Winsor & Newton lifts the lid on the secret tricks of every artist's trade

If you’re an artist, chances are you’ll be well acquainted with art supplies manufacturer Winsor & Newton. The company was founded back in 1832 by a chemist and an artist, when they fused the two areas of expertise to produce paints and brushes that broadened the capabilities of the artistic community. Today its laboratory sits next door to two artists’ studios, so that the artists in residence can give ideas and feedback to the chemists on the products they’re using in their practice. From colour and clarity, to mixing and application, every aspect is analysed and developed from an artist’s perspective.

Winsor & Newton has always been synonymous with innovation: from the company’s early days it pioneered new products including the first durable opaque white watercolour. In the near two centuries since, Windsor & Newton has introduced an ever increasing range of new materials such as fast drying oil paints, watercolour markers, and professional-level acrylic paints, gouache, graphic markers, drawing inks, paper, brushes and hand-stretched canvasses.

The latest in a long line of innovations is Winsor & Newton’s free online masterclasses which allow subscribers to watch professional artists from around the world demonstrate techniques and share tips on applying Winsor & Newton products for different visual effects. To date, over 43,000 people have subscribed to watch the free masterclasses which have no doubt propelled the creative abilities of thousands of viewers.

Among the tens of videos available, you can learn how to apply colour over a graded wash of designers gouache which, as the tutorial explains, is “often used by graphic designers and illustrators”, to fatten oil colours without altering consistency using the fat over lean rule, or how to create glowing shadows using professional oil paints.

You can learn all these skills, and many, many more, by signing up here for free access to Winsor and Newton’s masterclasses. And, for a taste of what you can expect, watch the video below.