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My Top Picks: Cruelty-Free Art Supplies

Writer's picture: Lauren-Marie KennedyLauren-Marie Kennedy

As a vegan and an artist, it's super important to me that the tools I use to produce work are consistent with the message my art sends. The following is a list of some of my favourite art supplies that do not include any animal by-products or suffering. My hope is that it will encourage you to consider this next time you shop for materials. If you are already cruelty-conscious, I hope this inspires you to crack open your sketchbook and get creating! Synthetic Brushes So-called 'natural' paintbrushes tend to be made from the hairs of sables, hogs, horses and squirrels. Nowadays you can easily swap out your kit for kind solutions without compromising on quality. I opt for Daler Rowney or CassArt's own brand synthetic brushes, which are two favourites of mine. I particularly like the Graduate range by Daler Rowney as the style is quite sleek so they look great in your studio/art space and feel really comfortable to use as well. I have had them for many years, even before I went vegan and they have never let me down. CassArt's own brand is a more affordable option and appropriate for all skill sets from beginners to professionals. The bristles are soft and hold pigment well - contrary to popular belief.

Inks The bad news with inks is that they often contain shellac, which is a resin secreted by female lac bugs.

The good news, however, is that not all of them do. A great example of this is the Winsor & Newton Calligraphy Ink. Highly pigmented with a satin finish, this blue-capped range can be used with pens, brushes and airbrushes. Although the formula is not waterproof, if you work fast the ink will blend well with the addition of water. I gave it a go and here are the results of a small tester patch. I also like Daler Rowney's F.W. Artist Inks, which come in a range of colours, even really vibrant ones, if that's your kind of thing. There's also a brand called Pelikan who produce an Indian Ink which is free of shellac! After I finish my vegan victory dance, I will order a bottle and update you all once I have tried them out.

Paints It may surprise you that paint features in this blog, surely paint is vegan right? Well, when you consider binders that are used such as tempera (made from egg yolks) or ox gall (pretty gruesomely, made from the gall bladder of cattle); not to mention that even if the binder ingredient is vegan, the pigment may not be. Many black pigments, for example, are enhanced with charred animal bones (Top Tip: I usually avoid using black as I feel it can deaden a painting, try mixing blue and brown together instead). You can begin to understand why it becomes really challenging for those of us who are keen to create but to also be kind. So here are some of the best paints I have used so far. Watercolour

Working in watercolour is my favourite thing! They are so therapeutic to me and I can get lost in a painting for hours. So as you would expect it is really important to me that I am able to use this wonderful medium without harming animals in the process. Unfortunately, a lot of the time either honey or gelatin is used to bind these paints. Luckily there are great alternatives out there including the brilliant Daniel Smith and Royal Talens, which I only recently tried and love. Gansai Tambi is another brand which makes vegan watercolours but I do personally think these are of lesser quality, maybe they would be good for beginners? Another favourite is Winsor & Newton, some of the colours are best to avoid due to how they are produced, however, I bought my Cotman pan before I went vegan and have since removed these colours (Viridian Hue, Raw Umber and Ivory Black).

Gouache

I'm fairly new to gouache as a medium. I've only been working with them for about a year now but I have discovered that my favourite vegan, cruelty-free option so far is those made by a German company, Schmincke. They are really creamy and the tubes have lasted me a long time, only having to replace my white and black once so far. The colours are full of pigment and can be thinned down with water to make them less intense. Although they do not mix together all that well, I often use acrylics for work that requires a more natural colour palette. Acrylics Which leads us on nicely to the wonderful acrylic. I would recommend Amsterdam (standard range), which you can buy pretty cheap in the Works if you live in the UK. These are pretty underrated in my opinion. Also, Holbein Colours Acryla Gouache are another vegan option which you can find on Amazon for a fair price. There's Crawford & Black, an old favourite, and I love to use the Daler Rowney System 3 range a lot too (not including raw sienna though).

I hope this has given you an insight into what to look for and what to avoid when shopping for cruelty-free and vegan art supplies. It doesn't all end here, if you are looking for some more information, I would recommend you check out the following pages: Jackson's Art Supplies - https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2017/03/08/art-supplies-animal-ingredients/ (a fantastic online store, shipping to the UK! And they even have an option to filter your search results to 'vegan') Vegan Womble - https://veganwomble.co.uk/veganartandcraftsupplies/ Double Check Vegan - https://doublecheckvegan.com/vegan-art-supplies/ I keep them all bookmarked to view whenever I need to look up a product. Please share with me on social media which vegan art supplies you like to use! Until next time, thecompassionateartist

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