The Australian Brands Behind Your Favourite Art Supplies

There’s a lot to love about opening a fresh tube of paint: the colour on the label, that first squeeze onto a clean palette, and the feeling of possibility before you even make your first mark. But there’s one question many of us rarely stop to ask: where did it actually come from?

Some of the paints, canvases, mediums and specialty art products sitting on Australian art shop shelves have travelled much less distance than you might think. They have been mixed in Sydney factories, triple-milled in Melbourne workshops, or carefully bottled by small family-run teams right here in Australia.

For decades, Australian art supply brands have been creating high-quality materials designed for the artists, landscapes and creative communities around them. Many have built loyal followings without making too much fuss about the fact that they are Australian-owned, Australian-made, or both.

That is exactly why we wanted to take a closer look.

In this guide, we are sharing the stories behind six Australian art brands that Art Shed is proud to stock: Art Spectrum, Matisse, Atelier, Jo Sonja’s, Boom Gel Stain and Mont Marte. We will explore where they began, what makes them different, and the Australian-made products, colours and collections worth knowing about.

Because choosing Australian art supplies is not only about where a product was made. It is also about supporting local ideas, local jobs, Australian manufacturing and the businesses helping our creative community continue to grow.

Before we meet the brands, though, we thought we should tell you a little about the Australian art store sharing their stories.

Art Shed’s Australian Roots

Art Shed began in 2005 beneath the Queensland home of our founder, Cindy, who was a young mum of three with another baby on the way. In those early days, she picked and packed every parcel herself. She did not yet have a driver’s licence, so she would load the children and the day’s orders into a pram and walk kilometres to the nearest post office to send them on their way. It was basically the earliest and least efficient version of express shipping.

It was right around the time eBay and the wider world of online shopping were beginning to take off, and Cindy saw an opportunity to bring art supplies online. Plenty of people thought she was mad. She was told it would never take off and that nobody would buy products online. Awkward.

Finding suppliers willing to support an online art store was difficult, and as a young female entrepreneur, she was not always taken seriously. Still, she was determined to build something for her family that felt fun, colourful and welcoming. At the time, many art stores felt dark, beige and, in Cindy’s words, a little “snobby”. She could never understand why spaces built around art and colour often felt so serious.

Art Shed was created to be the opposite: a place where beginners, professionals and everyone in between could feel excited to walk in, ask questions and create. Cindy has always described Art Shed as the fun art expert you can have a proper chat with, but who is also the first one dancing on the table with a margarita in hand. At its heart, it has always been about creativity, community and connection.

The business is still run by Cindy, her family and a growing team of real artists who share the same belief that art should feel joyful, accessible and for everyone.

Why Supporting Australian Brands Matters to Art Shed

Perhaps because we know what it takes to build an Australian business from the ground up, supporting local brands has always felt personal to us. It is about more than spotting a little Australian flag on the packaging; it is about backing people who are having a proper crack at creating something of their own.

As Cindy explains:

“For me, supporting Aussie brands, whether they’re Aussie-made or Aussie-owned and made overseas, is about backing Australians having a proper crack. Aussie-made absolutely deserves celebrating, but an Australian-owned brand also supports local jobs, local families and our creative community. At Art Shed, we know how much talent, heart and sheer hard yakka goes into building a brand and keeping it going. So yes, we’ll wave the flag, but more importantly, we’ll put our money where our mouth is and support the people helping keep Australia creative.”
— Cindy, Founder, Art Shed

The People Behind Art Shed

Although Art Shed has grown over the years, there is still a small, close-knit and very hands-on team behind everything you see. For Aussie August, the four of us in the in-house marketing team, Kira, Teal, Sarsh and Annabelle packed our phones and cameras, gathered the products and headed to a local family farm and the Sunshine Coast on Kabi Kabi Country to capture the landscapes, colours and stories behind the campaign.

There was no enormous production crew hidden behind the scenes. It was simply the four of us working together: creating artwork and colour swatches, styling products, chasing the right light, taking photographs and filming content along the way. Back behind the scenes, we also work closely with Drew on video and Maria on design, helping us shape those ideas into the finished campaign you see across our stores and online.

That same hands-on care extends across the wider Art Shed team. Our staff teach classes, lead demonstrations, answer customer questions, pack your orders and share knowledge built through their own experiences as artists and makers. Behind Art Shed is a community of real people who genuinely care about helping others create and who are usually trying their best not to get paint on everything in the process.

Our Relationship With Our Customers

Art supplies can be confusing, and we have always believed good advice should not feel reserved for people with a fine arts degree. Through our blogs, videos, emails, classes and demonstrations, we try to make practical art knowledge easier to understand and much less intimidating.

That same care guides what we stock. Our team tests and discusses products before recommending them, asking whether they are good quality, genuinely useful and worth an artist’s time and money. Whether you are speaking with customer service or visiting us in store, there are real people and real artists ready to help, never a bot pretending its name is Jessica.

Why Aussie August Exists

Aussie August is our love letter to home and a chance to shine a brighter light on the Australian brands, artists and creative stories growing in our own backyard. We love the international brands we stock, we are not breaking up with anyone, but there really is no place like home.

Australia has a colour palette that is honestly showing off. It is in the deep greens of the Daintree, the reds and oranges of the outback and Uluṭu, the brilliant blues of the Great Barrier Reef and the sunny colours of our beaches. It is in our wildlife, gum trees, red dirt roads and those old rural towns that may look a little worn around the edges but are still completely full of spirit.

From the bush to the beach, Aussie August celebrates the land, people and creativity that make this place so special and the Australian brands helping artists turn that inspiration into something they can hold, paint with and share.

A Special Thank-You to Ridgeview Brangus

The bush side of our Aussie August campaign was photographed on location at Ridgeview Brangus, in Murphy’s Creek, also known as Tamamareen, Queensland.

A huge thank-you to the Ridgeview Brangus team for welcoming us onto the property, letting us wander around with cameras, canvases and a car full of art supplies, and helping us bring this part of the campaign to life. It was the perfect backdrop for celebrating the colours, character, spirit of the Australian bush and the spirit of local businesses helping each other out.

[Follow Ridgeview Brangus – RVB on Facebook]

Quick Answer: Which art supply brands are actually Australian?

Atelier, Jo Sonja’s and Matisse are Australian-made acrylic paints, manufactured by family companies in Sydney since the 1960s. Art Spectrum is a 100% Australian-made, family-owned Melbourne paint maker. Boom Gel is a small-batch gel stain hand-bottled in Mandurah, WA. Mont Marte is Australian-owned, with roots in Brisbane, though manufactured overseas today.

Which Australian Brand Is Right for You?

With six brands to get through, here’s the short version before the long one.

Art Spectrum — Australia’s Own Colour Maker

Art Spectrum’s story began in Melbourne in the early 1960s, when artist and RMIT lecturer David Keys Snr set out to create the materials Australian artists actually needed. Rather than relying entirely on whatever happened to arrive from overseas, he began developing professional artist colours right here in our own backyard.

It started less like a polished business launch and more like artists coming together to solve a problem. David worked closely with the local art community, listening to what painters needed and creating materials that could stand proudly alongside the European brands dominating the shelves at the time.

More than six decades later, Art Spectrum remains Australian family owned and is now run by David Keys Jnr and his partner, Tamara. Much of the range the brand is best known for, including many of its professional paints and pastels, is still manufactured in Melbourne using traditional colour-making and milling methods. Not every Art Spectrum product is Australian made, but local manufacturing remains a significant part of its story.

Perhaps the clearest expression of Art Spectrum’s Australian identity is its colour palette. The brand has developed a collection of authentic Australian colours formulated to reflect the tones found across the country’s landscapes, not simply colours with an Australian name added to the label.

These shades draw from the earthy ochres, iron-rich reds and dusty neutrals of the outback, alongside the deep greens, blue-greens and softened natural tones of the Australian bush. They are colours shaped by the land around us and developed with artists painting that land in mind.

There is something pretty special about painting an Australian landscape with colours that were not only inspired by it, but developed and manufactured close to home. From the colours of the bush to the red earth beneath our feet, Art Spectrum has spent generations helping Australian artists capture what makes our corner of the world look like nowhere else.

[Explore the Art Spectrum range]

Matisse — Australian Colour, Turned All the Way Up

Matisse is made in Sydney by Derivan, the Australian family company whose story stretches back to 1958. It began as Vynol Paints, operating out of old stables in Kings Cross, and has since grown into a third-generation family business with a long history of doing things a little differently.

The Matisse name itself was never part of some grand branding plan. It started as an internal project name because one of the early team members loved Henri Matisse, and somehow it stuck. Honestly, there are worse ways for a paint range to get its name.

Derivan has always had a strong inventive streak. In 1964, it produced what is recognised as the world’s first student-grade acrylic paint, helping make acrylics more accessible to everyday artists. It also developed non-toxic screen-printing inks and non-toxic face and body paints well before safer formulas became something customers expected to see on the label.

Today, Matisse is probably best known for its bold colour, generous texture and distinctly Australian point of view. The range is split between two main formulas: Structure, which is thick, sculptural and made to hold its shape, and Flow, which is smoother and more fluid. But what makes Matisse especially memorable is the way it captures Australia through colour.

This is not just a brand borrowing the words “bush”, “reef” or “outback” for a nice product name. Matisse has developed full colour stories around the landscapes, light and natural tones found across the country. Shades like Australian Salmon Gum and Australian Yellow Green feel rooted in the places they are named after, giving artists colours that already speak the language of the Australian landscape before they even hit the canvas.

That same thinking carries through to the brand’s Australian-inspired sets. The Matisse Structure Acrylic Australian Colours Set brings together shades connected to the broader landscape, while the Seascape Colours Set leans into coastal blues, greens and softer natural tones. The Australian Daintree Fundamental Set explores the layered greens and earthy depth of the rainforest, while the Australian Reef Fundamental Set turns towards the bright, saturated colour of the reef.

The Australian Outback Fundamental Set captures the warmth of red earth, ochres and sunbaked terrain, while the Landscape Colours Set offers a broader starting point for painting the Australian environment. The Australian Masters Fundamental Mini set also gives a nod to the artists who have shaped the country’s visual identity, bringing history, colour and place together in one very paintable little box.

What makes Matisse feel so uniquely Australian is not simply that it is made here. It is the way the brand has looked closely at the colours around us and turned them into something artists can use. From rainforest greens and reef blues to gum-tree tones and outback reds, Matisse takes the Australian landscape and gives it body, texture and a whole lot of personality.

[Explore The Mattise Range]

Atelier — The Acrylic That Refused to Hurry Up

Atelier is an Australian-developed acrylic made by Chroma in Sydney, and its best-known formula was created for artists who love acrylic paint but wish it would stop drying quite so quickly.

Chroma was founded in Sydney in 1965 and has spent decades developing artist paints with real working artists in mind. Atelier Interactive came from a very specific frustration: acrylic paint dries fast, which can be brilliant for layering, but not so brilliant when you are halfway through a blend and the paint decides the session is over.

So Chroma created an acrylic that behaves a little more like oil paint.

Atelier Interactive stays workable for longer than a standard acrylic and can be reopened with a light mist of water or the brand’s Unlocking Formula. That means artists can return to a section, soften an edge or keep blending without feeling like they are racing the clock. It is a clever Australian solution to a problem painters had simply learned to put up with.

That is what makes Atelier’s story so interesting. It is not trying to be acrylic in the usual sense, and it is not trying to replace oil paint either. It sits somewhere in between, giving artists the colour and convenience of acrylic with a little more breathing room.

The longer working time will not suit everyone, and that is part of the point. Some artists love the quick, predictable drying time of traditional acrylic. Others want to slow down, blend gradually and make changes as they go. Atelier was made for that second group.

Alongside Interactive, Atelier Free Flow offers a more fluid formula for artists working with fine detail, pouring, glazing or airbrushing. Together, the range shows the same thing Chroma has been doing for decades: looking at how artists actually work, spotting the frustration and finding a smarter way around it.

Atelier’s Australian story is less about naming colours after the landscape and more about local innovation. It is a paint designed here, manufactured here and built around the real habits of painters. Very Australian, really: practical, inventive and not particularly interested in doing things the standard way just because that is how they have always been done.

[Explore the Atelier range]

Mont Marte — Art Supplies for Everyone

Mont Marte is an Australian-owned family business with roots in Brisbane and a pretty simple belief at its core: art should not be reserved for people with a fine arts degree, a professional studio or a very generous paint budget.

Its products are manufactured overseas today. But the heart of the business, its family, team, ideas and creative direction, remains right here in Brisbane.

The Mont Marte story began with father-and-son team Bob and Cheyne Kent, who were running Fair Dinkum Bargains and an import wholesale business supplying everyday stores with hardware and garden products. In early 2003, a shipment of heavy black garden stones needed something lighter to fill the remaining space in the container, so a stack of artists’ canvases was added almost as an afterthought.

The canvases sold much faster than the stones.

What could have remained a lucky accident quickly became something more. When factory closures connected to the SARS outbreak created problems not long afterwards, Bob and Cheyne travelled overseas themselves and worked on improving the canvas design. They made it thicker, strengthened the stapling and reduced the chance of it bowing. That product became the Mont Marte Double Thick Canvas and helped set the direction for the business that followed.

From the beginning, Mont Marte was never built around exclusivity. It was built around getting art supplies into the hands of more people.

That is why you will find Mont Marte in places traditional fine art brands do not always reach: regional stores, newsagencies, variety shops and everyday retailers across Australia. Some people have mistaken that accessibility for a lack of quality, but being widely available was never an accident or a shortcut. It was the whole point.

Art can already feel intimidating enough without the price tag joining in. Trying a new medium should not require a major financial commitment, and someone living in a regional town should not have fewer opportunities to create simply because the nearest specialist art store is hours away. Mont Marte set out to lower those barriers and make painting, drawing, crafting and experimenting possible for more families, students, beginners and curious creatives in Australia.

That sense of family still runs through the brand. Mont Marte grew from a father and son spotting an unexpected opportunity, rolling up their sleeves and turning it into something that could help other people create. More than two decades later, it remains Australian owned, with its headquarters and creative team based in Brisbane.

Even the artwork across Mont Marte’s packaging is created in-house. Each painted example is made in Brisbane by their in-house artist using the exact product inside. The sweep of paint on a tube of Dimension Acrylic was painted with Dimension Acrylic; the finished artwork is not a generic digital mock-up designed to make the product look better than it is. It is a small detail, but it reflects the brand’s practical approach: show people what the product can genuinely do.

Over time, the range has grown far beyond basic starter supplies. There are still affordable options for someone picking up a brush for the first time, but there are also more specialised ranges such as Dimension Acrylic and Premium Pouring Paint for artists ready to explore further. That range of price points is part of the same idea Mont Marte started with: meet people where they are, then give them room to grow.

We are proud to support an Australian family business that believes creativity should belong to everyone, not only the people who already know all the rules.

[Explore the Mont Marte range]

Jo Sonja’s — Built for Detail, Not Speed

Jo Sonja’s Artists’ Colours are Australian-made by Chroma in Sydney, formulated for decorative artists and folk painters who need a matte, pigment-rich acrylic for controlled brushwork and fine detail.

Jo Sonja’s comes from the same Australian paintmaker as Atelier, but the two ranges were created for very different artists. Atelier was designed for painters who want more time to blend and make changes. Jo Sonja’s was built for artists who need the paint to go exactly where the brush puts it.

Decorative and folk painting can sometimes be dismissed as simple craft, but anyone who has attempted a perfectly balanced border, a curling vine or an entire flower made from a handful of carefully loaded brushstrokes knows otherwise. It is precise, technical work that relies on control, repetition and an almost unreasonable amount of patience.

That is the world Jo Sonja’s was made for.

Compared with ordinary bottled craft paint, Jo Sonja’s Artists’ Colours are genuinely pigment-rich, with colour strength described as two to three times stronger than many craft formulas. In practical terms, that means stronger colour, more reliable coverage and less paint needed to create an even result.

Not every shade is completely opaque, nor should it be. Transparent pigments are useful for glazing, shading and building depth. However, this is professional decorative paint rather than basic craft paint placed in a nicer bottle. Its lightfast pigments, colour strength and controlled consistency are made for artists who expect their finished work to last.

The first major difference is the finish. Jo Sonja’s dries completely matte, with a soft, velvety appearance similar to gouache but the water resistance and permanence of acrylic once cured.

That lack of shine is important in decorative painting. Glare can interrupt fine linework, make layered brushstrokes appear uneven and distract from the small details doing most of the work. A matte finish allows every leaf, petal, border and highlight to remain clear from different angles.

The paint has a smooth consistency that moves easily through liner and detail brushes without becoming thin or difficult to control. It is especially well suited to strokework, lettering, layered florals, heritage motifs and those tiny finishing touches that usually involve holding your breath until the brush leaves the surface.

Jo Sonja’s is also designed as a complete decorative painting system. With the correct preparation and medium, the same colours can be used across wood, metal, fabric, glass, ceramics and other surfaces. The important part is using the correct preparation. It is not simply a matter of painting directly onto anything within reach and hoping for the best.

Porous surfaces may need sealing or priming, washable fabric requires Textile Medium and heat setting, and slick surfaces such as glass or tile need products that help the paint adhere. This gives decorative artists the freedom to carry one colour palette across furniture, signs, ornaments, fabrics and homewares without purchasing an entirely different paint range for every project.

The palette has its own personality too. Where Matisse often feels bold, saturated and contemporary, Jo Sonja’s leans towards softer, more muted and slightly vintage colours. Earthy oxides, mossy greens, softened blues, warm creams and traditional floral shades feel naturally at home in folk art, botanical designs, decorative furniture and heritage-style motifs.

That is why the Australian acrylic ranges are not interchangeable. Reach for Matisse when you want bold colour and physical texture. Choose Atelier when you want more time to blend. Choose Jo Sonja’s when your piece depends on crisp linework, carefully layered detail and a finish that will not reflect the light back at you.

[Explore the Jo Sonja’s range]

Boom Gel — Hand-Bottled in Western Australia

Boom Gel is a genuinely small-batch, Australian-made and owned gel stain, bottled, labelled and sealed by Cass, Brett and their family team in Mandurah, Western Australia.

Of all the brands in this guide, Boom Gel may have the most personal production line. There is no enormous factory or anonymous manufacturing team behind each bottle. Cass and Brett make Boom Gel with the help of their family, preparing and packaging the range by hand in Mandurah.

That detail matters because Boom Gel is not simply an Australian-owned label attached to a product manufactured elsewhere. It is a locally made art material created by a small family business, then packed and sent out by many of the same people who speak directly with the artists using it.

Boom Gel found a particularly loyal audience within fluid art and furniture upcycling, where artists wanted rich colour and movement without being limited to a traditional acrylic pouring formula. From there, a supportive online community grew around the brand, with users sharing finished pieces, techniques and the occasional experiment that probably began with the words, “I wonder what would happen if…”

That connection appears to be a genuine part of the business rather than a marketing exercise. Cass and Brett regularly interact with Boom Gel artists online, and Cass has spoken about how rewarding it is to hear directly from people who love using something her family has made. For a small Australian brand, that kind of relationship with its users is not a side note. It is a large part of how the range has grown.

Boom Gel is not quite acrylic paint, and it is not a traditional timber stain either. It is a water-based, non-toxic gel stain with enough versatility to be used across canvas, timber, glass, ceramic and fabric. It can be brushed, spread, sponged or poured depending on the surface and the result you are trying to create.

Its place in fluid art is especially interesting. Traditional acrylic pouring usually involves combining acrylic paint with pouring medium and sometimes additional products to achieve the right flow and cell formation. Boom Gel offers an alternative system built around the stain itself, with compatible flow mediums, texture products, cell boosters and sealers available when an artist wants to adjust the movement or finish.

Calling it an eco-friendly alternative should not simply mean placing a green leaf on the label and moving on. In practical terms, Boom Gel is water-based, non-toxic and cleans up with warm soapy water. Artists can create fluid effects without relying entirely on the usual combination of acrylic paint and pouring additives, although the exact environmental impact will still depend on the other products used and how leftover material is disposed of.

The colour range also gives the brand a distinctly Australian personality. Shades such as Golden Wattle Yellow, Ghost Gum Grey, Gum Leaf Green, Banksia Orange, Lilly Pilly Pink and Cassowary Blue draw directly from Australian plants, animals and landscapes. Alongside them sit metallic and pearlescent colours that catch the light and bring even more movement to poured or layered work.

Where Art Spectrum and Matisse translate the Australian landscape into traditional artists’ colours, Boom Gel takes a looser and more experimental approach. Its colours are made to move across a surface, run into one another and create effects that are difficult to plan down to the last detail. That unpredictability is part of the appeal.

Boom Gel is a particularly good fit for artists who enjoy fluid art, decorative finishes and upcycling, or who tend to look at an old vase, timber panel or piece of furniture and see a surface waiting to be experimented on. It is approachable enough for beginners, but unusual enough that experienced artists can continue finding new ways to use it.

[Explore the Boom Gel range]

FAQ

Shop the Range

Behind each of these brands is a different Australian story: family businesses, local makers, inventive paint manufacturers and teams who have spent years creating products for artists at every stage.

Some have been part of Australia’s creative community for generations, while others are still growing bottle by bottle. What connects them is a genuine love of making art materials that help people experiment, learn and bring their ideas to life.

You can explore more locally made products in our [Australian Made art supplies collection], or step into the landscapes, colours and creative stories behind this campaign on our [From the Bush to the Beach Aussie August page].

Explore the ranges from [Art Spectrum], [Matisse], [Atelier], [Jo Sonja’s], [Boom Gel] and [Mont Marte].

And if you are still unsure which one is right for your next project, ask our team in store or online. We are always happy to tell you which one we would genuinely reach for and why.