There are a variety of alternatives to painting on canvas or paper. Many of the Old Masters painted on wood panels and today a variety of contemporary surfaces are available, offering unique opportunities to explore new ways of creating images. Ampersand has created a series of archival quality painting surfaces that are acid-free, non-yellowing and engineered not to warp or bow.

The Museum Series Panels include an unprimed hardbord that allows you to build up your own unique grounds and textures, and a ready to paint gessobord delicate enough for glazing but strong enough for pallette knife painting. Ampersand also offers the two types of panel used in this month’s Learning Center on ink washes; claybord and aquabord.

Claybord is an incredibly smooth and absorbant kaolin clay-primed multi-media panel that accepts ink, gouache, acrylics, pencil and airbrush and makes a great surface for collage and photo transfers. The clay surface allows you to add thin layers of paint or ink then remove, reapply or even scratch through to create contrast and texture.

Aquabord is another acid-free clay surface that absorbs watercolor like a fine paper, but without any threat of shrinking, tearing or buckling. The surface offers the ability to lift color out with a wet brush or work in countless layers of color. Perfect for watercolor and gouache, but also a great option for encaustics or acrylics.

Ink can be for much more then just drawing! Ink has a wonderful brilliant vibrance right out of the jar that can be used in many of the same ways as watercolor paint. One of the benefits however is that it’s already in liquid form. In this post we’ll use ink to create some nice washes and we’ll use it with a traditional dip pen. We’re working on a send-up of one of our favorite Rembrandt drawings on an Ampersand Aquabord Panel, which is an awesome wet media surface. It gives you all the benefits of working on paper without the buckling and warping.

We’ll begin by brushing water onto the panel to assure some nice bleeding of color. Then we’ll water down our inks and do some light washes, letting the color do whatever it wants.

Here we can see how the washes lend themselves ot the drawing that we are going to do on this panel. Using the organic shapes of the first washes we can determine the composition of our final drawing which you can see being laid in here with another yellow wash.

We’ll use that second yellow wash as a guide for our drawing. The drawing is done with black ink and a Speedball Artists Pen Set. The wash helps speed up the drawing process and adds some richer color underneath the black lines of the pen.

Now that the drawing is complete, we’ll go back in and do a much darker red wash to finish our composition and help the drawing stand out. Here is the final result….

So get out there and give it a shot, try drawing over some washes… Try doing the drawing first and using the ink washes to color your images. If you create something you like we’d love to see it! Send an image to learningcenter@utrecht.com.

Utrecht History

Six Decades of Growth, Change & Service

This year,
Utrecht proudly celebrates its 60th anniversary. From the beginning, our founders’ goals have been clear – to provide the best prices on quality products; along with helpful service from our knowledgeable staff of working artists. While our company has grown and changed, we have always held close to these principles.

Whether buying a tube of Utrecht Oil Color or a roll of Utrecht Imported Belgian Linen, artists rely on us as a resource for innovation and information, as well as all the right products. Consistent with our company’s commitment to meeting the needs of the fine art community, customers greatly value our tradition of sharing proven methods and techniques with all levels of artists from student to professional.

Utrecht’s full product assortment now includes over 15,000 items specifically selected from the most influential resources. We have a robust catalog and web business, and have grown to thirty-seven retail locations; but remain true to our roots as your local supplier.

Six decades after Norman and Harold Gulamerian started importing linens and developing revolutionary new products, the art world is a much larger and more global community. Today, the world is facing new economic and environmental issues, and Utrecht is dedicated to meeting these challenges for the artist community.

We thank you for your patronage and look forward to serving you in the future.

George J. MuenchPresident & CEO 

An American Original

A Family Business is Born

After World War II, the focus of the art world shifted to New York City. Driven by artists such as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollack, artwork became radically more abstract. As artists created a new visual language, Utrecht was there to supply materials for the new creative center of the world. 

At the time, the art supply business was in its infancy, and New York painters were hungry for a new selection of products. One was Brooklyn-based painter, Norman Gulamerian, who was seeking affordable, quality linen for artist canvas. Unable to find any in the city, he and his brother Harold started buying directly from a textile plant in Belgium. An import business was started.  

Their father suggested that they sell directly to studio artists and art schools. This proved to be a successful system, as young artists learned the craft of painting from established painters – echoing the tradition of apprentice and master artist. 

A Utrecht mill grows in Brooklyn

The Gulamerian brothers brought a unique combination of talents. Norman learned the craft of grinding pigments and preparing canvases when he apprenticed, in 1943, with the painter Frederic Taubes. Meanwhile, Harold perfected his skills as a science undergraduate, and then as a graduate student in business. At the same time they realized the need for additional products and in the 1950’s opened a mill where Harold developed a formula for acrylic gesso. The result for painters was tremendous. Until that time, canvases were first glue sized and then primed with oil, which was a longer process. Utrecht Acrylic Gesso provided unprecedented ease to canvas preparation, saving artists valuable time and cutting costs. 

Harold was a master at developing and refining formulas, and soon developed a full line of Professional Artists’ Acrylics followed by artists’ Oils and Watercolors. All were and still are manufactured in the Brooklyn mill. 

Utrecht Develops & Manufactures Gesso, Acrylics & Oils 

Bricks & Mortar

from Brooklyn to Manhattan and Beyond 

Initially, the Gulamerians made their world-class art materials available to artists nationwide with through their catalog. Then in 1966 the brothers opened Their first store in Manhattan on Third Avenue. 

Artists and students quickly discovered that they could rely on the superior quality and manufacturer direct prices of Utrecht products. They also discovered that they could depend on Utrecht stores for expert advice and knowledgeable information. Their success grew and stores were opened in Philadelphia, Washington DC and Boston, soon to be followed by Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle. Artists and student from every region discovered Utrecht, organizing road trips to the closest store in order to stock up on supplies. 

In 2008 Utrecht Art Supplies opened three new locations in Carle Place, NY, Ft. Lauderdale, FL and San Francisco, CA. 

Utrecht now has 37 retail locationsnationally along with numerous national and international authorized dealers. 

2009 Family of Products

Today, the Utrecht brand product assortment includes over 1,200 items, in twelve categories. We are proud not only of our heritage but of our continued success in new product development. We stand by our founders’ promise to provide the highest quality art materials at an exceptional value . . .  GUARANTEED!

From www.utrecht.com

“About”

A History in Fine Art Materials and Supplies

It was New York City, 1949. Unable to find quality artists’ linen on this side of the Atlantic, artist Norman Gulamerian began importing fine linen from Europe with his brother Harold. The two fledging art supplies sellers named their venture Utrecht Linens, Inc. and dedicated themselves to supplying artists with the highest quality art materials and supplies for the best value. ??The Gulamerian brothers’ artist supply business grew quickly. In 1957, they developed their revolutionary acrylic gesso for priming artist canvas. And by the end of the early 1960’s they had expanded the Utrecht line to include professional-grade artist oil paints, acrylics, and watercolor supplies, sold at manufacturer-direct prices. ??Today, Utrecht still mills its own premium artist paints and gesso at our Brooklyn, NY plant, making us unique among American artist supply companies. In addition to our own high quality products, Utrecht also offers an extensive assortment of fine art materials and supplies from the leading national brands available today. Professionals around the world choose our art supplies store for our exceptional quality, value, selection and service.

Friday, April 17^th or Saturday, April 18^th

^{Gallery Night and Day!}

Demo: 11am to 12 pm (Both Days)

Our associates will lead an instructional demonstration on how to transfer images onto another surface using a variety of mediums, markers, fixative and more 

Try-It Activity: Come and Go 12 pm to 4 pm (Both Afternoons)

All afternoon, you are welcome to test out this technique for yourself! Call or Stop in today and sign up in advance for the transfer image demo,  try-it, or both!

There is no cost to participate.

Friday, March 27^th or Saturday, March 28^th 

Demo: 11am to 12 pm (Both Days)

Our associates will lead an instructional demonstration on how to transform a basic, simple sketch into a beautifully color-rendered drawing.  We will cover such topics as best paper to use, blending techniques, rendering tip and more! 

Try-It Activity: Come and Go 12 pm to 4 pm (Both Afternoons)

All afternoon, you are welcome to test out a variety of marker brands on some of our finest marker paper! Call or Stop in today and sign up in advance for the marker demo or try-it!

There is no cost to participate.

Exclusive savings on many itmes in the store.

Utrecht Canvas TRUCKLOAD SALE 50-75% off list!

ALL COTTON DUCK STRETCHED CANVAS

.Rennaisance

.Masters

.Traditional Ultra-Smooth

.Contemporary

.Artists

.Studio

and NEW Masters Panels

also…

Save 60% off Utrecht 150ml tubes of oil and 5oz tubes of acrylic

Save 50% off Utrecht small tubes 37ml oils and 2oz tubes of acrylic

All Utrecht brush sets 45-60% off list

Utrecht oil and acrylic basic paint sets- Acrylic $16.99 and Oil $24.99

Utrecht Palette Knives- all $3.99

Midwest Scale Lumber and assorted Styrene- save an extra 20% off

Alvin Cutting Mats 60% off list

HUGE FOAMCORE SALE (ENTIRE STOCK) 65% off list

Spray mount $9.99 and Super 77 $11.99

Winsor and Newton 37ml Oils 40% off list

Liquitex HB Acrylics 2oz tubes 40% off list

Winsor & Newton Designer Gouache 14ml tubes 30% off list

Utrecht Tempra 16oz bottles 50% off list

 Utrecht Hardcover wire and book bound sketch books 50-55% off list

Utrecht Tape Bound Sketch & Newsprint pads & Premium Watercolor Blocks & 22×30 sheets 65% off list

Prismacolor Marker set of 12 colors only $29.99

Canson Mi-Tientes all 19×25in. sheets now $1.39

Utrecht Portfolios & Presentation cases ALL SIZES 35% off list

Prat Start 3 Portfolios and Presentation cases 35-40% off list

Nielson & Bainbridge Gallery Wood Frames 45-55% off list

Itoya Profolio professional Presentation books 35% off list

Robert Ware Messenger bags and Backpacks 50-55% off list

Winsor & Newton Bristol Aluminum Field Easel $39.99

Utrecht portable Sketch Easel $74.99

and much much more….