Resources & Recommendations

Welcome to my resources section. This is a hand-picked list of my absolute favorite books, art supplies, tools, apps, and resources.

In full disclosure…Some of the links below are affiliate links. This simply means that if you choose to make a purchase through these links I may earn a tiny commission at no additional cost to you whatsoever. This helps my family and me, so thank you.

To be further helpful, below I’ve added notes to everything so you can see why I’m making these recommendations.

If you want more information on anything, I welcome you to message me here or on social media with any comments or questions.

You guys mean the world to me, thank you for the support and love! I hope you find this page helpful.

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Oil and Acrylic Painting

When choosing paints, there are a lot of factors to think about. I have listed my favorites for both Acrylic and Oil Painting below.

As for what colors to choose, keep in mind that you can mix many colors just by mixing some variety of yellow, red, blue, black and white. That said, some of the brighter hues are impossible to match the radiance and vibrancy by mixing. So if you’re serious about your painting and particular about your color (as I am) I recommend stocking up in some colors that catch your eye.

It’s also a great idea to get a selection of transparent and opaque hues depending on how much glazing you like to do.Yes, you can add medium to gain transparency, but it’s not the same as having some quality transparent tube paints on hand.

Whether I’m painting with Oils or Acrylics these are some of my favorite colors that I always have in stock:

Paintbrushes

Finding the right paintbrushes can take years of trial and error. My journey has led me here.

More often than not, Trekell is my go-to brand of paintbrushes. As for the types of brushes I recommend, I always stock an assortment of filberts and rounds. I tend to use filberts most for their versatility. I like both the longer and shorter filberts that Trekell makes by hand.

Of their current collection, I particularly like the synthetic hair Legion and Golden Taklon line. The Legion have a bit more spring to them and the Taklon are a bit softer, each serving a very different purpose of oil or acrylic painting.

Oil Painting

This is the brand of oil paint that I’ve been using for over 15 years. In my opinion, it’s one of the best oil paints available. I’ve listed the colors I use most often.

If you’re starting out, I recommend this starter kit or grab a cool and warm version of red, blue, yellow and titanium white and Ivory Black. You can mix a ton of colors from just the basic core colors.

Oil Painting Mediums

Gamblin Gaklyd – Mix this with your paint and your layers will dry within 24 hours (for thinner layers). It also makes the paint more workable and translucent. Speed up your process by adding a little of this into your paint.

Neo-Meglip – When I’m not in a rush, this medium is incredible. It makes the paint buttery and smooth. It will dry slower giving you so much time to blend and work the paint.

Gamsol – An odorless and nontoxic mineral spirit to thin your paint and to be used as a solvent.

Acrylic Paints

Over the past few years I’ve gotten a lot more serious about acrylic painting and I have figured out how to replicate oil painting techniques in a much faster time frame.

This is the brand that’s helped me to step up my Acrylic painting game big time. What’s really made a difference is the use of various types of acrylics depending on what stage of the painting that I’m working on.

I now have a full array of my favorite colors in these varieties.

• Heavy Tube Acrylics which have a creamy, thick consistency like oil paint,
• Fluid acrylics, which have a consistency like heavy cream.
• High-flow acrylics, which have an ink-like consistency.
• Fine Tip Paint Markers – I really like these.

Acrylic Mediums

Golden Glazing Medium (gloss)– This is a terrific medium. It extends the drying time and also makes the paint more transparent to do very natural blending and building up of color.

Golden Retarder– This will make your acrylic paint dry way slower. You can add it to paint alone, but I also like mixing some of the glazing medium into it. Don’t go too heavy with the retarder or your paint won’t dry properly at all.

Golden Molding Paste/Heavy Gel – Sometimes I like to have heavy globs of paint for a textured look. This is great at building up thick layers of paint to mimic the look of oil impasto paintings.

Other Art Supplies I Love

Workable Fixative Spray – I use this for locking in pencil layers before applying paint over them, or when working with mediums that smear easily. This gives you a workable surface while preventing smudges or work to get washed away.

Gallery-Quality Matte Finish Acrylic Spray– When working on acrylic pieces, the final layer needs to be unified or else you get some sections that are glossy and others that are matte. This is what I use on smaller pieces to top-coat.

Resources for Health and Fitness

DNA Testing – After I had Kashif Khan on my podcast who is the CEO and Founder of The DNA Company he generously offered my podcast listeners a 10% OFF Discount for genetic testing services. (use code: jayalders) His company not only tests your DNA like Ancestry and 23&Me do, but they also provide customized and personalized strategic advice based on your genetics. This test and the advice they give could potentially prevent disease, give you more energy, improve mood and sleep, and help you overcome some of your genetic predispositions.

Side Sleeper Pillow – I’m a side sleeper and often I’ll wake up with horrible lower back and hip pain on the side that I sleep on. This pillow has really helped me a lot.