Exploring Art Materials with Daler-Rowney

As a child, I was fascinated by colour and materials. Most weekends my dad would take me to the local art shop, and I would spend ages exploring paints, pencils, and papers.

Daler Rowney artists, Rodney Kingston, Jenny Muncaster and Willa Gebbie.

Every birthday and Christmas I asked for art supplies, amongst the array of craft kits and painting sets were Daler-Rowney products, never imagining that one day I would be working with the company itself.

Today, I’m thrilled to be collaborating with Daler-Rowney, based in Bracknell, UK, just an hour’s drive from my studio. I share my knowledge through workshops and sessions where I not only showcase their products but also explore the creative and technical possibilities they offer. Each session combines practical training, professional techniques, and detailed insight into the properties of the materials—from pigment load and opacity to viscosity and drying time—helping artists understand how to get the most out of every paint, pencil, or sheet of paper.

Part of what I love about these sessions is telling the story of the paints themselves: how they are made, how they behave in different conditions, and how fun, innovative techniques can open up entirely new possibilities. It’s about showing artists how to experiment, combine materials, and push the boundaries of what they can achieve while grounding their work in sound technical understanding.

Whether someone is picking up a brush for the first time in years or looking for fresh approaches to familiar materials, my goal is to share both inspiration and practical expertise. Returning to the products that first inspired me as a child and applying over 30 years of professional experience to explore them fully has been deeply rewarding. It is a privilege to help others reconnect with the joy of creating and to show how even a single material can open up a world of possibilities.