Art Supply Suggestions
Click here for a printable list.
A Guide to Studio Safety (Gamblin Art Products)
We are big fans of Blick Art Supplies at 8118 Montgomery Rd.
Age 6 through grade 10 students should have a spiral bound, 9″ x 12″ (or similar) sketchbook and pencils (regular #2’s are fine). We stock high quality sketchbooks for $15. We provide all other materials including tempera and watercolor paint, chalk and oil pastel, colored pencils, special papers for water color and pastel. Students may bring their own acrylic paint, stretched canvas, markers, and anything else that we don’t offer. Students may also bring laptops and or tablets.
Grade 11, 12 and Adults work with a variety of mediums. If you want to learn about basic sketching, you will only need sketching supplies, if you want to paint, review below. This page is to give you a general idea of what you might need. If you aren’t sure, I would recommend sketching, then progressing from there. We reccomend supplies from Plaza Art (in Kenwood). Most paints come in “student” and “professional” grades. You will probably won’t need professional grade to start but, we do not recommend cheapest supplies found in many hobby and craft stores.
Drawing
optional drawing and sketching supplies:
- graphite sticks (aka woodless pencils)
- nitram charcoal
- kneaded eraser
- quality drawing paper or sketchbooks
- sand paper pointer
- small utility knife (for sharpening)
Painting
Some manufacturers offer student grade and professional grade paint. Student grade paints are less expensive because the pigment used to make the color has been reduced or replaced with other fillers. Beginning painters usually buy student grade. I would avoid the super cheap sets like Artist Loft. A good option for beginning painting is just black and white for a while to get used to brush techniques. Blue and white, naples yellow and burnt umber (resulting in a sepia tone) would also work. For a first set of colors, I recommend one of two options shown below. A Quiller Wheel will come indoors handy.
basic primary pallet; you can mix most colors with just these 5)
- true yellow, cad yellow med
- true blue, phthalo blue
- true red, alizarin crimson
- white, titanium white
- dark brown, burnt umber
extended primary palette; a warm and cool for each primary color. If your budget allows, this is my preferred pallet.
- true yellow, cadmium yellow med
- cool yellow, lemon yellow
- true red, alizarin crimson
- warm red, cad red med
- warm blue
- true blue, phthalo blue
- white, titanium white
- dark brown, burnt umber
Earth colors, like naples yellow, burnt and raw sienna, burnt and raw umber, yellow ochre, terre rosa, transparent red oxide, to name a few are nice to have on your palette. You could mix any of them from primary and secondary colors but it would be slower and more expensive.
All Painters will Need
- brushes
- canvas, boards or stretched
- a pallet knife
- paper towels
- brush soap
Acrylic Painters will need a palette (made for acrylic paint) click here for the one we use at the studio
Oil Painters will need
- silicoil brush cleaning tank
- Gamsol mineral spirits, (NO SUBSTITUTES)
- a palette wood or disposable (special pads of waxy paper)
- pallet knife
- brushes, flats, filberts and rounds, bristle or synthetic, sizes 2-12 your choice, we do not recommend soft brushes
- optional supplies:
- a small container for clean mineral spirits
- galkyd or liquin (will add flow to paint and speed drying time)
- stand oil (ads flow but slows drying time)