What’s in my top 7 art supplies list?

Now that’s a loaded question. Every artist creates different art so their art supplies are different than mine. I use to have all kinds of things in my art bin. But after a brief purge, it’s all nice and organized and no longer a junk bin. I can see what colors I need to restock. If you’re a nerdy creative like me, you enjoy the shopping trip to the art supply store. For me, it’s just as fun as shoe shopping. I walk in with my list and come out with much more. With so many new tools and trends for painting such as marker paints, it’s easy to get caught up and go over your supply budget. So here are my top 7 art supplies – Essential art tools for every artist.

1. Acrylic Paints – Liquitex & Winsor Newton

Paints are essential to every artist. But for an artist on a budget, I needed professional grade at a reasonable price. I have tried many brands but found that Liqutex & Winsor Newton performed the best for me. The flow was great, and the thickness was perfect. It also seemed to stay wet longer which was great for layering and blending. Liquitex new line of Soft body Acrylics & Inks. I am also fond of Iridescent paints and Texture. I really enjoyed experimenting with these paints on a theme backdrop project which I will speak in detail in a future post.

But if I’m short on cash, low on a particular paint color and the other two brands are sold out, I’ll use the Amsterdam Standard Series. The downside is it forces me to use more paint because the consistency is thinner than the Liquitex and Winsor Newton.

I recently started painting in watercolors and love the watercolor markers for blending and details and tube watercolors from Artists Loft. It’s not professional high-end paint, but I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a medium that is new for me. Now that I have gotten a feel for watercolors and have mastered the basic techniques I plan to upgrade to higher grade paint and markers.

2. Brushes – Essential Art Supplies

Brushes are just as important as the paints unless you are using some other means of getting it on the canvas. I use natural and synthetic brushes, but I prefer the synthetic hairs. Sometimes I mind is like “Scatter Brain Jane” and I forget to clean my brushes right away. I walk away, starting a new task; next thing I know my expensive brushes are as hard as a brick. Don’t be like me.

3. Sketchbook & Journals – Bienfang, Strathmore & Canson.

Another essential tool for sketching out ideas and concepts. I use it for mostly pencil & ink renderings but sometimes I like to brainstorm in the journal for developing small illustrations like motifs and icons. I like using sketchbooks like Bienfang, Strathmore, and Canson. Love having a sketchbook 9 X 12 or smaller with 90lb weight for experimenting with an array of mixed-medias. I like the versatility of a medium-size sketchbook because when I’m on the go it will easily fit inside of my carry-on bag.

An unusual place I found good sketchbooks are the ROSS Stores and Five Below. Shut up, Tasha! I know, right? But it’s true. They have an awesome selection of sketchbooks, and you can’t beat the price @ Five Dollars!!

4. Canvas & Boards – Artist’s Loft

I pretty much will paint on anything, but I prefer the texture of painting on wood panels vs. canvas. I like the canvas for painting 18 X 20 and under. Don’t have much of a preference for which brand of canvas to use so I have used the Gallery Wrapped Heavy Duty Canvas by Artist’s Loft from Michaels to the high-end brands of Dick Blick.

For my larger pieces, 30 X 45 I like painting on wood. Currently, I have been using scrapped wood panels that have been discarded from local industrial warehouses, with their permission of course. The very first large-scale piece I did was an oil painting on a scrapped closet door from my parents’ house when I was in high school.

To prepare my wood panels I dusted each panel for outside dirt and began sanding and priming the wood with several coats of gesso. Once the prep work is complete these panels are a great surface for me to paint on. The panels I have are around 1cm in thickness. This means I will need to add a support cradle to each of my panels which will provide support and a way to add a picture hanging kit for the buyer. Since I’m not that handy with wood, I have a friend do this for me.

Prepping wood to paint

Each panel has a different grain and smoothness. I think it adds character and texture to each piece. The extra prep work is well worth it since I saved a bundle on the cost of purchasing cradled wood panels that are primed and ready to hang which can range from $3.00 to $200.00. Because I like to paint on a larger scale, the price range would be closer to $200 range. This would be very expensive to buy for most artists if you’re creating a painting series.

But if you do not have access to scrapped wood panels, and if you’re quite handy you can purchase wood panels from Home Depot or Lowes and have them custom cut to size. The panels are inexpensive as they are, but your cost would go up slightly as you will need to purchase additional pieces of wood to create the cradle support for the back of the panel unless you just happen to have scrap 2 X 4 pieces laying around.

 

5. Inks & Markers – Micron Pens, Prismacolor, Sharpies Markers &Pens

I have been using Prismacolor since my art school days in college. So, I’m very familiar with the brand and haven’t really used any other markers except for the occasional Sharpie now and then. But for inking detailed illustrations I use Fine Sharpie, Sakura Gel Pens, and Micron Pens.

Sharpies have expanded their line of markers right along with quality. Since I was in college my Art Professors would look at us sideways if we inked with sharpies. How things have changed.

6. Pencils – Pentel Mechanical Pencil

You can’t draw without a pencil and maybe the most important tool in your tool bin and the least expensive. What kind of pencil may you ask? It’s all personal preference at this point. There is no wrong or right pencil. But a great pencil needs to be sharp. I like the Pentel brand.

7. Accessories – Other Essential Tools for Every Artist 

The other materials I like to keep on hand are kneaded erasers, finishing varnish, old rags, and a color wheel. I am always referring to my color wheel. Sometimes I get stumped on which colors I want to add to painting but more importantly, I’m also too indecisive. The color wheel helps me choose which accent colors will look best with my background. It also helps with creating colorways. I also like to have lots of pencil pouches, zippy bags, and small storage cases to organize all of my art supplies.

 

Camera – Nikon & Canon

I’m not a photographer but I use a camera to curate my work, send to copyright, and have high res master files for print reproductions. I currently have a point & shoot Fuji and cell phone camera, but I found these devices were only good for the web and doing prints of a very small size. Was thinking of hiring a photographer but some of my friends suggested it would be more economical to buy a used camera or on eBay or new entry-level DSLR @ Best Buy.

I could also scan them, but my scanner has a scanning area of only 11 X 17. Most of my large pieces are 30 X 45, and this was very awkward to put on my tiny scanner. Lesson learned, found that doing 20 scans and stitching them in Photoshop was not productive. So getting a camera was a no-brainer.

Look forward to purchasing my DSRL soon! I will add a review in a future post.

(Updated 8/6/2020)

So, I did not end up purchasing a camera, with all the new updates on my S9+ phone and plugins. I am now able to save a raw DNG pic on my phone and edit it in PSD. It’s still not as good as a DSLR but its a money saver. Only use this option if you plan to create art prints no larger than 16 X 20, anything larger is a waste of time as the image on the camera phone is not captured at a high DPI.

So kids there you have it. So now you know what’s in my art bin. So, what’s in yours? Leave comments with your Top 7 Art Supplies – Essential Tools for Every Artist.

NAMESTE!