Artists are often asked which art products they couldn’t possibly do without. So I thought I would share with you the most inspensible and well used item in my studio. The Pigment Stick. Doesn’t sound exciting I know, but believe me, once you have used them you will never go back. The are wonderful little sticks of pigment which enables you to draw with oil paint.
They are produced (hand made) in the States by R&F (and they are not paying me to promote their product by the way!), made from all natural products and come in 90 pure, intense, luscious colours. I came across the pigment stick about four years ago in an art shop in Sydney and bought one colour to try – Azlizarin Orange. From then on I was totally hooked, a slave to the pigment stick! I am now the proud owner of about 60 of the 90 colours.
I rarely use the pigment sticks to do entire painting as they are not inexpensive (generally about $12 – $25 for a 38ml stick, from my local art shop) and my canvasses are normally very large. If yo are looking to find R&F Handmade Paints Pigment Sticks
Anyway, back to the important stuff. I find their real value is in using them as a combination with oil paints. They are fantastic for creating quick, gestural drawn lines which you just can’t get using a brush. Being so versatile, you can use them for initial sketches on the canvas, highlighting areas, mixing them with medium, rubbing them back, layering them, or going back to do outlines once the paint is dry. I just love them.
The only downside is that some colours tend to melt in very hot weather and have to be kept refrigerated! (Problem in Australia unfortunately)
To see the pigment sticks in action watch my time-lapse painting video or check out the gallery.
Hi Sara….l just love your paintings…you inspire me so much!…I also paint, but with acrylics.
I was wondering if the pigment sticks work with acrylic paints or just oil paints?..
Love your paintings Sara!.
best,
Lisa
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for your kind comments! The pigment sticks are very versatile, they can work with both acrylics and oils, but the only thing you have to be mindful of with the acrylics is that you apply them on top of the acrylics. Acylics on top of oils won’t work.
Hope this is of help.
Sara
I just received your latest Newsletter with great painting tips. I had reached out last week via email regarding
the R & F sticks. Your paintings are beautiful. I like to study the tools and techniques of artists I admire. I ordered a small R & F sample kit. I also purchased items from your list of other supplies most valuable to your work listed in another post. One of your tips suggested starting paintings with an acrylic underpainting to facilitate quicker drying time. In the time lapse (one minute) video link attached it looks like you started with oil directly onto a primed white canvas. Your video goes so fast there is no way to understand your techniques. If you used the pigment sticks, I could not tell. I would love to see another SLOWER video. All three of the works in the newsletter are worthy of being called “liked BEST”.
Charlene
Louisiana, USA
Hi Charlene, thanks for your email. On the subject of under painting with acrylics – it’s a method I use on some paintings, not all. Often I just start with a white canvas. I know it’s hard to pick up any detail on the time lapse videos and I apologise for this. As you would know paintings take hours/days to complete and I don’t want to bore everyone with loads of footage. However, next time I make one I will slow the pace a bit more to try and include more detail. Thank you for your very valuable feedback.
Sara.