The idea for MacKendrew Arts came to me one day after whiling away the afternoon on beauty blogs reading highly detailed reviews that discussed the textures of various lipstick formulations, impassioned arguments for the merits of ingredient A vs B, and ogling colorful photographs of swatches from the latest eye shadow palette releases.
This was pretty much a daily activity for me since I was spending a couple of weeks mulling over an early buyout offer our college extended to senior faculty and thinking about what the next chapter of my life would look like if I took it.
As an artist and after teaching drawing, painting, and art history at the college level for 17 years I knew art and creating art would certainly be a huge part of my life going forward.
That reminded me I needed to order some new oil paints for the latest project I was working on. I clicked away from the beauty blog world and hit up my favorite online art supply retailer. I was immediately struck by the difference between the lush aesthetic of the beauty world and wondered why is it that so often we as visual artists with very specific color and texture needs are given nothing but a flat, digital swatch that has nothing to do with the actual art material?
That’s when it hit me- why isn’t there a beauty blog for art materials? A place to read in-depth, trustworthy product reviews, see accurate photos of handcrafted swatches created with actual art materials, and find out about the latest product launches and news. MacKendrew Arts was born.
Which image gives you more information: a digital color swatch created in graphics software or a photograph of the actual art material that has been color-matched by a spectrophotometer?
Why isn’t there a beauty blog for art materials? The idea for MacKendrew Arts came after searching online for photographs and swatches of actual art materials as opposed to digital color swatches created with computer graphics software.
About Ann
Hey there! I swatch, test, and photograph all of the art materials, write the product reviews, and design the website. I’m a graduate of The New York Academy of Art‘s Master of Fine Arts program where I studied with Eric Fischl, Vincent Desiderio, and Patrick Connors. Previous to that I graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a BFA in painting, and the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of General Studies. A former art professor with 17 years of experience in higher education, I’ve variously taught drawing, painting, design, figure drawing, figure painting, and art history at the University of Toledo, Wayne State University, Oakland Community College, and College for Creative Studies. My personal artwork runs the gamut from figurative to non-objective and from traditional media to photography. I live in Michigan with my chef husband, teenage son, and a French bulldog named Dozer.
Thanks for visiting, and I hope you leave comments and reviews based on your own experience working with the various art materials!
Ann M. Turner
thank you so much for sharing. I have a question Can I paint in coopper, bronze and brass sheets?
Hello Marta, thanks for your comment. I need more information to answer your question completely, but if you are asking if one can create paintings on metal sheets the answer is yes. In fact oil on copper paintings date back to the Renaissance. You can use acrylic or oil paint and you’ll need to prep the metal sheets before you paint by sanding and priming them. Good luck!
Hi MacKendrew
Congratulations on this great and monumental work, I hope it is truly appreciated for its usefulness as a W&N AOC color reference. Information that not even the manufacturer provides. Very useful. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Thank you for your kind words Carlos! I plan on building the Art Swatch Gallery to include most drawing and painting lines and hope it becomes a useful resource for artists, students, and anyone who creates.