Tag: recommendations

Art Supply shops in Athens – Antoniadis

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Art Antoniadis is a smallish shop on Zaimi and they cater primarily for painters – it is the only shop that carries a selection of large easels. Reading the reviews of the other art shops I feel like I’m doing Antoniadis an injustice because I don’t have so much to write, but the reason for it is plain and simple that I hardly use oils and recently haven’t used acrylics much either.

antoniadis

So, what have they got? (Occasionally they also do weekend open-air painting lessons, by the way.)

Watercolors

They have almost a full selection of both Van Gogh and Rembrandt half pans and also Van Gogh tubes if I’m not mistaken.

Coloured pencils

Actually I’m not even sure if they had any of those – might have been a few basic children’s sets, but definitely no more.

Gouache, tempera and acrylics

Everything from Royal Talens – full Rembrandt line and full Amsterdam line.

Oil paints

Same as acrylics, a full selection from Royal Talens – Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Art Creation and Cobra.

Markers

Amsterdam acrylic markers – nice touch, because I don’t think any other store carries this line.

Printmaking

Occasionally they have some brayers.

Paper and canvas

A small selection of blocks, mainly for sketching. They have different types of canvas both in rolls and stretched and also prepare stretched canvases for order.

Easels

Different types of large ones.

You can find out more about them on their website and Facebook page

Art supply shops in Athens – Plaisio

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Plaisio has split its shop into three different ones on Stournari – there is one for stationery and computer-related stuff, one for office furniture and one for art supplies. As Plaisio is a chain store, they are one of the few, if not the only store, where the selection of art supplies is steady – meaning that their selection of brands and products is not large, but then again it does not change often.

plaisio_web

So, what do they offer?

Watercolors

They have a good selection of Winsor and Newton half-pans and tubes (both Cotman and artist grade) as well as Ecoline liquid watercolors.

Coloured pencils

Full range of Othello dry pastel pencils, and Faber-Castell sets and individual pencils.

Gouache, tempera and acrylics

Full selection of Talens gouache tubes, full range of Van Gogh and Winsor and Newton small tubes of acrylics, Plaisio’s own Sentio range of acrylics in large bottles (250 ml) and recently they’ve also got a modest range of chalk paints. They also carry different painting mediums, both for oil, acrylic and watercolor.

Oil paints

Van Gogh and Winsor and Newton small tubes of oils, full range of both.

Markers

A rather incomplete selection of individual Promarkers, but a number of Promarker sets. A full range of Tombow markers and most importantly, Plaisio is one of the few places that always or nearly always has Sakura Pigma Micron fineliners (01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and 08) and they also have the range of Rotring technical pens.

Printmaking

They carry the best beginner set of lino carving tools – a box with 5 Sakura lino gouges. They also have some lino and a small selection of brayers, but no printmaking inks.

Paper

A steady selection of Winsor and Newton blocks, ranging from sketching paper to heavy cartridge to cold press (NOT) watercolor to canvas-textured oil and acrylic paper. I’m almost sure that they also have large sheets of Winsor and Newton NOT.

 

You can see their selection on their website.

 

20 graphic novels everyone should read, part 2

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So, let’s dive right in and list the remaining 10 in no particular order of preference.

11. “Habibi” by Craig Thompson (Pantheon Books)

habibicover

A most unusual and captivating love story – and it’s that extraordinary that I won’t even give out any details in order not to spoil the reading pleasure.

12. “La Belle Mort” by Mathieu Bablet (Ed. Ankama Éditions)

la belle mort

A post-apocalyptic survival story that I’m not able to read, but that is exquisitely drawn, from the first page till the last.

13. “La Colére de Fantomas” 1-2 by Bocquet, Rocheleau and Ravon (Ed. Dargaud)

More French comics that I cannot read, but that simply look gorgeous. This one is an adaptation of the series of “Fantomas” by Souvestre and Allain. The style is very dynamic and an absolute pleasure to look at.

14. “Muchacho” part 1, by Emmanuel Lepage (Ed. Dupuis)

muchacho-tome-1-muchacho-v1

Not the only work of Emmanuel Lepage on this list. This story is about a young seminarian Gabriel, a boy from a good family, in Nicaragua in 1970’s, gradually getting to know the life and struggles of the common people.

15. “Rendez-vouz a Paris” (from the series “Monstre”) by Enki Bilal (Ed. Casterman)

bilal rendez vous in paris

Part 3 from the series “Monstre” by Enki Bilal, who is one of my favourite comics artists of all time. I have this one in Greek, but bought at the time I still couldn’t read it on the necessary level.

16. “La Peau de l’Ours” by Zidrou and Oriol (Ed. Dargaud)

la peau de lours

A gorgeously colored story of an old man with quite an interesting life behind him…

17. “Nuit de Fureur” by Matz & Miles Hyman (Ed. Casterman)

nuit de fureur

Thuggish noir, that’s a pure visual treat.

18. “Un regard par-dessus l’epaule” by Paquet & Sandoval (Ed. Paquet)

un regard par dessus

A story of a little boy who gets imprisoned into the wall of the living room and has to find the exit to get back home.

19. “Un Printemps a Tchernobyl” by Emmanuel Lepage (Ed. Futuropolis)

un printemps

22 years after the catastrophe in Chernobyl, Emmanuel Lepage takes a journey through Ukraine to report about the current state of the place…

20. “Voyage aux îles de la Désolation” by Emmanuel Lepage (Ed. Futuropolis)

voyage aux isles

One more stunning travelogue by Emmanuel Lepage about his journey to the Reunion island.

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And the last one for bonus is the comic book I grew up with and was allowed to read as a treat on Sundays and holidays as a small kid! As you can see, the book on the picture is just as frayed as mine is.

piilupart

 

20 graphic novels everyone should read – part 1

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Soooo… this one started with the post of Katerina Stamati, who aired her favourite comics and graphic novels and challenged a bunch of others (including myself) to do the same. And I figured… nice idea, why not – after all new book recommendations are worth the weight of the particular book in gold.

Two things before I get started. Firstly, the order of the books is random and secondly, as I’m the kind who buys graphic novels for the artwork, more than half of the ones I’m recommending I haven’t technically read, because they are in French (of which my understanding is very rudimentary).

Here we go.

  1. “Groenland-Manhattan” by Chloé Cruchaudet (Ed. Delcourt)

groenland-manhattan

In 1897, explorer Robert Peary returns to New York after his voyage to Greenland and brings along 5 Inuits, who are housed at the basement of the Natural History Museum…

It is based on a true story (one can look up Minik Wallace, to learn more details), but the story is not mentioned in any encyclopaedia articles about Robert Peary.

2. “De Profundis” by Chanouga (ed. Paquet)

de profundis

To be honest, I never really understood what this story is about. But the artwork is so poetic and absolutely gorgeous that I never really cared. Let’s just say that there is a lonely sailor and many mermaids…

3. “Weapons of Mass Diplomacy” by Lanzac &Blain (FR -Dargaud/ EN -SelfMadeHero)

weapons of mass diplomacy

The insanity of international politics and diplomacy in graphic novel form, narrated by Abel Lanzac, (real-life diplomat Antonin Baudry), who worked in French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2002-2004. Deeply satirical, so anyone who’s sniggered at ‘Yes, Minister’ or ‘The Thick of it’, will most probably enjoy it.

4. “Rebetiko” by Prudhomme (FR – Futuropolis / EN – SelfMadeHero)

rebetiko

Story of rebetiko musicians in Athens in 1936 and stunning artwork to go with it.

5. “Nocturno” by Tony Sandoval (ed. Paquet)

nocturno

I’m normally not a huge fan of ‘dark’ comics, but “Nocturno” is an exception. Partly, because my understanding of French is poor and partly because the artwork is just so damn great. Whoever said that one has to keep the same style throughout the book?

6. “Periode glaciaire” by Nicolas de Crecy (ed. Futuropolis)

periodeglaciaire

Looking back to our days from a far and frozen future. De Crecy is a superb watercolorist and freehand architecture renderer, who needs no more than 2-3 colours to bring any story alive.

7. “Le Jardin D’Hiver” by Dillies & La Padula (ed. Paquet)

jardindhivers

A beautiful and poetic story about love and loneliness in a city.

8. “Taste of Chlorine” by Bastien Vives (FR – Casterman / EN – Jonathan Cape)

smagen af klor

Boy meets girl in a swimming pool. And again and again, and then… Bastien Vives is one of the most talented young French graphic novelists and definitely the most productive one.

9. “The Arrival” by Shaun Tan (ed. Hodder Children’s Books)

arrival

“The Arrival” is a silent book, meaning that you won’t encounter a single word on its 128 pages. However, it shows how it feels to emigrate to another country out of need.

10. “Sambre – Maudit soit le fruit de ses entrailles” by Yslaire (book 5) (ed. Glénat)

sambre

For the second time in this post I’ll be making an exception to a ‘dark’ comic. The truth is that I wouldn’t have bought ‘Sambre’ for the story alone (as I got mine from Danish book sales, I’m actually able to read it), but I do like the red-sepia-black artwork. I also didn’t get the other volumes for the very reason that I didn’t like their artwork which was slightly different.

Aaaand the first 10 are done.

Next 10 soon to come..