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When it comes to creating unique and durable finishes for your art projects, acrylic mediums and specialty coatings play a crucial role. At Douglas and Sturgess, we offer a variety of professional-quality materials to help artists, sculptors, and designers achieve their desired effects. Today, we're diving into three essential products: Acrylic Gloss Medium, Gel Medium, and Tortoise Shell —each with its own unique properties and applications.

Polyester Jewels are vibrant, reflective metallic glitters that can elevate anything from polyester resin to acrylic enamel. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or a professional crafter, these flakes are a game changer, bringing an eye-catching shine to your work.

Black patinas are incredibly versatile and can provide various effects depending on how you use them. Whether you’re aiming for a sleek, modern look or a textured, dramatic finish, these patinas can help you achieve just that.

At Douglas and Sturgess, we carry a variety of natural and synthetic pigments, as well as fluorescent pigments, phosphorescent pigments, metallic pigments, thermochromic and photochromic pigments and have the largest selection of pigments on the West Coast! Read on to find out more about these amazing materials.

Raw powdered pigments have been the cornerstone of artistic expression for millennia, offering artists a direct connection to nature and history. From the vibrant ochres of ancient cave paintings to the sophisticated color palettes of modern studios, raw pigments remain a fundamental element in the creation of art.

Flexible slip, also known as mannequin rubber, consists of a mixture of latex rubber and clay and is slip cast into plaster molds to create hollow, light weight , tough parts. This material air dries to the consistency of hard leather. Once dried, flexible slip can be painted with acrylic paints and is fantastic for making items like doll and puppet heads, Christmas ornaments and display props.

Some common uses for flexible slip include:

Casting: Flexible slip is poured into dry plaster molds to create semi-flexible castings that can capture intricate details.
Artistic Applications: Artists often use flexible slip to create sculptures and artworks.
Restoration: It can be used in restoration projects to replicate missing or damaged parts of historical artifacts or architectural elements. Especially useful for simulating lincrusta.
Additionally, because flexible slip is made of materials like latex and clay, it is virtually non-toxic!