Calligraphy and hand lettering continue to trend and open doors to a whole new demographic of customers. In honor of this, Manuscript has launched World Calligraphy Day! They will be celebrating this on social media and hosting an event at the Pen Museum in Birmingham, England. Retailers can maximize on this event by hosting demos, classes and/or promotions during the month of August and specifically on the 16th. Make sure you shout it out on social media and make your customers aware. For retailers that do not currently have a robust calligraphy department, this is the time expand! Great ways to do this are with several easy assortments that we…

Derwent has been making high quality drawing materials including colored pastel pencils and graphite lead pencil sets since 1832, when they were known as the Cumberland Pencil Company. Rumor has it the story dates even further back to the 1500s, when a violent storm uprooted many trees and the shepherds discovered a black material under the soil with which they could mark their sheep. This turned out to be graphite, and a local business began making pencils with the discovered material. Today, Derwent has an unswerving reputation for innovation, inspiring artists with new products like Procolour, Inktense, Graphik Line Painters and Tinted Charcoal, alongside their classic range of Artists, Graphic…

The well respected industry personality Arthur Long passed away on July 5, 2017 in Dallas, TX. He was 59 years old and battled heart disease for a short period. His last position was Vice President of Fine Art Channel at Dixon Ticonderoga. He received the President’s Club Award for Outstanding Sales Accomplishment from ColArt Americas, Inc. in 2002, and was Salesperson of the Year for Canson, Inc. in 2013. Arthur is survived by his spouse, Jocelyn, his brother, Charles, and his sisters, Linda and Laura. Donations are welcome in his honor to the Wounded Warriors Project(https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org). The Orlando Sentinel has written a piece about Fila/Dixon Ticonderoga, owner of Canson and Daler…

Strathmore is excited to expand their initiative to offer consumers educational information as it relates to art. The video series called “Artist How-To” videos launched in May, 2015, and in these short video segments, Strathmore has paired with professional artists to offer artist tips and techniques as it relates to a specific type of art and mediums. The newest additions to the collection of “Artist How-To” are three new videos created by artist Justin Maas. In these short 2-4 minute videos, Justin explains his tips and techniques for creating portrait artwork using toned papers. This content is great for artists just starting out with toned papers, or for those who have interest…

Liquitex is launching a new range of Basics 400ml squeeze bottles, Basics mediums, and Basics sets developed for students and artists who are looking for dependable quality at an economical price. Basics 400ml provides a size option between the 250ml tube and the 946ml jar in an easy-to-use squeeze bottle. The squeeze bottles are available in 24 colors at the end of July. Liquitex launched eight new mediums in July designed to help student artists explore their creativity. In addition to Gesso which already exists, the new products consist of core mediums: Gloss Gel, Modeling Paste, Iridescent Medium, Coarse Texture Gel, Gloss Fluid Medium, Matte Fluid Medium, Gloss Varnish, and Matte Varnish.…

Ready to show off your creativity? In celebration of the newly launched Winsor & Newton paper and canvas range,  Colart has announced a new contest! 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 their next newsletter. Submit your paper and canvas display photo to getintouch@colartusa.com by September 1, 2017. Colart looks forward to your submissions!