Hi all,
What a busy week it has been, visiting dog shows,bathing dogs, decorating the home, doing a couple of boot fairs, gosh I am feeling a bit knackered lol.
No art at the moment, but instead a bit of moan really, about trying to attain some free sample paper from Art suppliers. If you are anything like me, you will have a love of paper, art paper,handmade, etc but as artists most of us will be on a budget. I don't want to go out and spend my money on paper that I have not had the chance to at least try out first, who knows I may hate the surface, find it does not suit my style of drawing or any other number of reasons, which has happened to me in the past.. Admittedly I could buy a single sheet perhaps but even so these can be expensive and I don't see why I should have to...what happened to "try before you buy". I have emailed a couple of art suppliers this last week making this request,and I am still waiting an acknowledgement of my emails let alone an answer, would this make your blood boil, because it sure does mine!
I am not asking for a full sheet, not even a blooming A5, something along the lines of 3" x 3" square small enough not to cost too much to post and big enough to get a reasonable feel for the surface. My current hankering is to try Clairefonatines Pastelmat, so if anyone knows where a free sample can be attained, (preferably in UK that would be great)
I would be interested to know what all of you think about this subject as well, have you tried to get any samples paper ? Drop me a a comment on this post or contact me.
Last but not least a call to art suppliers please make it possible to request some sample paper!
Hi Vic,
ReplyDeleteI have never really asked for or been given samples, but I do have some Clairefontaine Pastelmat, also some of the new Colourfix suede paper, and don't mind popping a small sample in the post for you if you like.
Cheers,
Karen
Hi Vic. I tried to get some samples of Hahnemeuhle paper from
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hahnemuehle.com/site/en/195/artist-papers.html
I did get a reply but was to say they do not supply samples. They have quite a few papers and I like you didn't want to purchase a sheet of each each one to be able to see if I like any of them.
If only they would realise that artists would purchase a lot more if they just supplied small samples. I would have been happy to pay the shipping costs.
Shame on them.
Dors.
Hi Vic
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you. The papers are so expensive now that being forced to buy 5 x A3 sheets just 'to try' is an expensive experiment.
One of the most surprising results I had last year was from UART in America who very kindly sent me a batch of 5 different grades of their sanded papers to try (totally free of charge). SAA in the UK are now stocking UART paper for UK artists so it was good to try the paper .... whilst I love the surface, it is so similar to Fisher 400 which is a cheaper option for UK artists I'll be sticking with Fisher 400 unless prices change significantly.
Which is your favourite paper at the moment?
Hi
ReplyDeleteI succeced a couple of years ago to have some samples of Fabriano wc-papers, I just don't remember how. Wish you luck with the hunt ;) I think it is a great idea.
I've always been fairly fortunate at receiving samples of papers but I haven't asked too often. Many art supply companies offer "samplers" of all their papers for a price. It still costs but at least you have decent sized sheets to try.
ReplyDeleteI do hope you're able to get the PastelMat as it's wonderful to work on and I think you'd like it. However, I ordered some from England before it was available here and didn't get samples but sheets. I do think the PastelMat takes some getting used to and you might want to get one sheet and do several small paintings before deciding whether you like it or not. I'm a little slow but it took me 3 paintings to learn how to work on it.
Good luck on getting your samples!
If you use a local art shop you might have more success asking them if they can obtain you samples.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the large online suppliers probably don't have samples of the more specialist papers to send out.
I've asked my local supplier and he in turn has asked the rep for the particular brand and most times I've got a couple of small pieces to try.
Or, if you can find them go direct to the manufacturer.
As far as Pastelmat is concerned if you email me your address I'll send you a sample, I have a couple of small pieces you can have.