[MikeP]

i don't fancy myself particularly good (or good at all for that matter) at art, but i like it....however, as of late i have been mostly invested in drawing as opposed to painting. so, i am interested in making my first real invested foray into painting this summer, and from what i gather from these boards and around the internet and elsewhere, gouache is a pretty good medium to get started in...forcing good habits and such.

anyway, there is a great wealth of knowledge on this board and i have learned a lot from threads like this and this, but i haven't been able to find precisely what i need help with: i want to create a gouache set up from scratch for hopefully not that much money...including paints, brushes, paper, etc...whatever is necessary. i am looking for a "barebones" version to keep the price low, although it would be nice not to have to buy complete crap-quality stuff. just in case it matters, i will probably be ordering everything from dick blick because there is only one even semi-decent art store near me and it is expensive. i suppose i would like to keep the price under $100-$150 (usd), but if that is unreasonable for what i am asking, let me know.

so, any suggestions along these lines would be much appreciated.

[Blind]

Good topic, Mike. I'm afraid I can't supply any answers, but if you don't mind I'd like to add some questions to this. And I'm definitely ionterested in the questions you asked too.

Is gouache the way to go if you are trying to put together a relatively inexpensive setup? Or can this be done with otehr mediums?

[mza]

gouache is really expensive stuff, I'd say more so than oil paints since they come in such tiny tubes. Most mediums you can get away with buying the cheap stuff... I bought one of those generic sets that come in a cool wood box, I ended up just keeping the box. Winsor Newton is the only brand worth trying.
If you really want to do it dirt cheap try using watercolor and only buy a tube of white gouache. Technically, gouache is opaque watercolor. They work well together.

My setup: one decent round watercolor brush, one flat brush,
a brown(burnt umber or sienna), black, yellow,white,ultramarine blue, and cadmium red. and I usually paint in a brown paper sketchbook.

total: well under $100, but then again there's plenty of stores near me.

[jr]

hi guys, a cheap place to get supplies is if you order from the italian artstore. don't let the name fool you, it's located in jersey. but you can check them out at their site www.italianartstore.com if you order 150 dollars worth of stuff , the shipping is free, my advice is to order with friends so it'll add up to 150. (it use to be 100). their prices are great. i use to buy my oil paints and brushes from them. i think it's cheaper than dick blick. hope that helped.

[Lunatique]

Other than Winsor Newton, Holbein is also an excellent brand for gouache. Adam Hughes uses that brand, and if you've seen his work, you know how saturated the pigments are. I personally use Winsor Newton since my local art stores didn't carry Holbein.

[Derek]

I know a few folks who use Holbein's Acryla (NOT Cryla)... and it is great stuff. You have gouache benefits and color depth, but the drying is more permamnent-no reactivation when the color has set. When I was drawing with Erik Tiemens-I got turned on to it by him, his paintings were done using that, and I think if you throw in Cartoon Color's black and white(skip gouache white... too chalky... and only use the black when you've learned how to use black, or for monochrome stuff) you have a good set up.
I use Winsor&Newton's gouache now, and am really looking forward to using the Acryla.
For some good looks at what you can do with gouache, look at the work of Adolph Menzel. Especially his foot, cast and armor studies.
Good luck.

Lunatique... UAC should carry Holbein.

[ June 15, 2002: Message edited by: Derek Smith ]