June 2013 - Wet Paint

Display of Masterpiece canvas in Wet Paint

I have had about 50 years personal experience with canvas as a painting support. The first 20 as a painter, the next 30 mostly as an art supply retailer. Some of the historic canvas prep techniques I learned in school aren’t taught anymore and many of the materials used aren’t readily available. There are a number of reasons for these changes. First, many painters want to spend their time creating rather than preparing. Second, many don’t have the access to tools and space for stretcher building and canvas stretching. Third, pre-made stretched canvases are now available at a much higher quality.

Wet Paint staffer, Meg Nelson, holding one of the small size canvases — Wet Paint staffer, Meg, holding one of the small 6×8″ size canvases

Since 1965, Masterpiece Artist Canvas has been improving their stretched canvases to earn their reputation for professional quality today. Artists used to build their own stretched canvases so they had control over the end results. Masterpiece has built into their everyday production the features that artists could not find in “ready-mades” 20 years ago. They offer 3 profiles of bars, all of which keep the canvas surface away from the wood so it doesn’t show through one’s paintings. All the stapling is done on the back so the edges are smooth to be painted or for ease of framing. Corners of the canvas are folded and not cut so the painting can be taken off the stretchers, rolled, shipped and easily re-stretched. They also automatically add cross braces to canvases 24” and larger to keep the wood from twisting and surface from warping. Masterpiece’s stretched canvas range includes 10 different canvas surfaces to give the artist the right ground, weight & texture for their medium and technique. And they offer 130 sizes from 4×4 to 72×96. All in all, that means that artists now have access to over 3000 different stretched canvas options.

Wet Paint staffers, Chris and Justin, holding a giant 48x72" stretched canvas — Wet Paint staffers, Chris and Justin, holding a giant 48×72″ stretched canvas

Masterpiece is also the only company I know that is obsessed enough about stretched canvas to offer artists dimensions that employ the golden ratio. The golden ratio (or, as in the case of canvas, the golden rectangle) has been used in art and architecture throughout history (DaVinci, Dali and others) to achieve what is believed to be the most pleasing proportions to the human eye. So you may want to try an 18×29 rather than an 18×24 canvas and see if it makes your painting more pleasant. Of course, now that you no longer have to spend your time stretching your own canvas, you have time to paint both an 18×29 and an 18×24 to compare the two.

I know somebody out there is tsk tsk-ing that many artists don’t prep their own surfaces, but there’s a lot to be said for pre-stretched options. Come in and we can talk about how much fun it used to be to prepare rabbit skin glue and apply white lead with a painting knife. Come in and I will to tell you about the 6 canvases I stretched during a tornado (they always had a life of their own.) The bottom line is, most artists stretched their own canvases because it use to be the only way to get the size and surface that they needed. We have a lot more options these days thanks to Masterpiece Canvas and that gives us lots more time to just be painting. Until July 3rd, all Masterpiece Canvases are 50% off MSRP!

Schmincke set color comparison: old set colors on left, new set colors on right

Editor’s note: Since 2013 we’ve done a series of custom sets and the current can be found here.

If you have shopped at Wet Paint in Saint Paul during the past 25 years, you know Darin Rinne, our General Manager. And you know Darin loves to tell a story. And I’d bet he’d tell you his favorite story is about the Schmincke Half-pan Watercolor Set. About 10 years ago, the U.S. importer of Schmincke color offered Wet Paint a deal on their 12 color half-pan set. We could give our customers a professional grade watercolor in a metal box at a comparable price to the competitor’s student grade in plastic. The only hitch, we had to purchase 100 sets. At the time, it was a big investment for Wet Paint, but we went for it anyway. The set was such a success; we ordered the set 3 times. Each time, the tin was a slightly different model. The fourth time around, no more were available.

The story continues and now Schmincke has a new importer in the U.S. but no watercolor set we felt met the criteria for our customers. Marcus from Schmincke in Germany came to visit us in 2011 and asked how he could improve their relationship with Wet Paint. Darin and Greg Graham, our Floor Manager, worked with Marcus to put together a selection of warm and cool colors of their choosing which would be affordable and still a workable palette. They found an appropriate tin with space to fit another 6 colors for expansion. We worked with other independent art supply stores to meet the manufacturer’s custom run commitment. The set was so well received by our customers, that we needed to order more custom runs. And we worked again with Marcus to develop a Schmincke Gouache set to complement the watercolors with a palette selected by our friend Roz Stendahl.

As we started seeing the end of our inventory, Schmincke informed us our tin was no longer available. Being such a successful program, Marcus and Darin worked up a 2013 edition which just got shipped to Wet Paint last week.

Liz Carlson holding the 2013 set and her color chart

Liz Carlson, urban sketcher and Wet Paint sales associate, got into the act by creating a new palette of colors for the new edition. The colors in the 2013 set are more transparent than the original selection. It is a stand-alone palette of colors but has no duplication from the original selection. The new tin is a longer box that has enough room to hold a standard length brush (or a pen) or 2 travel brushes. And it comes with 12 empty half-pans. So a painter could include the colors from their studio palette, include the colors from the original Schmincke Half-Pan Set or expand their palette in a completely unique way.

The new 2013 Schmincke Half-pan Watercolor Set!

Kate Katzer, Wet Paint’s framer and web sales associate, is very excited, almost giddy in fact, about the new Schmincke Half-Pan Set’s arrival. She has a number of web customers disappointed they missed the original set. She likes the fact that the palette of colors is chosen by a working artist rather than a marketing department. Liz Carlson’s color selection is appropriate for the plein air painter, the sketcher, landscape painter or portrait artist. The colors are for warm weather, vibrant and fresh. There is a story behind each color selection. For example, Liz picked Mountain Blue because “it isn’t as bossy as Ultramarine.” She likes Cobalt Turquoise and Transparent Orange because they mix well to make great middle tones.

Wet Paint is pleased to offer our customers the 2013 edition of the Schmincke Half-Pan Watercolor Set. Schmincke makes the best half-pan watercolors on the market. We have made a unique color selection you won’t find anywhere else. This set is priced ridiculously well. And the box wraps it all up as a beautiful object in itself. This is a watercolor set for those with great taste and an understanding of value & quality. We have worked hard to bring you a unique, professional grade product at a very affordable price. Visit our website to purchase and see the entire list of colors in this set!