Thomas Braun ArtStudio
My small
Artstudio
Most of my artworks are being created in my Artstudio, in the attic of our house, located near Frankfurt (Germany). From my windows I have a beautiful view over the roofs of the town, with the hills of the Taunus mountains in the distance.
In case of questions or comments with regards to my Artstudio or my painting process please use the contact form!
The colors
I paint mainly with acrylic paints. These are paints with the same pigments as used in oil paints, but the carrier medium is acrylic. Unlike oil, acrylic paints are water-soluble when fresh and dry very quickly. This enables quick work and easy cleaning, for example of brushes. After drying, the colors are no longer water-soluble and are very lightfast, so they do not darken over time compared to oil paints.
I use professional artist paints, especially from the brands Golden, Liquitex and Schmincke.
Occasionally I also paint with watercolors, i.e. permanently water-soluble colors, which require a completely different painting style and different material than acrylic.
The brushes
Along with paint, brushes are a painter's most important tool. In principle, a good brush is enough to paint an entire painting. However, when painting quickly, it is often helpful to use several brushes at the same time for the individual color families.
The hair/bristle material has a major influence on the amount of paint absorbed and released; the flexibility, shape, length and width of the bristles are sometimes even visibly reflected in the brush strokes. Even the handle length of the brushes is an important aspect; for an impressionistic style, a long handle that allows a certain distance from the easel and loose movements is very helpful.
So you can never have enough brushes, but usually it's the same favorite brushes that are primarily used.
Paper and canvas
While there are very high demands on the painting surface when painting with watercolors, you can generally paint on almost any surface with acrylic paints. So that the already quick-drying acrylic paints shine permanently and remain easy to paint for longer, non-absorbent surfaces are better suited; if necessary, absorbent surfaces can be prepared with a primer.
My pictures are usually created on high-quality acrylic cardboard, i.e. thick (approx. 290g/sqm), impregnated and acid-free paper with a linen structure. Due to the embossed linen structure, the surface behaves largely like real canvas when painting, and the linen structure is also clearly visible in the finished picture, depending on the thickness of the paint applied. The paper is particularly suitable for painting with oil and acrylic and is very resistant to aging due to its thickness and acid-free nature.
For larger projects, I also work on framed canvas, but storage and shipping are much more complex.
Art supplies
Then there are lots of other supplies that are necessary or at least useful when painting. The first thing that comes to mind is easels in different sizes. For a dynamic painting style, painting freely on an (almost) vertical canvas is very important.
To mix the colors you need a palette or another surface that does not absorb the colors. I usually use a neutral gray glass palette; color values are easier to assess on it than on a white background and it is easy to clean. As an alternative, you can also use a tear-off pallet, for example.
In order to influence the consistency and drying properties of acrylic paints, there are various painting media that can be added to the paints, but I personally only use these very rarely.
When sketching and especially in combination with watercolors, I like to draw with ink, water-soluble or permanent, in classic black but also in exciting other colors.
At the moment I'm still looking for a really good masking tape to especially cover the edges of the canvases while painting. The covering creates an interesting frame effect after removal, but above all it protects an edge area from painting, to avoid parts of the picture to disappear under the frame when it is framed later. The masking tape must hold well, but must not damage the canvas when removed. Unfortunately, I haven't found the perfect tape yet.
Digital Paintings
In addition to classic paintings with real colors and surfaces, I also create digital paintings. These are works of art that are created in whole or in part on a tablet with the help of a drawing pen and an artist app. I use a large 14.5'' tablet with a special pen whose soft tip allows for very natural work.
The artist app allows you to select and customize all painting materials such as surfaces, brushes and colors.
In addition to the very realistic simulation of painting, digital painting particularly allows painting in several separate levels (layers) and undoing the last painting activities.
This makes it very easy to experiment with different compositions, colors and structures, thereby supporting traditional painting.
In order to be able to 'hang' a digital image, it is possible to print the digital image in a very high quality on a surface of your choice and in the desired size. Such a 'print' will be clearly recognizable as digital, but that is precisely why it has a very attractive, modern style.