Finding Com Art paints?

stefanvalent

stefanvalent

Young Tutorling
I'm a life-long user of Iwata Medea's Com Art line of paints. - They're perfect for the illustrations I make. I've been having a harder and harder time buying them, though. - Up here in Canada I was able to order them through Delta Art in Alberta. And I've also made orders through Midwest Airbrush Supply. Each of these places, though, no longer seem to sell individual bottles anymore.

Any idea what's going on here? Iwata's site isn't giving any indication that they're discontinuing the line...

Any suggestions on where I can buy these? I'd rather order through a Canadian place, as shipping from American ones (like Coast Airbrush) can sometimes cost quite a bit...
 
A little while back I did see a post from an Iwata vendor that mentioned that they have been discontinued. It stuck in my head because I like them too. A week or so back I saw an ad for them so started looking around - but could find no notice of them being discontinued... so, I really don't know. I hope you find what you are after!
 
DaveG said:
A little while back I did see a post from an Iwata vendor that mentioned that they have been discontinued. It stuck in my head because I like them too. A week or so back I saw an ad for them so started looking around - but could find no notice of them being discontinued... so, I really don't know. I hope you find what you are after!
Click to expand...
I'll let you know what I find, Dave! For you guys in the US, though, it looks like they can be easily ordered through Coast Airbrush - https://www.coastairbrush.com/categories.asp?cat=91 - These guys will also ship up to Canada, but I could be paying $40 shipping for $40 of paint, which I'd rather avoid...
 
Also, might anyone recommend alternatives to Com Arts? Reading through old posts on this site, it looks like the closest alternative might be Createx Illustration Colors?
 
stefanvalent said:
Also, might anyone recommend alternatives to Com Arts? Reading through old posts on this site, it looks like the closest alternative might be Createx Illustration Colors?
Click to expand...
It really depends on how you want to work, especially after the paint is applied. Createx Illustration is really good for after application manipulation - like scratching, erasing, etc. With that said, I have to say I have a real love/hate relationship with the stuff. I use it, and use it a lot, but it can be some frustrating stuff to work with. Working with Com-art, I would say the easiest transition is probably to Golden Highflow. They are quite heavily pigmented, so take reduction for use really well. Great color pallet, and several useful additives like retarders an flow enhancers, all of which i think work pretty well. The one drawback, if you want to call it that, is that they dry rock hard - so after application manipulation can be tough.

E'tac can be awesome to use. Very little tip dry, or brush clogging. They tend to stay softer on the surface, and some of the colors have a re-wetting ability, which means when you pile on, it will re-wet the layer beneath, which can lead to issues if you are not careful. The color pallet is a bit limited in comparison to other brands, but still pretty full. I really enjoy working with them.
 
DaveG said:
It really depends on how you want to work, especially after the paint is applied. Createx Illustration is really good for after application manipulation - like scratching, erasing, etc. With that said, I have to say I have a real love/hate relationship with the stuff. I use it, and use it a lot, but it can be some frustrating stuff to work with. Working with Com-art, I would say the easiest transition is probably to Golden Highflow. They are quite heavily pigmented, so take reduction for use really well. Great color pallet, and several useful additives like retarders an flow enhancers, all of which i think work pretty well. The one drawback, if you want to call it that, is that they dry rock hard - so after application manipulation can be tough.

E'tac can be awesome to use. Very little tip dry, or brush clogging. They tend to stay softer on the surface, and some of the colors have a re-wetting ability, which means when you pile on, it will re-wet the layer beneath, which can lead to issues if you are not careful. The color pallet is a bit limited in comparison to other brands, but still pretty full. I really enjoy working with them.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Dave. What is it that you find frustrating about the Createx Illustration paints?

One of the things that I liked about the Com Arts is that they claim to be non toxic. Do you know if any of your recommended alternatives make such claims?

Also - Another art store up here, Delta Art, heard from their Iwata rep that "they say they bring Com-Art back in the future." I've messaged Iwata to see if that's true, and if they have a timeline for when we can buy them again. I'll let you know what they say.
 
Iwata wrote me back:

"Unfortunately, we do not have any plans at this time to bring back Comart. It is true that it is discontinued, not necessarily due to manufacturing issues but because we are focusing on our partnership with Createx, which we highly recommend. Sorry to tell you this news and thank you for your support of our paints!"
 
E'tac does not look easy to find up here. None of the Canadian stores that I know of are selling it. Where do you guys buy yours?
 
NOOOO, no ComArt paints anymore..... That is all I have ever used and found them to be fairly easy
to spray and get good results.
Lucky I have a couple of cartons of unused stock to tie me over, as well as 1 carton of unopend Golden Hiflow.
If the Golden stuff is as good then I may end up moving over to that, but it's more expensive than Comart.
Don't fancy or rather very unsure about Createx stuff, as from what I keep reading, it's finicky and complex
stuff with having to use all those differing 4012 or 4030 bottles of stuff.

I use my own thinner/reducer (de-ionised water/99% Isopropol/Glycerin) mix, so not sure if that would be
compatible with createx.
 
V-Twin said:
NOOOO, no ComArt paints anymore..... That is all I have ever used and found them to be fairly easy
to spray and get good results.
Lucky I have a couple of cartons of unused stock to tie me over, as well as 1 carton of unopend Golden Hiflow.
If the Golden stuff is as good then I may end up moving over to that, but it's more expensive than Comart.
Don't fancy or rather very unsure about Createx stuff, as from what I keep reading, it's finicky and complex
stuff with having to use all those differing 4012 or 4030 bottles of stuff.

I use my own thinner/reducer (de-ionised water/99% Isopropol/Glycerin) mix, so not sure if that would be
compatible with createx.
Click to expand...
Can I ask why you're thinning Com Arts? One of the reasons I like that paint so much is that it's great right out of the bottle...
 
stefanvalent said:
Can I ask why you're thinning Com Arts? One of the reasons I like that paint so much is that it's great right out of the bottle...
Click to expand...
Stefan, I have always thinned my paints. The amount depends on what I want to achieve, anything from 1:1 to 1:5 (ish)
(paint to thinner). I generally spray at low psi (10-25), so thinning a little helps.
 
stefanvalent said:
E'tac does not look easy to find up here. None of the Canadian stores that I know of are selling it. Where do you guys buy yours?
Click to expand...
I used to carry it but it's pretty expensive to import and wasn't popular so I discontinued selling it. Illustration is very popular
 
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