From the shop

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.

Malabrigo is one of the most sought-after hand-dyed yarn brands in the world and one of the hardest to find in the North of England. We stock Rios, Arroyo, Ultimate Sock, and Susurro at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge — £14.95 per skein, available in store and online with UK delivery.

There are oil paints, and then there are Wallace Seymour oil paints. Founded in 2011 by two practising Yorkshire artists, Wallace Seymour prepares its oils by hand in small batches in Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, using pigments chosen for historical significance and purity rather than convenience — including native Yorkshire earth colours sourced from local quarries, rare mineral pigments not available in any mainstream range, and finite stocks of historic colours that have largely disappeared from commercial production. The oil is cold-pressed linseed from a single estate farm. No drying agents are added. Each colour follows its own individual recipe, prepared by the method — machine-ground, hand-milled, or glass muller — that best suits the nature of the pigment. In this post we tell the full brand story, explain exactly how the paints are made and why it matters, describe what they feel like on the brush, and answer the most common questions about using them. Series 1 and 2 from £9.95 per 40ml tube, Series 3 and above from £16.20. Available at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

One of the most persistent myths about painting is that you need to spend a lot of money before you can start. With acrylics, this simply is not true — and this guide proves it with two complete, accurately priced beginner kits built from our actual stock at Craft and Canvas, both coming in comfortably under £50. We cover the difference between Sennelier Abstract (£3.95 per tube — creamy, vibrant, and surprisingly affordable) and Daler-Rowney System 3 (£4.70 per tube — a reliable UK staple), which eight colours give you a complete working palette, why Seawhite canvas boards from £1.35 are the most practical starting surface, and how to choose between the Pro Arte brush sets we stock. We also cover what to completely ignore until you are much further along, and when the step up to Wallace Seymour artist grade acrylics starts to make sense. Read on, then come and find everything in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Happy Valley Pride is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year — and we wanted to mark it with something that could only be made by many hands. One Patch, Your Pride is a community quilt project open to crafters anywhere in the world, celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and Pride through textile craft. Knit a rainbow. Crochet a Pride flag. Embroider a name. Felt a symbol. Sew something that means something. Your patch just needs to fit a 15cm grid — 15x15cm, 15x30cm, 30x30cm, or any multiple — and it needs to reach us at Craft and Canvas, 3 Carlton Street, Hebden Bridge by 30th June 2025. Every single patch will be incorporated into the finished quilt, which will be displayed in our shop window through July and donated to Happy Valley Pride on 26th July. No experience needed, no charge, no theme imposed beyond celebrating Pride and the LGBTQ+ community. Just make something and be part of it.  https://happyvalleypride.co.uk/news/100/one-patch-your-pride

If there is one subject that draws beginners to watercolour more than any other, it is loose florals — those free, atmospheric paintings where flowers seem to bloom spontaneously from the paper with barely a brushstroke in sight. The secret is not talent or years of practice; it is understanding what loose painting actually means and deliberately working in a way that allows watercolour to do what it does naturally. In this beginner's walkthrough we cover the full process: how to think about composition before you start, why your brush size matters more than your drawing ability, how to work wet-on-wet to create the soft petal blooms that define the style, how to paint leaves and stems that anchor the composition, and — crucially — how to know when to stop before you overwork it. We include four colour palette suggestions for different moods from soft and romantic to bold and vibrant, a guide to painting roses loosely, and a straight-talking list of the mistakes that trip up almost every beginner at this subject. Read on, then find everything you need in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Brushes are one of the most confusing areas of the art supplies market for beginners — too many options, too little guidance on what actually matters, and a very wide range of quality for superficially similar products. In this guide we cut through all of that with a practical, plain English explanation of what you actually need to get started with acrylic painting and how to build your collection from there. We cover the six essential brush shapes and what each one is for, the key difference between Taklon and synthetic hog bristle and when each is appropriate, and a clear guide to the four brush ranges we stock at Craft and Canvas: Pro Arte Acrylix for precise, controlled acrylic work; Pro Arte Bristlene for expressive, textural painting and as a vegan hog hair alternative; Royal and Langnickel Taklon for responsive, affordable all-round use; and PAB Florence, the Florentine brush maker founded in 1911 whose artist brushes represent the finest quality available. Read on, then find the full range in store or at craftandcanvas.co.uk.

Most watercolour painters have a handful of brands they know and trust, and Wallace Seymour is rarely among them — not because the paints are inferior, but because they are deliberately produced in small quantities, supplied only through independent retailers, and never marketed through the mainstream trade. Founded in 2011 by Rebecca Wallace and Pip Seymour, two practising British artists, the company makes the Vintage Watercolours range the way watercolour was made before the industry scaled up and cut corners — traditional and historic mineral pigments, Kordofan Gum Arabic of the highest grade, and genuine Acacia honey from a single Italian estate. The colour range includes pigments you simply cannot buy elsewhere: finite stocks of historic colours unavailable since the 1980s, earth pigments hand-dug from specific English quarries, and rare minerals with granulation qualities that synthetic pigments cannot replicate. We stock the full Series A, B, and C tube range at Craft and Canvas in Hebden Bridge. Read on for the full story, then come in and find out more.

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.