liquitex Professional Acrylic Mediums: A Guide

September 05, 2025

When it comes to pushing the boundaries of acrylic painting, no one does it quite like Liquitex.  Since introducing the world to artists’ acrylics in 1955, they’ve been innovating on the concept to help creatives... well, create.

Made using the finest materials, Liquitex Professional Acrylic Mediums allow you to take a single paint & create an endless combination of outcomes whilst delivering stable, archival results.  What makes them a real game-changer is their ability to be intermixed with any other Liquitex paint, including the Basics, Heavy Body & even Acrylic Ink ranges!

In this short guide, we’ll go over examples from this impressive range, looking at their uses & exploring how they can elevate your masterpieces.

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Lino Printing: A Beginner’s Guide to Materials

September 04, 2025

Popular with fine art painters, crafters, hobbyists and, well... everyone... Lino printing is an easy-to-learn & difficult-to-master technique that perfectly combines simplicity with creative freedom. 

At their simplest, linocut printing techniques involve carefully carving a design into an appropriate material & using specialised inks to apply the pattern onto paper or fabric by hand or with a press for bold, infinitely repeatable patterns.

In this beginner’s guide, we’ll be visiting our Printmaking Materials to discover different lino printing surfaces, highlight some of the best lino printing tools around & discuss the difference between water-based and oil-based printing inks.

So, join us & begin your lino printing journey with confidence!

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A Hodge Podge of Mod Podge

August 19, 2025

First developed in 1956 by Harry Tabachnick, Mod Podge (short for "decoupage") is a water-based, non-toxic range of versatile 3-in-1 glues, sealers & finishes strong enough to bond wood, fabric, glass & more.  Available in several variations, their thick, creamy consistency applies smoothly, dries perfectly clear & is available in several different finishes.

Adored for it's creamy consistency, perfectly clear finish & versatility, Mod Podge was an immediate hit amongst crafters and decoupage enthusiasts.  As decoupage grew in popularity over time, so too did Mod Podge, with these incredible adhesives now available in over 65 countries.

Not content with creating one iconic craft material, Mod Podge has grown to include a variety of specially formulated varieties including Matte, Gloss, Glitter, Outdoor and more.  However, no matter what, the original all-in-one glue & sealer remains a beloved staple.

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GOLDEN GAC Polymers

August 18, 2025

In honour of our Medium MADNESS sale, we thought we would introduce everyone to the much-loved GAC Acrylic Polymer range of acrylic mediums from GOLDEN.

Standing for “Golden Acrylic Colours”, each GAC represents a unique polymer that offers specific attributes including extending paint, regulating transparency, creating glazes, increasing gloss, altering viscosity and even binding pigments for various effects (amongst others).

Unlike other GOLDEN Mediums, GAC Acrylic Polymers offer a thinner, more fluid application with a minimum amount of thickeners, levellers, defoamers and surfactants, ensuring good film formation.

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