Painting
Every medium and tool you could need, from student to professional
Acrylic, oil, watercolour and gouache from the brands working artists ask for by name, with the mediums, primers and tools that go with them. Pick your medium below, or jump straight to a brand.
Shop by medium
Acrylic paint
Fast-drying, water-based and endlessly adaptable. From heavy body for impasto to fluid and high flow for pouring and line work.
Brands: Golden, Liquitex, Matisse, Atelier, Langridge, Amsterdam, Jo Sonja, Chromacryl
Oil paint
Slow-drying, rich and blendable. Tube colours, oil sticks and the mediums, solvents and varnishes to work them.
Brands: Sennelier, Michael Harding, Winsor & Newton, Langridge, Art Spectrum
Watercolour
Pans, tubes and liquid colour, plus masking fluid, mediums and the papers that hold a wash.
Brands: Daniel Smith, Schmincke, Holbein, Winsor & Newton, Michael Harding, Art Spectrum, Ecoline, Kuretake
Gouache
Opaque, matte and flat-drying. The illustrator's and designer's paint, in tubes and sets.
Brands: Holbein, Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, Art Spectrum, Liquitex, MIYA
Mediums, primers and tools
Shop painting by brand
Buying guides from the MAS Journal
Painting supplies: common questions
What is the difference between student and artist (professional) grade paint?
Artist-grade paint carries more pigment and fewer fillers, so colours are stronger, mix cleaner and go further. Student ranges such as Atelier, Amsterdam or Winsor & Newton Cotman use the same binders with less pigment or cheaper substitute pigments, at a lower price. Both are good; artist grade is worth it for the colours you use most.
Which paint should a beginner start with?
Acrylic. It dries fast, cleans up with water, works on paper, canvas or board and needs no solvents. A starter set of eight to ten colours plus a white, two brushes and a pad of acrylic paper is enough to find out whether you like it.
What do the series numbers on a tube mean?
Series is a price band set by the cost of the pigment. Series 1 earths and blacks are the cheapest; cadmiums and cobalts in the higher series cost more. Quality is the same across the range. The Golden series guide explains it with examples.
Can I mix brands of acrylic, or acrylic with oil?
Acrylic brands mix freely with each other. Oil and acrylic do not mix wet, but you can paint oil over fully dry acrylic (never the reverse). Keep oil mediums and solvents away from acrylic.
Do you ship paint interstate, and is there a surcharge?
Yes, Australia-wide. Standard shipping is $12.95 and free on orders over $140. Heavy or bulky items such as large canvases, easels and solvents carry a surcharge that is shown before you pay, and some solvents and aerosols cannot be posted. Local delivery is available within 20 km of either store.
Can I see and test the paint in person?
Yes. Both stores carry the full painting range, with swatch cards and staff who paint. Brunswick is open seven days; Hampton East Monday to Saturday.
Two Melbourne stores, one online shop
Brunswick
11 Dawson Street, Brunswick VIC 3056
Mon to Fri 9am to 5.30pm, Sat 10am to 5pm, Sun 10am to 4pm
03 9387 1331
Hampton East
916 Nepean Highway, Hampton East VIC 3188
Mon to Fri 9am to 5.30pm, Sat 10am to 5pm
03 9553 3663
Online
Open 24/7, shipping Australia-wide and to New Zealand. Click & collect from either store.
Art supplies for painters in Melbourne and across Australia
Melbourne Artists' Supplies has stocked painters from Brunswick and Hampton East for years, and the online store carries the same range. The acrylic wall runs from Golden's professional Heavy Body, Fluid, High Flow and SoFlat lines through Liquitex, Matisse and Langridge to the student-friendly Atelier, Amsterdam and Chromacryl. Oil painters will find Sennelier, Michael Harding and Winsor & Newton tube colours and oil sticks alongside Langridge mediums made in Melbourne. Watercolourists can choose between Daniel Smith, Schmincke, Holbein and Winsor & Newton, and gouache from Holbein and Winsor & Newton is a staple for illustrators and design students.
Every medium has its mediums, primers and varnishes in stock, and the Surfaces range covers stretched canvas, boards, panels and paper, with in-house canvas stretching for sizes we don't carry off the shelf. If you are not sure what to buy, the Journal's buying guides are a good place to start, or ring either store and ask someone who paints.