The wonderful world of art supplies is never ending and starting out can be quite overwhelming and confusing. With so many products available, where do you start?
Art supplies are a very personal choice. Products that I love you may try and really not enjoy. As your creative journey unfolds and you begin experimenting with different mediums you will begin to accumulate a collection of your own favourites. The types of art supplies you need will depend on the mediums you wish to work with but in general the basics are similar.
I have put together this list of items I think are essential for a beginner just starting on their creative journey. So, let’s begin.
#1 Graphite Pencils & Watercolor Pencils
I recommend to all of my students to do a drawing of your subject before you start painting – even if it is just an outline to be used as a guide. I recommend using a 2B graphite pencil which are great for general sketching and shading.
I also think watercolor pencils are a MUST in any basic art setup. They are great to draw your shapes onto canvas, paper or boards as your lines blend with the paint and disappear. Goodbye unwanted pencil lines.
#2 Erasers
I would highly recommend a kneadable eraser as opposed to your standard hard ‘white’ eraser. I love these erasers because they don’t leave behind any residue. You can also shape the eraser into different shapes to erase small areas without disturbing the surrounding drawing.
It is a really great idea to have all your art supplies accessible and easy to get to. Getting creative is much more fun when you have your own little sanctuary just for you.
A quick snapshot of my studio; my sanctuary. As you can see, I take my art supplies very seriously… it grows bigger every day.
If you don't have a large area to create your art; make a coffee table kit. While watching a movie with your family you can still practice, play and learn. You will find if your kit is accessible you will do more art.
Above is my coffee table kit for inks. What you put in your coffee table kit will be a personal choice depending on the mediums you enjoy working with. You will find that as you develop your skills the supplies in your coffee table kit will change. You may even be like me and have several kits that contain different mediums. I have a kit for watercolor, a kit for acrylics, a kit for gouache and a kit for drawing and marker pens. Your coffee table kit is also a good base for a travel kit when you are on holidays or away from home.
#3 Visual Art Journal
I call these little gems my testing and trial zone. Before I start on any artwork, I like to work out the composition, sort out my colour palette and experiment in my visual journal. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on these journals and they come in a variety of sizes. I like to use a visual journal as opposed to lose sheets of drawing paper because all my ideas are kept together in one place.
#4 Quality Paper for Final Artworks
When it comes to painting surfaces for surface and textile design, I recommend using paper where possible. I say this because it is the easiest way to scan your artwork.
If you prefer watercolors or water mediums, I recommend using either hot or cold pressed watercolor paper 300gsm. The brand I like to use in watercolor paper is…
For acrylics you can use acrylic/canvas paper. I like using these paper pads because they are easy to scan and store. I am quite fond of (name the company) paper.
#5 Art Brushes
Depending on the medium you wish to use will depend on the brushes you will need. There are many different varieties, quality and price ranges.
The best brushes for acrylic painting are:
- Brights Hogs Hair – for laying down your first layer of paint (they do all the hard work)
- Filbert Hogs Hair– for general painting, blending and touch ups – great for finessing
- Flat wash brush – for painting backgrounds
- Small liner brush – fine details
Brushes from left: Liners in varying sizes, flat wash brush, filbert & brights.
The best brushes for watercolor painting are:
- Medium/large flat brush – for washes
- Round brush – size 8, 10, 14 for general painting
- Liner Brush – size 6 for smaller details
- Foam brush – great for washes and large areas of color
Brushes from left: Flat brush (large and medium), round brush & liners in varying sizes & foam brush.
For water media I also highly recommend a water brush. These are inexpensive and are amazing to use. They have a reservoir which stores water in the barrel of the brush which allows you to easily create a color gradient or blend colors.
#6 Water Trays
To make sure you have the purest colors when painting I can’t stress enough the importance of clean water. My water trays are my best friends. I always have two on the go – one for clean water and one for washing my brushes between colours. You can buy trays that are separated to hold two lots of water. But if not, you can use any vessel you like.
#7 Paints
With so many paint colors on the market, it can be extremely difficult to know which colors you should buy when you first start painting. Try as you might realistically you can’t buy every available color; you would become overwhelmed and not know where to start.
Regardless of the paint medium you are using whether it be acrylics, gouache, oils or watercolor it will help to have these basic colors to start with. I think it is important to start with the three primary colors (blue, red and yellow) because from these colors you can mix a rainbow of colors.
The essential paint colors you need are:
- Blue
- Red
- Yellow
- Brown
- Green
- Orange
- Purple
- White
- Black
The brands that I really love to use for my paints are…
- Winsdor & Newton
- Reeves
- Monte Marte
- Charvin
- Matisse
One of my favourite mediums to work with is watercolors and I have developed my own set of vibrant watercolors that I love to use in conjunction with other watercolor brands and in my mixed media pieces. The set also comes with a set of four stencils, a water brush as well as a FREE online watercolor lesson. They are also make a great travel kit.
If you would like to purchase your own set of my Articci watercolors you can purchase them through Amazon (America) or through the Australian Amazon site
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#8 Add your own quirky style
Above I have listed the 7 items I think you need to get started on your creative journey, but I also think that you need to add your own signature to your art kit. By that I mean adding items that you might not purchase from an art store. In my art kit I have included unconventional tools that I like to pull out from time to time.
Your art kit doesn’t have to be filled with items you have purchased from art supplies stores. Why not step outside the box and add items that you have found or that you would like to experiment with down the track when you have time. Look around your home and see what items you can use as “paint brushes”.
Try experimenting with items such as:
- Feathers
- Seashells
- Star fish
- String/ribbon/lace
- Old credit cards for dragging paint
- Twigs
- Sponges
My art kit is very much an extension of who I am and what I love and it is extensive (but I have been creating art for a very long time) but don’t let this overwhelm you. In time I’m sure your art kit will be as substantial as mine.
With this basic list of supplies in hand go forth and unleash your inner creativity. Just remember that with every art supply there are many brands and pricing structures. In my collection I have a mixture of expensive and cheap products. I am always on the hunt for new mediums to experiment and play with and I really hope that you do too.
Tracy xx
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