Last year I came across a page on Facebook called "Mrs Red's Art Room", based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. One of the products available from Mrs Red's, was the "Red's Art Cart" subscription. Each month you receive an amazing range of art supplies. Now I do subscribe to a few art suppliers like this (such as Art Snacks), but they are all based in the USA or UK. This was the first Australian based business I found offering art sample packs. So I gave it a go, just to see what it was like. I fell in love..... became hooked and joined the monthly subscription.
For me, based in Australia, the Red's Art Cart has been better value. I'm not paying for the big international postage or dealing with exchange rates and I receive the art supplies within 2-3 days from postage. Apart from receiving the art supplies each month, you get support from the wonderful and talented owner, Jane (AKA Mrs Red). As each Red's Art Cart is released, Mrs Red up-loads YouTube clips on the products and how to use them. Once you become a subscriber, you'll also have access to the Red's Art Cart members page and the ongoing support and mentoring from Mrs Red.
One of my favourite things about the Red's Art Cart, is not knowing what is in this colourful package until I open it. It is like Christmas. I'm a little bit of a arty nerd.... I get excited about these things. Some of the supplies I have received are things that I would not have considered buying myself. However, some of these products have now become some of my favourite things.
Please note, I'm not getting paid to review these products from Mrs Red's Art Room, I'll be doing these posts because I just love the Red's Art Carts.
Each month I will try to bring you an update on each Red's Art Cart and provide feedback on the art supplies I receive. I'll also try to back-date some of the other art carts that I have received over the past 12 months. But lets start with this month.....
May's - Red's Art Cart
I received the May's - Red's Art Cart on Wednesday, so today was play time. In this month's art cart I received Georgian Water Mixable Oil paints. I love the vibrant pigments of these paints. I found no real differences in painting with these paints compared to normal oils colours. When looking at how to use these paints from different tutorials (including Mrs Red's YouTube clip), on how to use these oil paints, some suggested that you can use a few drops of water to thin the paint. So I played a little before jumping into a painting.
You can mix water to these oil paints and I was surprised that the water blends well with the oils. However I did find that you need less water to thin the oils, and it seemed to reduce the intensity of the pigments a little.
I also tried the Winsor and Newton Safflower oil and Thinner (for water mixable oils). I only needed to add a few drops. Both blended very well with the oil paints. With these products I found that there was no change in the pigment.
It has been a few years since I've played with oils. It was wonderful to experience again the way that the colours move with each other and blend together. They are not as forgiving as acrylics, but I love the way that this medium plays on the canvas. I used a pallet knife and brushes with this project to create different shading, blending and texture. I need a little more practice with oils, but really enjoyed playing with this month's art cart. I didn't use the bushes received in this month art cart, I turned to some of my older bushes. Decided to keep these for another day.
Hope you enjoyed today's post, and looking forward to hearing your feedback. Keep an eye out for videos and product reviews on my Facebook page and YouTube channel.
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