Take advantage of the hot mechanical pencil trend with a brand-new Steel Pen and Pencil assortment from Zebra Pen! Year to date, mechanical pencil sales are up over 30% in sales and gel pens are seeing tremendous growth. This new assortment from Zebra includes both and is a perfect addition to your offering providing customers with well-designed pens and pencils that are surprisingly affordable. Steel is popular for many reasons. First and foremost, the barrels are made of stainless steel which is sleek, smooth and strong. Add in features like a comfortable grip, a metal guide pipe, smooth flowing ink, sturdiness, and an easy refill process, and we are talking…

Strathmore is encouraging artists to post a photo of their customized Vision cover art on Instagram, and they can win a monthly giveaway of $100 worth of Strathmore products! Retailers can share social media information on the giveaways, or mimic the idea on their own social media platforms.   HOW IT WORKS: Artists post a picture of their work made on the cover of their Strathmore Vision pad to Instagram. Artists tag Strathmore in their post (@strathmoreart) and use the hashtag #strathmorecovers During the first week of every month from July through December of 2017, Strathmore will randomly select a winner from the pool of participants to win a pre-selected…

Chartpak, Inc. is excited to announce that their new paper lines are now available and ready to ship! Chartpak prides themselves on creativity which is why it is an integral part of their legacy. They strive to deliver to each artist a professional range of products – and this new paper line is no exception. Developed for artists by artists, recognizing that each brush stroke, each sketch, and each rendering deserves added benefits and unique functionality. The papers, as well as the features built into the pads, were developed and tested by Chartpak’s staff of professional artists and their network of art ambassadors. Chartpak worked diligently with their mill partners to ensure that the papers were designed…

Princeton has introduced a redesigned Catalyst Tools display that reduces shelf space from 48 inches to only 30 inches. It features new graphic signage, along with Golden’s hand-painted swatches demonstrating the various techniques and textures that Catalyst tools can create. Dealers can email Howard  (howard@princetonbrush.com) to request a new empty display fixture, free of charge. FYI-The new display does not include a few of the slowest selling SKUs. Though not discontinued, they have been removed from the display in order to allow for a more compact footprint!

Show off Your Winsor & Newton Paper and Canvas Display & Win Big Ready to show off your creativity? In celebration of the newly launched Winsor & Newton paper and canvas range, we bring you our next contest. We want to see what your paper and canvas display looks like in your store! Take a picture of your display, share it with us and get rewarded if your display is the best of the bunch. The reward: $1,000 of Colart product at MSRP. One winner will be chosen and featured in our next newsletter. Submit your paper and canvas display photo to getintouch@colartusa.com by August 1, 2017. We look forward…

Gamblin’s Fall Back-to-School Promotion is in full swing School’s out and summer has arrived. Gamblin’s 2017 Fall Back-to-School promotion is in full swing! Take advantage of the deals below to stock up on inventory for a successful back-to-school promotion. The following items will be on promotion from now thru September 30. Gamsol – additional 10% off  net (57.25%) 1980 Oil Colors – additional 10% off net (57.25%) Solvent-Free Painting Materials – additional 10% off net (57.25%) Use Flyer Code = BT when ordering  

The most important thing when choosing the right screen ink is knowing your customers and what they need. Screen printing is a complex category and customers often need assistance making the right choices. Do you have mainly professional printers, novice, or both? Are they printing primarily on paper, fabric or vinyl? Is the main concern cost, durability, color selection, or…? Jacquard offers two lines of screen printing inks that cover all the bases. Below is a great reference guide for understanding the differences between Jacquard Professional Screen Printing Ink and Versatex Ink. Jacquard Professional Screen Printing Ink Professional quality and unlike any other ink on the market. For virtually any…

Reinvigorating the QoR® Watercolor Brand In February Golden Artist Colors introduced an investment in pricing and consumer marketing to reinvigorate the QoR Watercolor brand. The long term success of QoR watercolor is a key pillar within the Golden Artist Colors vision. The brand’s patented Aquazol® binder, which enables high pigment concentration and increased application options, and its line of innovative watercolor grounds are loved by many artists who have tried the brand. Due to significant premium pricing and the introduction of an entirely new brand identity (QoR), the QoR brand was not delivering the consumer adoption rates that GOLDEN, or you, desire. To reset QoR on a growth trajectory of…

Although resist dyeing techniques (including ones involving binding of fabric prior to coloring) date back at least 2,500 years, tie dyeing as it has come to be known is a distinctly American artform that was born out of the freewheeling hippy days of California in the 1960’s. Even today, multi-colored tie dye motifs like the rainbow spiral are widely associated with the love movement that took America by storm some forty years ago. Though tie dye has been absorbed into more mainstream aesthetics in recent years (see “tie dye chic,” for instance, a popular “yuppie” fad), it remains a markedly American tradition. Believe it or not, Jacquard was the very…

Princeton Brush has updated color coded price strips for all of its displays based upon the 2017 price increase. Here are the options available: SNAP! Spinner Floor Display 9100 Real Value Wall Rack 9100 Spinner Floor Display 3750 Select Wall Rack (not counter/spinner displays) Retailers are encouraged to email Howard directly at howard@princetonbrush.com with specific details of what they would like and they will be sent immediately

Calligraphy is arguably the most enduring ancient art form. Now, in the age of social media, it is experiencing a major renaissance. See this month’s trend report on Hand Lettering. That is exactly what Jacquard has seen with their Pearl Ex pigments (Jacquard’s line of over 30 metallic/pearlescent mica pigments), which in recent years experienced an incredible surge in popularity, particularly among calligraphers. Search #PearlEx hashtag on Instagram, and the majority of the thousands of images that you will see will be of beautifully penned words, sparkling and shiny in well-lit videos or stills. Calligraphers are particularly fond of metallic colors. So much so that many of them banded together…

Artists are as unique as their vision. That’s why Strathmore has listened to their requests for a series of artists pads with covers that can be customized. For the first time ever, this new line of products features a tear away fly sheet that reveals a heavyweight, customizable, blank cover made from high quality, steel blue mixed media paper. All products feature the new customizable cover, which is made from a specially created 184 lb / 300 gsm steel blue mixed media paper, and is suitable for use with wet and dry media. Artists can feel free to let the world see their vision using the materials of their choice, ultimately showcasing…