One of the most compelling things about acrylic paint is its ability to create genuine physical texture — not just the impression of texture through careful brushwork, but raised, three-dimensional surfaces that you can actually feel. This quality is unique among common painting mediums, and it opens up creative possibilities that watercolour, gouache, and most drawing media simply cannot offer. In this guide we cover six accessible methods for creating texture in acrylic painting, from the boldest approaches — impasto with a palette knife, modelling paste built up before painting begins — to the more subtle: dry brushing for surface grain, sgraffito scratched into wet paint, sand and found materials mixed into the paint, and deliberate gesso texturing of the ground. We also explain why texture matters compositionally, how to combine methods for the most interesting results, and which subjects and styles benefit most from textured treatment. We stock Wallace Seymour impasto gels, modelling paste, and gesso alongside the full acrylic paint range at Craft and Canvas — read on, then find everything you need in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Two papers come up again and again when watercolour painters start thinking seriously about what they are painting on: Fabriano Classico 5 and Saunders Waterford. Both are far ahead of budget papers in quality and performance. Both are stocked at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge. And both have genuine strengths that make them the right choice in different situations. Fabriano Classico 5 is a mould-made Italian paper with a 50% cotton blend — well priced, consistent, and a significant step up for painters moving on from student papers. Saunders Waterford is 100% cotton, made in Somerset by one of the oldest papermakers in England, endorsed by the Royal Watercolour Society, and archivally rated for indefinite longevity. In this post we compare them directly — surface texture, absorbency, working time, how they handle reworking and lifting, colour quality, and suitability for different techniques — and tell you exactly which one to choose and when. We also explain where Bockingford fits for everyday practice. Read on, then find the full range in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Should you start with acrylics or watercolour? It is the question we are asked most often at Craft and Canvas, and it deserves a proper answer rather than a shrug. Both mediums are water-based and genuinely accessible for beginners — but they feel completely different to use, suit different subjects and working styles, and have very different learning curves. Acrylics are opaque, forgiving, and work on almost any surface; mistakes can be painted over and compositions can be changed mid-painting. Watercolour is transparent, luminous, and less forgiving — once a wash is down, it is largely there to stay — but it rewards observation, patience, and a willingness to work with what the paint does. In this guide we compare both mediums honestly across every dimension that matters to a beginner: opacity and transparency, drying time, surfaces, cost, subjects, and working personality. We also answer the most common questions about using both mediums together and choosing brushes. Read on, then come and find the full range in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.