German Art Supplies

 

German Art Supplies

There were many reasons I was excited to move to Europe. But one of those reasons was art supplies. Most of my favorite art supplies are European, and several are German. Hahnemüle paper is amazing for fine art prints.

Schmincke soft pastels are my second favorite pastels in the world, after the French brand Girault.

My first full set of colored pencils was the German made Lyra.

And back when we were in Laos, I worked on a second colored pencil portrait of my horse Scarlett. When I was having difficulty getting the layers I wanted, Faber-Castell’s Polychromos colored pencils were the answer. 

As luck would have it, we now live just two Ubahn stops away from the Faber-Castell castle. The castle tour doesn’t accommodate a wheelchair so we’re saving the tour for when my mobility improves. 

But I can get to the shop now. So, last week we visited the Faber-Castell shop and I was like a kid in a candy store! Color is what most often pulls me in and makes me want to paint something so the store itself was such a treat!

Because we wanted to travel light, I only brought a few art supplies with me to Germany. Plus we knew I would definitely want to buy things! While we were living in central Nuremberg, I purchased a few supplies at a book store and a student arts and craft store. But as soon as I found a large art supply store, I couldn’t wait to go there.

While the Faber-Castell shop is quite near to our apartment, at least by train, the big art supply store, that carries every supply imaginable, is much further, and more complicated to get to. In addition to needing the Ubahn, going out to Boesner Art Supply also requires using the SBahn.  

The SBahn is similar to the tram in that both have varying wheelchair accessibility. Of course, I really wanted to go to my first German art supply store so we both geared up for whatever challenges we might face getting off and on trains at the different stops with a wheelchair.

Because the platforms vary at every station for the S-Bahn, at the main station Stephen could just roll me on. But at the stop closest to the store, I had to get out of the wheelchair and pull myself up and out of the train. The difference between the platform and train floor was about a foot. And while I was climbing out of the train, Stephen lifted the wheelchair out. We both had to move as quickly as we could. For most stops, there are just about 30 seconds before the doors close and the train is off again. Once we exited the train, Stephen pushed me to the entrance. It’s a 14-minute walk for the average person but it likely took us a little longer. Once inside, I propelled myself around. I joke that I’m keeping Stephen healthy and young with all this extra effort pushing me in a wheelchair. Just a little humor to lighten the moment.

We spent nearly 2 hours in the store, right up until closing, as I rolled myself up and down the aisles, dreaming of the compositions I could make with all the different supplies. Like these canvases sealed with clear gesso (pronounces jess-o).

Normally canvas is painted with multiple coats of white gesso. But these natural canvases immediately set my brain on fire with all the different paintings I might make with them. I didn’t bring my acrylic paints with me on this trip, which is what I use on stretched canvas. So, for now, it’s just dreaming.

This German art supply store is the biggest warehouse of supplies I’ve ever been in. I could go there every week. My kind of entertainment!

For the time being, I’m only working in watercolor. Which turns out to have deep roots is Germany. When we first arrived in Nuremberg, I had only seen the name Albrecht Dürer, especially on Faber-Castell products. The Nuremberg airport is the Albrecht Dürer airport. Then when Stephen pushed me almost up to the Imperial Castle that one day, we saw the Albrecht Dürer Haus.

I decided I wanted to know more about this German artist so I purchased a book about him. In English of course. Remember when the bookshop keeper complimented my German? That is what I asked him about.

Albrecht Dürer is a very interesting artist. At first, I was fascinated by his woodcut prints. I follow modern day woodcut artists on Instagram. They use linoleum blocks instead of wood, but the method is similar and the purpose is the same: to make prints and earn more from a single piece of artwork. Albrecht Dürer’s most famous woodcut was of a rhinoceros.

He never actually saw the animal himself but made his wood block composition based on drawings made by a book printer who them sent them home with German merchants. Dürer added his own flair to it, making it almost fantastical, and it sold more than 1200 copies!

As a junior high student, I made a linoleum design for art class. It was terrible! 🤣 You’d never know from that lino block design that one day I would create art that people want to buy. Ha! I imagine I would make something a little more successful now.

What I relate to most from Albrecht Dürer’s extensive body of work are his watercolor and gouache paintings. 

He apparently loved to painting landscapes in watercolor as he traveled. The first urban sketcher. Ha!

Most of my watercolor pieces have been flowers and fruit.

I usually paint landscapes in acrylic. 

But since watercolor is what I have and I want to paint the scenes from our travels, I’ve been working at painting landscapes in watercolor and gouache. 

(paint brushes in the photo to discourage theft)

I plan to find a German print-maker and have this made into prints on Hahnemüle paper. They will be available through my website once they are printed. My homage to Albrecht Dürer.

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