My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed‘Urban Codes - Series 1’ CollectionPashmina Wraps CollectionWearable Art Marie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
On this blog spot there are posts that center on my “Wearable Art” (e.g. scarves, digital or analogue created fabric lengths etc.) For your convenience I have listed these posts below.
A Selection of My Scarves
Leaves Transformed: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
My New Silk Rayon Velvet Scarves@Purple Noon Art And Sculpture Gallery
My Fabric Lengths@QSDS
My Fabric Collection:"Oh, Oh Marilyn and Mona!"@Spoonflower
2013 Australian Craft Awards – Finalist
My Scarves@2014 Scarf Festival: "Urban Artscape" Pashminas
My New Scarves and Fabric Lengths
New Range of Silk Neckties - Karma and Akash
AIVA: My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
New Colorways For My 'Cultural Graffiti' Fabrics
Byzantine Glow: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Wall Flower: A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Ink Fern - A New Collection of My Digitally Designed Fabrics
Celebratory Fireworks
My New Silk ArtCloth Scarves
New ‘Unique State’ Silk ArtCloth Scarves
UBIRR - My New Hand Dyed & Printed Fabric Design
Renaissance Man - My New Hand Dyed & Printed Fabric Design
Banksia - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Ginkgo Love - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Garden Delights I & II - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Wallflower III - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Rainforest Beauty - Collection My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Spring & Autumn Flurry Collection - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
La Volute Collection - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
Urban Butterfly - My New Hand Printed Fabric Design
Acanthus Dream - My New Hand Printed Fabric Design
“Cascading Acanthus” - My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed Fabric Design
My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed 'Rainforest Beauty' Pashmina Wraps Collection
My ArtCloth Tea Towels: A New Collection of Digitally Designed Products
Through the Land it Roared . . . ArtCloth Shawl
My New Hand Dyed and Hand Printed ‘Urban Codes - Series 1’ Collection
Urban Moonlight - My Post Graffiti Doily
My New Hand Printed Fabric Design - "Morocco" ArtCloth
‘Vine Glow’
“Bush Banksia’s” Collection"
Releasing My New - ‘Unique State’ ArtCloth Scarves
‘LRSP’ A New Collection of Digitally Designed ArtCloth Textiles

If you like any of my artworks in the above links, please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and for any other enquiries.

Introduction
There are three basic ingredients (as opposed to definitions) that all artworks possess: (i) they need to be “engaged”; (ii) they are non-functional; (iii) they are aesthetic.

Wearable Art is “Art” when placed in an art context, but when it is not placed in an art context, its functionality obscures the act of engagement. My pashmina wraps and scarves are wearable art.

‘Urban Codes - Series 1’ Collection
Concept and Processes
My new, contemporary ArtCloth pashmina wraps collection, “Urban Codes - Series 1” is based on the current western revival of tattoos and tattoo body art.

The Art of the tattoo has a long history in most cultures of the world, each with its own unique customs and myths. This ancient tradition continues to evolve, connecting the art of the past with present-day tattooing.

In the Western World, it was once a symbol of rebels, sailors, soldiers and criminals. However, today’s contemporary tattoo body art has experienced a renaissance, making its way into mainstream Western Pop Culture. Today, tattooing is one of the most common forms of personal and artistic expression, reflecting individuality and defining life experiences.

Ancient tattoo imagery still resonates through many modern tattoos. Most ancient tattoos tend to fall into two camps, namely, abstract patterns of black lines and dots or animal imagery (and sometimes a combination of the two). These types of imagery are particularly popular with the modern tattoo crowd, with the style known as modern-day ‘tribal’ being one of the most common. Modern tribal tattoos are almost always solely black and are composed of lines and swirls. They are often abstract shapes, but sometimes depict animals and other simple figures [1]. The origins of tribal tattoos date back to when ancient tribes used them to mark their status in the tribe, ranks, accomplishments, and completed tasks [2].

My ArtCloth collection, “Urban Codes - Series 1”, investigates modern ‘tribal’ tattoo patterns with their organic swirling designs, bold lines and spatial elements on a distressed multi-printed background. This is the first in a series of future ‘Urban Codes,’ tattoo art pashmina collections.

Each pashmina wrap is a one-off creation, never to be repeated in color, tone or overall design. However, some of the design elements may reappear in other pieces, but the overall colors and design is what ensures their uniqueness as a one-off specialty wearable art item to covet. The “Urban Codes - Series 1” pashmina wraps ArtCloth collection is a limited-edition series which will not be repeated.

As with all my textile art and designs, plain white pashminas, in this case viscose, were individually dyed and/or overdyed using time-honored hand dyeing techniques to add visual depth, pattern and contrast to the scarf background/s. Each pashmina was individually dyed employing various shibori patterns to ensure the unique background patterning and, also to give the wearer the choice of wearing the pashmina either on the printed side or the dyed side. Using time-honored hand printing processes each pashmina was then screen-printed with images of my distressed urban marks over the entire scarf length. Initially in colors that matched the dyed background and thereafter the same imagery was ombre screen-printed in multiple contrast layers. The final layer consisted of tribal tattoo imagery, which was screen-printed and gold foiled to highlight the beauty and personal statements of this Western Renaissance of tattoo art.

Pigment paints were carefully mixed to ensure that the screen-printed images imparted rich, luscious, intense colors to the multi-dyed base colors. Layers of complex images were overprinted using glazes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigments, and gold foil, until a richly hued and multi layered surface was created. Each pashmina scarf measures 74 (width) x 195 (height) cm. Special care instructions are included with each scarf.

If you would like to purchase any of my “Urban Codes - Series 1” Pashmina Wraps ArtCloth Collection please email me at - Marie-Therese - for pricing and/or any other information. They would make a lovely, unique gift for you, your friends and family to boot!
Note: Photographs courtesy of Marie-Therese Wisniowski.

‘Urban Codes - Series 1.’ Pashmina Wraps Collection

Description: Red/Gold ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 1. Full view.
Techniques: Dyed, shibori over dyed and silk screened employing dyes, glazes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment, and foiled on viscose.
Size: 74 cm (width) x 195 cm (length).

Description: Red/Gold ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 1. Detail view (1).

Description: Red/Gold ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 1. Detail view (2).

Description: Red/Gold ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 1. Full front view of the printed/dyed length.

Description: Red/Gold ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 1. Full back view of the shibori dyed length.

Description: Rust/Navy Grey ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 2. Full view.
Techniques: Dyed, shibori over dyed and silk screened employing dyes, glazes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment, and foiled on viscose.
Size: 74 cm (width) x 195 cm (length).

Description: Rust/Navy Grey ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 2. Detail view (1).

Description: Rust/Navy Grey ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 2. Detail view (2).

Description: Rust/Navy Grey ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 2. Full front view of the printed/dyed length.

Description: Rust/Navy Grey ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 2. Full back view of the shibori dyed length.

Description: Purple/Magenta ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 3. Full view.
Techniques: Dyed, shibori over dyed and silk screened employing dyes, glazes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment, and foiled on viscose.
Size: 74 cm (width) x 195 cm (length).

Description: Purple/Magenta ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 3. Detail view (1).

Description: Purple/Magenta ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 3. Detail view (2).

Description: Purple/Magenta ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 3. Full front view of the printed/dyed length.

Description: Purple/Magenta ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 3. Full back view of the shibori dyed length.

Description: Turquoise/Purple Navy ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 4. Full view.
Techniques: Dyed, shibori over dyed and silk screened employing dyes, glazes, transparent, opaque and metallic pigment, and foiled on viscose.
Size: 74 cm (width) x 195 cm (length).

Description: Turquoise/Purple Navy ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 4. Detail view (1).

Description: Turquoise/Purple Navy ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 4. Detail view (2).

Description: Turquoise/Purple Navy ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 4. Full front view of the printed/dyed length.

Description: Turquoise/Purple Navy ArtCloth Pashmina Wrap 4. Full back view of the shibori dyed length.

References:
[1] Wellcome Collection Blog – Contemporary tattoos and the ancient world.
See - https://wellcomecollection.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/contemporary-tattoos-and-the-ancient-world/
[2] HubPages - Tribal tattoo designs and tribal tattoo meanings-tribal tattoo.
See - https://discover.hubpages.com/style/Tribal-Tattoo-Designs-Ideas-for-tribal-tattoos-for-Men-and-Women/

Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part 1[1]Art QuiltsMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
Art Quilts have featured on this blogspot and so for your convenience I have listed below previous posts in this series:
Art Quilts - Part I
Art Quilts - Part II
Art Quilts - Part III
Art Quilts - Part IV
Art Quilts - Part V
Art Quilts - Part VI
Art Quilts - Part VII
Art Quilters of the Netherlands - Part I
Art Quilters of the Netherlands - Part II
Art Quilters of the Netherlands - Part III
Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part I
Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part II
Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part III
Art Quilts of Jane Sassaman
Art Quilts of Michael A. Cummings
Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part IV

Introduction by Peter Thoben (Eindhaven, The Netherlands) [1]
As an art and culture historian I have the chance to participate in many juries spanning visual art and photography, to carnival and historical agents. The assessment of textile work was certainly new for me but definitely not an impossible task. After all, it's at all times about watching 'picture language' and the formal language of artistic and creative expressions, which must take into account the medium - which has its own capabilities and limitations.

In the art (and art crafts), textiles have received a modest appreciation even though for a long time they have been known for their strong craft-technical skills, perhaps with the exception of Flemish woven tapestries from the 16th and 17th Centuries. However, the images of the submitted works make it clear that there is an artistic intention and expression in addition to the craftsmanship required to bring the work to a higher level. We can also see how movements in contemporary art and culture of the applicants country has a visible impact and are reflected in the end result.

Having a broad cross-section of an international jury of five people, each with their own expertise, provides a 'weighted' decision - often after a great deal of discussion. It's an educational process that clearly shows that all applicants have contributed to this touring exhibition, with its aim of continually increasing the quality of the European Art Quilt Exhibition - even though they may not have made the final selection. In one word: "capeau!" I'm curious to see these textile works in the flesh: shape, color, texture, size, details etc., using my own eyes to 'feel.'

Four Selected European Art Quilters - Part 1[1]

Quilter: Dominique Arlot (Lyon, France)[1].

Full View
Title: The Gold Leaf (2014).
Materials: Silk, organza, cotton batting, man-made materials. Textile paint, gold threads, silk threads.
Technique: Hand appliqué, painting, hand machine embroidery, golden transfer on organza and man-made material from Chinese paper.
Size: 70 cm (wide) x 130 cm (length).
Comment [1]: Goldleaf, gilded with gold leaf; gold leaf which is not leafed shape but a square... I was dreaming about those words, and the imagination got the upper hand. And things set up in an unreal world...

Detailed View 1

Detailed View 2

Quilter: Janine Ayres (Edenbridge, United Kingdom)[1].

Full View
Title: Dark Skies (2014).
Materials: Cotton sateen and silk organza hand dyed with Procian dyes, 'Mistifuse' fusible web, cotton and rayon threads, glass beads, cotton wadding.
Technique: The cotton and silk were hand dyed and layered with scraps of 'Mistifuse' to create the impression of gas clouds. Cotton wadding was used to create the 'sandwich' before being machine stitched. The glass beads were applied with hand stitch.
Size: 110 cm (wide) x 110 cm (length).
Comment [1]: Constantly increasing levels of light around our cities and towns is making it impossible to see the beauty of the night sky. We are losing our visual contact with elements that have shaped our cultures and driven many of our technologies throughout history. Children grow up never having seen the stars and clouds of the Milky Way, or the planets around us.

Detailed View 1

Detailed View 2

Quilter: Gonny de Bekker-Jespers (Nunspeet, the Netherlands)[1].

Full View
Title: New Day (2013).
Materials: Cotton, synthetic fabric.
Technique: Batik, hand dyed, hand quilted.
Comment [1]: Any second of the day the sea reshapes his characteristics and looks different. Every day, again and again. The sea gives me peace and is always fascinating.

Detailed View 1

Detailed View 2

Quilter: Eszter Bornemisza (Budapest, Hungary)[1].

Full View
Title: Forbidden City (2013).
Materials: Cotton, mulberry paper, felt.
Technique: Dyed, mono-printed, screen printed, hand written, machine sewn.
Comment [1]: As an urban citizen my main sources of inspiration are the cultural layers found in the Earth under the soles of our feet and embedded in our minds.

My starting points are ideas that reflect our relationship to traces and settlements of past and present cultures: the layers of existence. As the urban structure develops, widens, thickens, clots and creates subsystems in history, the cities that live within us undergo an endless and continuous evolution.

Detailed View 1

Detailed View 2

Reference:
[1] European Art Quilt Foundation, Molenschat, Netherlands (2014).

Celebration [1 ]: Art Cloth Panels by Helen LancasterArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below posts on this blogspot that featured the artistic output of Helen Lancaster (my dear friend who passed away on the 11th February 2020).
Cane Toad Narrative (Exhibition - ArtCloth: Engaging New Visions)
Transformation. An Exhibition of Contemporary Textiles Curator: Helen Lancaster
Floating: Art Exhibition @ Purple Noon Art And Sculpture Gallery
Celebration
The Barrier Reef Corporate Wall [1]: Art Cloth Panels
Helen Lancaster's - The Great Barrier Reef

Introduction [1]
"Soft touch environment" is how Helen Lancaster describes her own work using textiles as her art medium. Helen, having a career as a educator in TAFE, and then in textile forums, sees her role to educate the viewer of her artworks about the fragility of the environment. That is making her audience aware of endangered species, such as birds and fish, whose species are threatened due to climate change. To emphasize this message she uses the Great Barrier Reef as her medium to get her message across to the onlooker about climate change and the threat that it brings to flora,fauna and marine life.

Helen Lancaster, surrounded by her artwork in 2002.

Photograph of fish in the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland (Australia).

Celebration [1 ]: Art Cloth Panels by Helen Lancaster
'Celebration' consists of four panels of crocheted artworks. Vibrant colors and beautiful abstract shapes reveal the distinctive eyes of the Barrier Reef's creatures - among them the coral grouper, soldier fish, moray eel and blue devil. A myriad of dots surrounding the eyes simulate the Olympiad fireworks that sits above the ocean floor.

Spider Shell with Shrimp Crab - detail from Celebration, 1999.

Garibaldi - a small bright orange marine fish found off California, 1999.
Detail from Celebration.

Blue Devil - detail from Celebration, 1999.

Coral Groper - detail from Celebration, 1999.

The panels below compose the installation "Celebration". Each panel was crocheted and measure 244 (length) x 61 (width) x 15 cm (thickness).

Reference:
[1] H. Lancaster, Portfolio Collection, Telos Art Publishing, Winchester, England (2002).

Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms [1]ArtClothMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba Stitch Resist
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Yoruba and Baulé Warp Ikat

Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms[1]
Nigeria is one of the few places in West Africa where women, as well as men, weave. This phenomenon was pearticularly noticeable amongst women of the Youruba and Igbo peoples and other small groups in southern Nigeria.

A Yoruba woman weaving on a vertical loom at Owo, southwest Nigeria.

Almost the only women's vertical looms left in Yorubaland are at Owo, though amongst the Igbo, the women's looms of Akwete still prosper. The woman's loom consists of two sturdy posts set into the ground (usually large palm ribs) and two horizontal beams (again, palm ribs lashed to the posts at an appropriate height), around which the cotton warp is wound. The loom operates with a single heddle to preserve the weaver's cross and a heavy wooden sword is used, both for beating the weft and turned on its side to keep the shed open. The weaver pulls the heddle towards herself, adjusts the position of the shed sticks, turns the sword on its side, inserts the weft in a wooden shuttle, beats that pick in with the sword, lets the heddle go, re-adjusts the shed sticks, turns the sword on its side again and countershed has been made and the whole process is repeated until the cloth has been completed. The loom is continuously warped and, as the looms are quite high, a long length of cloth can be woven. As the weaving progresses, the warp is loosened off and the woven portions of the cloth are taken around the back and the part still to be woven is brought in front of the weaver.

The textile is often plain white cloth, but sometimes incorporates dark warp stripes. The finished cloth is usually dyed by dipping it into the indigo vat. Each strip is about the weaver's cubit wide. A woman's cloth is made up by sewing together two lengths selvedge to selvedge.

Woman's cotton cloth with supplementary weft decoration in the Nupe style.

Fine Nupe supplementary weft-decorated cotton cloth. Two lengths have been sewn together to form a wider cloth.

Igbomina Yoruba indigo-dyed supplementary weft alara (with wonders) marriage cloth from Esie.

Igbomina Yoruba indigo-dyed supplementary weft alara marriage cloth from Esie. The longitudinal spiral motifs are said to symbolize snakes.

Nupe woman's cotton cloth with supplementary weft decoration along one border and central beam.

Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).

Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I [1]Art ResourceMarie-Therese Wisniowski

Preamble
This is the nineth post in a new Art Resource series that specifically focuses on techniques used in creating artworks. For your convenience I have listed all the posts in this new series below:
Drawing Art
Painting Art - Part I
Painting Art - Part II
Painting Art - Part III
Painting Art - Part IV
Painting Art - Part V
Painting Art - Part VI
Home-Made Painting Art Materials
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part II
Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part I
Historical Notes on Art - Part II
Historical Notes on Art - Part III
Historical Notes on Art - Part IV
Historical Notes on Art - Part V
Tempera Painting
Oil Painting - Part I
Oil Painting - Part II
Oil Painting - Part III
Oil Painting - Part IV
Oil Painting - Part V
Oil Painting - Part VI
Pigments
Classification of Pigments - Part I
Classification of Pigments - Part II
Classification of Pigments - Part III
Pigments for Oil Painting
Pigments for Water Color
Pigments for Tempera Painting
Pigments for Pastel
Japanese Pigments
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part I
Pigments for Fresco Painting - Part II
Selected Fresco Palette for Permanent Frescoes
Properties of Pigments in Common Use
Blue Pigments - Part I
Blue Pigments - Part II
Blue Pigments - Part III

There have been one hundred and thirteen posts in a previous Art Resource series that focused on the following topics:
(i) Units used in dyeing and printing of fabrics.
(ii) Occupational, health & safety issues in an art studio.
(iii) Color theories and color schemes.
(iv) Optical properties of fiber materials.
(v) General properties of fiber polymers and fibers - Part I to Part V.
(vi) Protein fibers.
(vii) Natural and man-made cellulosic fibers.
(viii) Fiber blends and melt spun fibers.
(ix) Fabric construction.
(x) Techniques and woven fibers.
(xi) Basic and figured weaves.
(xii) Pile, woven and knot pile fabrics.
(xiii) Napped fabrics, double cloth and multicomponent fabrics.
(xiv) Fabric finishes.
(xv) Schrinkage, durable press and wash-wear finishes.
(xvi) Classification of dyes and dye blends.
(xvii) The general theory of printing.

To access any of the above resources click on the following link - Units Used in Dyeing and Printing of Fabrics. This link highlights the one hundred and thirteen posts in the previous Art Resource series.

There are eight data bases on this blogspot, namely: (1) the Glossary of Cultural and Architectural Terms; (2) Timelines of Fabrics, Dyes and Other Stuff; (3) A Fashion Data Base; (4) the Glossary of Colors, Dyes, Inks, Pigments and Resins; (5) the Glossary of Fabrics, Fibers, Finishes, Garments and Yarns; (6) Glossary of Art, Artists, Art Motifs and Art Movements; (7) Glossary of Paper, Photography, Printing, Prints and Publication Terms; (8) Glossary of Scientific Terms.
Note: From time-to-time all the above data bases will be updated.

If you find any post on this blog site useful, you can save it or copy and paste it into your own "Word" document for your future reference. For example, Safari allows you to save a post (e.g., click on "File", click on "Print" and release, click on "PDF" and then click on "Save As" and release - and a PDF should appear where you have stored it). Safari also allows you to mail a post to a friend (e.g., click on "File", and then point cursor to "Mail Contents On This Page" and release). Either way, this or any of the other posts on this site may be a useful Art Resource for you.

The new Art Resource series will be the first post in each calendar month. Remember, these Art Resource posts span information that will be useful for a home hobbyist to that required by a final year University Fine-Art student. Undoubtedly, some parts of any Art Resource post may appear far too technical for your needs (skip those mind boggling parts) and whilst other parts may be too simplistic with respect to your level of knowledge (ditto the skip). Hopefully, the trade-off between these two extremes will mean that the Art Resource posts will be useful in parts to most, but unfortunately, may not be satisfying to all!

Quality in Ready-Made Artists' Supplies - Part I [1]
While the use of students' grade material may be justified on economic grounds, for the beginners in their very early stages, it is questionable whether this practice should be carried out too far in the future. If, as soon as the sudents have completed their very early attempts and have begun to think and act for themselves, they should continue their training with the best professional materials they can possibly afford, and as a result, they should be on the road to better control of their materials and methods than if they were introduced to the sorts of materials that make all the difference in the world, after they have already established their technique, or the background for their future technique, on a basis of inferior materials beyond the need for strict economy.

Left: Amateur. Right: Professional Photographer.
Comment: Clarity of the photograph, more interesting pose and a happy disposition makes all the difference.

The development of the easel and mural painting has been based on the use of superlative grades of materials; artists in past generations have always realized that no degree of perfection was too small to be overlooked in their preparation or choice.

Melbourne Street Artist & Muralist HAPPY DECAY (Australia).

They were held to be products that stood in a class beyond that of common goods of trade. On the other hand, the extreme preciousness that existed during some past periods has been eliminated, and on the whole our own best grades of supplies are, within reasonable limits, as good as we can desire, according to our current knowledge and beliefs. However, because of the numerically greater demand for non professional materials (the kind sold for less exacting purposes - for school work, for commercial applications, for amateurs etc.), the smaller supply shops and departments of other stores are frequently found lacking in the better grades of canvas, paper, colors and brushes.

Sketch paper is meant for large, quick sketches in dry media, without much detail. They aren't usually meant to be permanent. So sketch paper is usually wood-pulp based, thin and cheap, and sold in large, thick pads. If you want your sketches to last, choose acid-free sketch paper, and if you prefer a thicker paper, choose a heavier weight, at least 125 grams per square meter (gms) or 80 pounds. Check the dimensions to be sure you get the right size for your work.

Apprentices in any of their manual or mechanical trades soon learn all about the quality of their tools, and acquire high-grade professional ones early in their careers. An ordinary house painter engaged in the most commonplace sort of work would scorn to use a brush comparable in quality and condition to some of the artists' brushes with which paintings are done. Artists should know the use of cheap materials not only affects the quality of their work, but it is not economical to purchase the best; nevertheless, a pure strong color will go further than a weakened one, and a good brush will outlast several poor ones.

Nylon bristle brushes.
The Good: Nylon brushes are durable, have excellent paint pickup, and a smooth finish. Polyester brushes maintain their shape and control which is great for detail work. Nylon/Polyester blend brushes combine all the positive qualities and are the most popular choice. The smooth texture and springiness of the bristles make for an even finish and great for woodwork and furniture using water based satin,eggshell and gloss finishes. Modern synthetic brushes are excellent and have the advantage of being cheaper than natural hair.
Note: If you look after these brushes, they will last for years.
The Bad: Nylon brushes soften in hot weather or after a lot of use with latex paint. Brushes can lose the ability to create a smooth, precise finish. Polyester brushes have a lower paint pick up which means you will need to reload your brush more often. Paint with fast-drying ingredients (the majority on the market right now) will stick to polyester making them harder to clean.

The one way a student can judge such materials - after they have been taught all that can be imparted to them regarding their slection, requirements, characteristics etc. of their tools - is to be allowed to work with them. Possibly some of the lack of interest in this subject is due to an overreliance on the truism that no amount of opulance in materials will made a good artistic painter, and that a good artistic painter can turn out surprisingly good things under adverse conditions.

Below are artworks featured in Hoisier Lane, Melbourne Australia.

Reference:
[1] The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques, R. Mayer, (ed. E. Smith) 4th Edition, Faber and Faber, London (1981).