Artwork and Ethics

I have been living a vegan lifestyle since 2008 after many years of being a vegetarian. I see all life as sacred and choose not to be responsible for any suffering upon this earth. These ethics translate into my artwork too. It may surprise you to know that many artists materials are manufactured using animal products. I have taken great care to source products which are free from such products and are therefore compatible with my ethics.

I work mainly in watercolour and also in acrylic. Luckliy there are some very good paint manufacturers these days who do not incorporate any animal products into their products. For example, the Daniel Smith range of watercolours are not only beautiful they are also vegan except for a handful of their colours. These are the paints I use in my watercolours and I must admit to being rather addicted to them. There is such an amazing array of colours, many of which granulate into wonderful textures and hues.

There are some very good acrylic paint manufacturers whose products are, on the whole, suitable for vegans. I use both Golden acrylics and also Liquitex. Both companies have assured me that all thier acrylic paints are vegan apart from a few which contain bone black pigment.

On the subject of brushes, the quality and range of synthetic brushes today is amazing. When I first started synthetic brushes were inferior in quality to their animal hair counterparts. Nowadays this is most definitely not the case. My absolute favourite brush for watercolour painting is the faux squirrel range from Princeton. They are truly delightful brushes to use.

So, you can be sure that my artwork has been created with care and thought for our fellow creatures of this earth.