A kit from us contains the printed canvas, the numbered acrylic paint pots, a set of brushes and a printed reference of the finished design. You can start the evening it arrives. What follows is not a shopping list you need; it is the short set of things our repeat customers end up buying, and the problem each one solves.
In the box
- Pre-printed cotton canvas in the size you chose, rolled, or with pine stretcher bars if you picked the DIY Frame Kit option
- Acrylic paint pots, 24, 36 or 48 depending on your choice, numbered to match the canvas
- A set of brushes
- A reference sheet of the finished painting
1. Liner brushes (the big one)
The kit brushes handle the large zones. Around hour three you hit the small numbers and start wishing for a finer point. A set of liners from size 000 to 7 fixes it; the 0 and 1 do most of the work. Ours is $12.95 for ten liners. Any art store set will also do, as long as it includes a 000.
2. A magnifier or reading glasses
The numbers in the small zones are printed small on purpose, so they vanish under paint. A clip-on magnifier or a pair of 2.0 readers saves a lot of squinting under a lamp. Our Painter's Extras bundle ($29.95) includes one along with liners, extra brushes, a glove and a marker.
3. A tabletop easel
Flat on a table, the canvas catches glare from the overhead light and your wrist drags across wet paint. A small adjustable easel tilts it toward you and keeps your hand off the surface. Our pine easel is 44 cm, $22.95, and folds flat.
4. A brush stand
Brushes left bristle-down in the water cup splay within a week. A stand that holds them bristle-up between colors ($14.95) is a small thing that keeps your fine points fine.
5. Varnish, from the hardware store
We do not sell it because it ships badly, but a small bottle of water-based matte or satin acrylic varnish is the difference between a canvas that looks like a kit and one that looks like a painting. One coat with a wide soft brush, 24 hours after the last stroke.
Things you do not need
Extra paint: the pots are sized for the canvas with some margin. If a color runs low, dab rather than brush on the last zones. A palette: the pots are the palette. Fixative spray: that is for pastels and charcoal, not acrylic.
Everything above the kit brushes, in one bundle
- Painter’s Extras: 10 brushes, 10 liners, marker, glove, magnifier (from $19.95) . $29.95, replaces items 1, 2 and the glove
All six accessories are in the tools and accessories collection. They ship free with a kit on the same order; note that the buy two, get one free rule applies to kits, not to tools.
Shipping is free to the US, Canada, the UK, the EU, Australia and New Zealand, with no minimum. Orders leave the workshop within 1 to 3 business days and arrive in 7 to 15. Put two kits in the cart and the third one is taken off at checkout, no code to type.
