Prisma Colors

So, I love prisma colors--they are the greatest colored pencils ever. I've never used their markers, so I can't say how great they are (hey, folks at Prisma Color; if you are reading this I'd be happy to review your markers--just send me a set!) The colors are so true, they lay down very smoothly, and blend nicely. They are definately a splurge--I bought a set of 48 for about 50 bucks, but it is one thing I will spend the money for. I do hate that they come unsharpened, and if you are doing work that requires a high color saturation the soft pencils are best but you go throught them quickly.

I'm not so picky about my liquid acrylic paint. I'll use about any brand. I do prefer 2 oz. bottles (except for high use colors like primaries and white & black. I'll buy big bottles of those). I always keep on hand a variety of reds, blues and browns as I work a lot in those colors. I also generally will buy 2 shades of yellow, one regular and one more mustard. I don't buy a lot of pinks and purples; I don't use them a lot, and I prefer to mix my own. I do try to avoid air and water contamination as the smell of paint mold gags me.

I bought floating medium on the recommendation of a tole painting website. I'm not sure if I am using it right, but it did give me some interesting results. It made the acrylic more blendable as it stayed wet longer. The liquid acrylics actually behaved more like oil paint. Unfortunately, in the piece I tested it on that was not a quality I wanted in my paint--I wanted to stipple a spray of orange and yellow fire on a black background and wound up with a very muddy result. If anyone can school me in floating medium, I'd much appreciate it.

My goal is to try a variety of supplies and techniques and give you a novice's review of them. I will post photos as is appropriate.
Love,
Tina