Artistic Insider, October – Prescott Art Store
Happy Autumn everyone! Fall is a beautiful season for bright colors and creative spirits. We hope that this month’s Artistic Insider inspires you! Look inside for our latest staff picks, Inktober, Prescott Comic-con, art classes in the area, and more! Enjoy ~
It’s the season, isn’t it? for… Pumpkin EVERYTHING! Even if you’re not into the taste of pumpkin spice, you can still enjoy the creativity that goes into fall decorating. Look at this Starry Night carved pumpkin by Maniac Pumpkin Carvers…
You don’t have to carve a pumpkin, regular art supplies can be used to decorate your squash. Look at these examples using Amsterdam Acrylic paint, Montana Metallic and 94 spray paint, Krylon sprays and more! We have everything you need to make your painted pumpkin a masterpiece.
Staff Supply Picks for October
We’re around art supplies all day every day (yes it’s a dream job!). Some art supplies really stand out as awesome and we decided to share our favorites with you. See our staff’s favorite supply picks for this month, below:
Sean’s Pick: Clean Color Real Brush
With a single sided nylon bristle brush tip, ZIG Clean Color Real Brush is a water-based dye with a range of colors. Featured in the ZIG Arts & Crafts line, the nylon bristle brush is small and very flexible with great elasticity, making it easy to go from thin too thick lines in one stroke.
Clean Color Real Brush is expanding into all types of art forms including: scrapbooking, rubber stamping, illustration, cartooning, fine arts, brush lettering, and one of the most popular, card making. When paired with ZIG Blender or ZIG BrusH2o, there’s endless possibilities when it comes to blending.
Blending Tips: Taking two ZIG Clean Color Real Brush pens, for a few seconds gently touch nib-to-nib. Keep the two pens horizontal and ink will flow from the top pen onto the tip of the second pen. After using the blended pen, clean excess ink off onto a piece of scrap paper or towel. Another blending technique, take a ceramic or plastic dish and brush a color straight on to the dish. Taking another color (preferably a lighter one) grab the color in the dish and brush away.
Jeff’s Pick: Grafwood Graphite Pencils by Caran d’Ache
Caran d’Ache has drawn on its expertise and explored the deepest graphite mines to search out the infinite color nuances of carbon. The result is the Graphite Line, an original concept dedicated to graphite that gives artists the opportunity to compose their own graphite range and explore all the shades of black. An integral component of the line is the Grafwood pencil.
This series of extra-fine graphite pencils contains 15 gradations (including 9B, the deepest black on the market), enabling artists to produce an infinite range of techniques and effects, uniform darkening of large surfaces, and regular and intense line drawing.
An easy-to-hold design offers optimal artistic control.
Olivia’s Pick: Accurasee Sketch Caddie
The SketchCaddie makes it easy for artists on the go to store essential drawing tools in one convenient location. No more pencils behind the ear and erasers in the pocket…the SketchCaddie just makes sense. The improved SketchCaddie has larger pockets and improved quality construction. Also…there are now 2 versions. The original Caddie for smaller sketchbooks and a Caddie with a longer band to accommodate larger sketchbooks. Plus, SketchCaddie holds your sketchbook snuggly safe!
Stop by the store and check out more staff favorites!
Don’t Miss the First Annual Comi-Con at the Prescott Public Library!
Photo Credit: Jan Marc Quisumbing
Don’t miss it! Mark your calendar! Saturday, September 30 brings the first ever Comic Con event to Prescott Public Library from 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Costumed characters, comic book artists, writers, publishers and local merchants will be on hand to answer your questions. Giveaways, door prizes and popcorn will be available throughout the day. For more information, be sure to visit the online events calendar. Comic Con is presented with funding from the Friends of Prescott Public Library.
Art Is Beautiful. It Could Also Kill You. Here Are Deadly Art Materials to Watch Out For
From Artnet.com: Making beautiful works of art can be immensely rewarding for artists. It can also be deadly. From premodern times when medical science was still ill-equipped to judge common threats, to the present day, when artists often still put their art before their wellbeing, certain art supplies have been a source of peril for countless painters and sculptors—and have done serious harm to some of art history’s most famous names.
Fortunately, as our knowledge of these dangers has improved, some companies have managed to strip noxious art materials of their harmful properties. But the more you know about the risks, the safer you’ll be. Here are seven deadly art supplies to handle gingerly, and with great care. 
It’s nearly Inktober!
What is Inktober, you say? Well, it’s the idea that every day of October you create an ink drawing and share it with your social media crowd… Or not! It’s a great discipline and gives your creative muscles a flex to make a drawing every single day. Check out these great ideas and give Inktober a try!
12 Habits of Highly Effective Artists, From Creative Exercise to Living in Airplane Mode
From Artnet.com: What makes some artists more successful than others? Talent, luck, and hard work certainly play a part, but there are other, subtler habits that many of the greats seem to have in common. We asked 11 artists about their work routines and the way they structure their lives to see how these everyday rituals, big and small, make them tick. Below, see the 12 habits that help these artists create their best work.
Art Classes in Prescott:
Pastel Workshops with Don Rantz
Tuesdays from 10AM to 2PM
Space is limited; Call for reservations (928)778-1385
Cost: $35 per session
These classes are open to both the serious beginner and the experienced artist interested in learning pastel techinique or expanding their skills in the use of pastels. Don is a local, award-winning artist and accomplished instructor who has been teaching classes and workshops in pastel since 2006, with many of his students going on to receive national recognition for their work. Don is absolutely amazing, don’t miss out on his renewed pastel classes!!!
Pastel Class space at the Phippen Museum is limited; Call for reservations (928)778-1385
Featured for October: Did you know? The Highland Center for Natural History offers Art Classes! Get 10% off at The Art Store with your class registration.
Coming up soon! A Celebration of the Seasons: Colored Pencil Series
with Diane Iverson
Local artist Diane Iverson is back for this popular colored pencil workshop that focuses on the changes in the seasons. During each session of this 6-class series, participants will be drawing natural items in the Discovery Gardens. All levels are welcome!
Participants will need to bring their own 9×12 Bristol Vellum drawing pad, pencil sharpener, kneaded eraser, & Faber Castell or Prismacolor colored pencils.
Where: Highlands Center for Natural History
(1375 South Walker Road)
When: October 2, 4, 9, 11, 16, 18| 9:00 am-12:00 pm
Each of these dates have different drawing topics:
10/2 – Leaves, Seed Pods, and Cones
10/4 – Insects and Their Homes
10/9 – Rocks, Lichen, and Bark
10/11- Forest Floor Leaf Litter
10/16 – Birds (with live birds from the Heritage Park Zoo!)
10/18 – Nests and Feathers
Cost: $132 for all 6 classes; $25 for each class
Class participants can get 10% off at The Art Store if they buy their supplies there and mention they are participating in the class.
Register for A Celebration of the Seasons: Colored Pencil Series at the Highland Center
Tis Art Center & Gallery offers classroom space for rent, teach or take a class with them! Click their logo for more:
Make a collage with fall leaves, and supplies from The Art Store!
Supplies needed:
Supplies needed:- A stroll in the woods
- An eye for beauty and color, and a shoebox, envelope, book or leaf press to keep your new found leaves in.
- Mod-Podge or Golden GAC-200 for adhering leaves
- A few paintbrushes in various sizes
- Glitter, paint, magazine cutouts, fabric – anything else you wish to add color, style or texture to your project
- An Ampersand art panel, Fredrix canvas, or heavy paper like Bristol or Arches watercolor paper to create your collage on.
Once you’ve found all of your collage components, take a breather and let your leaves flatten under weight for a day (unless you want them to be curly). Take all of your collage components and play with them. How do you like how they look? It can be random or intentional… it’s up to you! 
When your layout is decided, use Golden GAC-200 acrylic to adhere the items down. It can also be used on top of the collage to seal it. Mod-Podge is a cheaper alternative that also works well, but it can become more brittle than the Golden GAC-200. WE carry both at The Art Store!
You can paint your leaves with acrylic paint and use the painted leaves in the collage, or simply use the leaves to make prints… The only real limit is your imagination! Let nature inspire and delight you.
Here are some examples of collages using fall leaves! Have fun and happy art making!
Our pink sticker sale is still ongoing.. make sure to drop by the store and take advantage of great prices!
Didn’t see what you wanted with a pink sticker? Here’s a coupon to make it all right 🙂
Happy painting everybody! Have a GREAT Inktober/October! All the best,
Love The Art Store in Prescott
