Field Trip to East Coast Colors

I took a train ride out (yes, that is my run-down train station) to Long Island City to go check out East Coast Colors, a small handmade artist oil paint company started in 2008. I met up with a few of my former classmates to view a paint making demo.


Here you see the owner Jacob mixing up a brand new color for the East Coast Colors line. The staff was very knowledgeable about all the ins and outs of the paint making process and graciously answered all of our bazillion questions about pigments and mediums.


On this shelf you see some oil mediums they have for sale. One of particular interest to me was the sun thickened oil which is supposed to give your paintings an enameled look! I might have to buy and test some of that out one of these days.


At the end of the demo I purchased a tube of Transparent Red Oxide (which I think will be awesome for underpaintings) and Genuine Naples Yellow, which Jacob's assistant, Josh, tubed for me right on the spot! There is definitely a satisfaction from buying directly from the person who makes something.

The third member of the team, Bob, mentioned he will deliver the paint to you in person if you live in the NYC area, FOR FREE! Now that is some seriously good customer service.

Hooray for locally produced items!

For more info on East Coast Colors you can visit their BLOG.