Oil painting has intimidated beginners for decades — the slow drying, the solvents, the additional mediums, the technical rules. Most of that intimidation is unnecessary. In this complete guide to starting oil painting we cut through everything that actually matters: what paint, brushes, surfaces, solvents, and mediums to buy and why; the one technical rule (fat over lean) that prevents cracking and keeps paintings stable for centuries; how to begin a painting with a simple earth colour underpainting that eliminates the blank canvas problem; and the four fundamental techniques — blocking in, wet into wet, scumbling, and glazing — that form the foundation of everything else. We also cover ventilation, workspace, drying times, brush care, and varnishing. We stock Wallace Seymour oils from £9.95 per 40ml tube alongside Seawhite canvas boards, Pro Arte Bristlene brushes, and Wallace Seymour oil mediums at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Graphite pencils are the most immediate and accessible drawing tool available — and also one of the most misunderstood. The grade system, the difference between cheap and quality pencils, which grades suit which drawing styles, how paper affects the result — these are things most beginners are never taught, and yet they make an enormous difference to what drawing with graphite actually feels like. In this guide we explain the full grading scale from hard to soft, which grades form the most useful working selection for different approaches, and what to look for in terms of core quality, break resistance, and eraseability. We also give a full overview of the Faber-Castell 9000 — one of the most celebrated graphite pencils in history, admired by Van Gogh and Goethe, made in Germany since 1905, and available at Craft and Canvas as individual pencils so you can select exactly the grades you need. Read on, then find the full range in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

If you have heard about Wallace Seymour oils and want to try them but are not sure where to start, this is the guide for you. The colour names are sometimes unfamiliar, the pricing reflects the genuine rarity of the pigments rather than following conventional series logic, and the range — while exceptional — is more focused than the broad catalogues of mainstream brands. In this post we cut through the confusion with a practical starter plan built around Series 1 and 2 colours from £9.95 per 40ml tube: the eight colours that form the best foundation palette, why the earth colours are the best first introduction to the range, which Series 3 cadmiums and cobalts are worth prioritising as you develop further, and how to bring Wallace Seymour into an existing oil painting practice without rebuilding everything from scratch. Available at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk.