The Cass Art Collection

Cass Art is on a mission to fill this country with artists. We believe in art and know the freedom and pleasure it brings, so want to encourage everyone in their creative endeavours. Fundamental to this is giving artists access to the best materials at the most affordable prices; the Cass Art Collection is a direct manifestation of this mission.

Launched in 2013 in collaboration with award-winning designer Angus Hyland, a Partner at Pentagram we have channeled our business of colour, design and creativity into our own brand range. For over 15 years Angus has championed creativity at Cass Art, launching our brand identity and activating the Cass Art Manifesto, he has received over a hundred creative awards, including two D&AD Awards for the Cass Art Paper Range and our iconic Collection of Tote Bags.

Alongside the original pads the Cass Art Collection has since grown to include artists’ pastels, brushes, portfolios and pencils, with only the best quality products from the most reputable manufacturers of art materials across the world. The most recent additions to the collection are our professional and studio ranges of paint: Artists’ Oil Colour, Artists’ Watercolour, Exhibition Grade canvas and Cass Art Acrylic.

One of the latest addition to the Cass Collection is The Cass Art Markers which are alcohol based and highly blendable whilst also being quick drying and fade resistant. They offer great control and versatility, with each marker including two durable nibs of differing sizes – A bullet and chisel tip. Allowing you to create defined lines and layers of depth and tone and also create broad bold strokes. The ergonomic barrel has been designed for comfortable extended use, supporting a range of grip and styles.

As these markers are alcohol based it makes them permanent so they can also be used on most surfaces such as glass, plastic and metal. They do dry quickly meaning there is much less chance of smudging therefore less chance of producing faded weaker colours. This makes these markers ideal for everything from commercial fashion and graphic illustration to manga art to crafting at a professional and student level.

ARTISTS' OIL COLOUR

Our Cass Art Artists’ Oil Colours are an extra fine professional grade oil colour produced with the highest possible level of pigmentation, they have a rich and buttery consistency which ensures evenness from colour to colour. Each colour within this range offers maximum lightfastness and permanence ratings, and has the advantage of a slightly shorter than average drying time, with consistency across the colour range.

GREG MASON - 2017 Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year finalist, 2018 Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year finalist and Cass Art Professional Oil Paint Ambassador

“The consistency and texture of these oil paints is great. It’s not too thick to work with straight from the tube but also blends well with mediums like Liquin to give extra flow if that’s what you need. The colour range is well thought out, satisfying the needs of artists who like to work from a broad range of pre-mixed colours, right through to painters like myself who prefer to mix from quite a limited palette.”

ARTISTS' WATERCOLOUR

Our Artists' Watercolours are a truly exceptional range of extra fine, professional grade paints. Made from the highest quality pigments, this range maintains an unparalleled colours strength and brilliance throughout, with each colour offering the highest possible lightfastness and permanence ratings. The paints have a true smoothness, and are well suited to applying large washes.

FRANCESCO LO LACONO - Fashion Illustrator

“As an illustrator that works mainly with watercolour, I found the choice of colours great – certainly enough to experiment with different shades. Also, the consistency was quite thick, which meant that a little bit of paint went a very long way!”

INGRID SANCHEZ - Graphic Artist and Tutor

"The colours are very concentrated, which is great because they allow more space to play with transparency and opacity. Some of the colours are so vibrant there is no need to mix them with other mediums as I usually would do."

You can use see more of Franceso's work here and Ingrid's here.

ACYRLIC

Our own Cass Art Acrylics offer great quality at an affordable price. Medium body and quick drying they're ideal for all approaches to painting in acrylic. These colours can be used on a wide range of surfaces including canvas, paper, card, board, wood and fabric, making them equally perfect for use in all manner of craft and design projects. They are lightfast with a high covering power and water-resistant when dry.

KANE MEARNS-SMITH - Former Cass Art Student Ambassador

“The acrylic paints worked well for me due to the energy held in their colours. The contrast between each individual colour really makes a painting come to life. I was also incredibly pleased by how quickly the acrylic dried. Due to the nature of my style of painting, I am often struck with great intervals of waiting for the paint to dry. However, these acrylics allowed me to get the idea from my head onto canvas in no time at all.”

GESSO

Cass Art Gesso is a universal primer for the preparation of surfaces to be painted, improving the adhesion of acrylic paint. It's viscosity and titanium white concentration makes it particularly covering.

Dries quickly, with a light matt finish. Permanent after drying with a strong and flexible film.

We want to put a paint brush in every hand. Whether a professional artist, hobbyist or student we have the Cass Collection brush for the job, be it a quick painted sketch or a month long masterpiece. Our sable, synthetic and hog brushes have excellent durability and can be used with a variety of painting mediums including watercolour, oil and acrylic.

This Cass Art Sable Paint Brush Set Of 5, like the rest of our own-brand range, brings you very high quality at an extremely good price. You will find that they are perfect for watercolours as their soft natural bristles can carry large amounts of water for long, consistent strokes of colour. They have good spring and durability and the short handles mean that they are ideal when you need to create fine detailing and intricate work.

This Cass Art Synthetic Brush Set of 6 brings you a great team of all-rounders. Like the rest of our own-brand range, we designed them to give you really high quality at an excellent price. You can use them with all brands and types of watercolours, acrylics and oils, gels and mediums, and all techniques. They have exceptionally soft synthetic bristles with fantastic spring which are very durable and are particularly well suited to fine detail work, or when you are applying light washes. This set contains an assortment of six brushes. Stocked in all our UK stores.

This Cass Art Hog Paint Brush Set Of 6 is part of the own-brand range we set up to bring you excellent-quality basics at the best possible prices. These brushes are ideal for use with all brands and types of oil and acrylic paint, whatever technique you want to use. They are long-handled brushes, with excellent durability and strength. The stiff bristles maintain a good spring and do not want shed. Don't be fooled by the low price: these really are very high-quality brushes.

BRUSH CLEANER

A highly efficient and safer solvent for oil paint.Cass Art Brush Cleaner / Oil Paint Dilutant is non-flammable and has a pleasant 'orangey citrus' smell. Use for brush cleaning and the thinning of paint and as an alternative to traditional turpentine and white spirit.

BRUSH CLEANER/OIL DILUTANT

A highly efficient and safer solvent for oil paint. Cass Art Brush Cleaner / Oil Paint Dilutant is non-flammable and has a pleasant 'orangey citrus' smell. Use for brush cleaning and the thinning of paint and as an alternative to traditional turpentine and white spirit. Available in 250ml, 500ml, 1 litre sizes.

Dilutes oil paint. Cleans brushes. Less environmentally damaging than other solvents. All the harmful aromatic VOCs (Volatile organic compounds) have been taken out, so it is much safer to use. Ideal for use in shared studios, schools and colleges, and by those allergic to conventional thinners.

Non-flammable. It also thins oil paint and improves transparency, and blends (oil based) coloured pencils and pastels on paper. UK shipping by road only. Not available for International or Northern Ireland delivery.

STRETCHED CANVAS

Canvas is a fundamental part of good painting. Our range of Cass Art Canvases are crafted from the highest quality warp-resistant spruce wood and with surfaces that are acid free and archival quality. Suitable for a variety of mediums including oil, acrylic and mixed media.

Artists’ Exhibition Grade Quality Cotton Canvas: Available in 11 different sizes, these 21mm depth canvases are made with pure 335gsm/11.8oz cotton. This range is prepared with 3 layers of white gesso primer and has a medium-grain finish.

Artists' Exhibition Grade Quality Artists’ Linen Canvas: Available in 7 different sizes, these 21mm depth canvases are made with pure 320gsm/11.3oz flax linen. This range is prepared with clear primer resulting in a medium-grain finish, flatter than cotton.

Cass Art Cotton Canvas: Available in 11 different sizes, these pure 320gsm/11.3oz cotton canvases have been prepared with 3 layers of white gesso primer. They're available in two depths: 19mm regular profile and 38mm deep edge profile.

CANVAS ROLLS AND STRETCHER BARS

A lot of artists prefer to make their own canvases to their own specifications, so If you're struggling to find the right length, width or depth, in the one canvas we also have canvas rolls and stretcher bars available to meet your needs too! There are a couple of things to consider when choosing your ideal canvas and stretcher bars.

WEAVE

Canvas is measured in grams per square metre (or gsm as you'll commonly see) or ounces per square yard (oz). If the cotton or linen has a heavy weight then one or both of the following is true: it is a thick, tough yarn and/or it is tightly woven. Lightweight cotton or linens have an open weave and generally a fine yarn, they are easier to stretch and are more responsive to tightening procedures to make them more taut. The lighter weight canvases are usually used by artists who draw and/or have a much more delicate touch in their work.

WEIGHT

The heavier the weight of the canvas means the more tension the fabric can take without ripping. If you're deciding to paint on a large scale it's best to go with the heavier option. Weight is how much fabric there is per area so it is determined by both thickness of the thread used to weave and how tightly it is woven. A coarse canvas can be loosely woven so it could be lighter weight than a fine canvas that is tightly woven. But usually, a thick thread makes a heavy canvas and a thin thread makes a light canvas.

Our stretcher bars are produced from high quality European pine and measure 36mm in depth, 8mm lip and 40mm in width. Available in a range of sizes from 25 to 180cm in length. They are strong due to the laminated construction to ensure zero warping.

RONAN MCGEOUGH - Professional Oil Painter

“The Artists’ Exhibition Grade Quality Cotton Canvas has a nice medium grain tooth to it – not too smooth, not too rough – so it’s perfect for painting both fine details or working with a much rougher style. The fact that it’s prepared with three layers of highly opaque titanium dioxide gesso is really important for me as it creates a strong adhesion when applying the paint. From an aesthetic point of view, the three layers of primer ensures complete surface coverage, allowing my paintings to appear more vibrant too.”

You can use see more of Ronan's work on his Instagram: @ronanmcgeough

PENCILS

Our Cass Art Graphic Pencil Set contains 6 quality graphite pencils, which can be used in all forms of sketching and drawing. This set contains a range of graphite grades, which make them ideal for all drawing styles and techniques. These pencils come presented in a handy sliding eco-carton, which has been beautifully produced by the design team responsible for our own-award winning line of Cass Art Pads.

Our Cass Art Watercolour Pencil Set contains 36 quality, water-soluble coloured pencils, which can be used to create watercolour effects in drawing and painting. They can be used either independently or in conjunction with traditional watercolour.

PASTELS

Cass Art's Professional Quality Pastels are produced from the finest pigments available, ensuring they are soft and blendable with vibrant, lightfast colour. This set contains 20 Assorted Colour Half Sticks which are ideal for all kinds of drawing and painting as well as quick colour sketches for preparatory work. Made in England. Stocked in all our UK stores.

FIXATIVE

Cass Art Artists' Fixative is a general purpose spray fixative. Suitable for charcoal, pastel, pencil and crayon. Acid-free. Fast drying. For use on any surface. Provides a protective layer to prevent smudging and preserve artwork. Apply one to two coats in a thin, even spray from a distance of approximately 30cm. For use with all forms of dry media, fast drying and acid-free.

DRAWING & PAINTING PADS

Cass Art Own Brand Paper Pads combine exceptional quality with outstanding value. Designed by leading agency Pentagram, our paper pads explore the mark-making of different mediums, revealing a fresh aesthetic on the front of the blank pages awaiting your own designs. From cartridge and marker pads to watercolour and oil the great variety of surface and size means that you will always have a pad to match your need - from painting on the go to large scale graphite drawings.

ANGUS HYLAND - Graphic Designer, Author, Creative Director, Partner at Pentagram and designer of the Cass Art Collection

"Each pad is based on the same simple idea; to represent the media directly on the cover. And so we started by asking artists their reasons for buying different papers; Why do you buy heavyweight cartridge? What can you do with it? Is it to draw on it, what medium can you use on it? Can wet mediums be used on it, is it better for drawing? What tooth does it have? Is it better for charcoal? The challenge was to express a commonality that would connect the range. For example, the Smooth Hot Pressed Pad, has the same swashes of watercolour, but with cartridge it’s all sorts of things.So we chose to make the heavy weight red and all the regular weight black, then you have instant visual recognition - a type of coding system."

Read about your next must-have material with our exclusive blog on our Cass Art Collection. From our award-winning paper to our selection of artists' quality paints you'll find the right tools for your practice.