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ART SUPPLIES & HACKS

Here's a list of the art supplies that I recommend along with some great gifts and art hacks for you to check out! 

Help fund a fellow artist by buying your supplies with the Amazon links provided.

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      DRAWING      

Prismacolor Graphite Pencil Set

My favorite standard graphite pencil set.

Mitsubishi Graphite Pencil Set (Uni Hi)

This is an amazing set of buttery soft drawing pencils with a wide range from 10H to 10B. An upgrade from the prismacolor brand.

T-square Ruler

A great inexpensive T-square ruler for getting perfect horizontal and vertical lines.

Stonehenge Paper Pad

Some of the nicest drawing surface I've used. Especially good for colored pencils and portrait drawing because of the smooth texture.

White Pearl Eraser

An inexpensive nice white eraser that I prefer!

Kneaded Eraser

This eraser can be molded to erase tiny areas, you can press and lift instead of rubbing and you can knead it to clean it!

18" T-square

Sometimes the 12" ruler is just not long enough!

Large Bristol Drawing Pad 19 X 24

A larger smooth finish paper for fine art drawings.

11X17 Clipboard

Handy clipboard to hold your larger sketch paper. I like to use it with Hammermill Copy Paper. It's not very strong so I mounted it on a board with a handle.

Proportional Divider Tool

You can use this tool to help you resize your drawing from the reference.

Small Sketch Book

A great small sketch book for warm up exercises in class or on the go!

Pigma Micron Pen Set

This set has a variety of tips sizes- a great marker set.

Micro-size Retractable Erasers by Mono Zero

A set of tiny ended rectangular and round retractable erasers, great for tiny areas. I absolutely love these erasers!

Retractable Eraser

A inexpensive retractable eraser, handy for erasing smaller areas.

9x12 Drawing Pad (spiral)

A great smaller size drawing pad.

Bristol Paper 9x12

A nice smooth paper for final pencil, colored pencil and charcoal drawings.

Toned Paper (tan)

This mid-value paper is great for charcoal, colored pencil and graphite art!

Blending Stumps

A great way to soften your strokes and to shade.

Hake Brush

A great inexpensive brush for getting eraser and pencil crumbs off your paper without smearing! A must have!

Onyx Pens

An inexpensive permanent ink pen-- love these!

Large Pencil Organizer Bag

I use this case to hold my drawing pencils, charcoal pencils, verithin pencils, and a few ink pens! I love it!

Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener

An amazing personal pencil sharpener for graphite or colored pencils. I have each of my students get one because they are so awesome!

Nice Art Sketchbook

A great sketchbook for the artist who has everything!

Battery Operated Eraser

This eraser is great for erasing or lightening wax based colored pencils or graphite leads.

Brush Marker Set

A great set of brush markers with different thicknesses for ink drawings or line and wash watercolor paintings.

Drawing Board

A flat smooth drawing panel. Helps you work on a tilted surface.

Verithin Colored Pencils

A great thin leaded soft colored pencil that works well for one color sketches. I love pairing these with the Hammermill copy paper for a great sketching experience!

Charcoal Pencil Set

A variety of extra soft, soft and medium charcoal along with a white charcoal.

Blue Mechanical Pencil lead

I use these blue leads in my NicPro Mechanical pencil with the blue band.

Vine Charcoal (soft)

These are soft charcoals and you can use the tip or the side of them, so I start by teaching with these first.

Compressed Charcoal Sticks

A harder type of charcoal.

11x17 Hammermill Color Copy Paper

This soft smooth paper is amazing for sketching. Try drawing on this with either the Verithin Colored Pencils or the NicPro Mechanical pencils, it will change your world!

Mechanical Pencil Set

Combining these with the mechanical colored pencil leads shown on this list and sketching on the Hammermill copy paper is my all time favorite! I love not needing to lug around a sharpener.

Green Mechanical Pencil lead

I use these green leads in my mechanical pencils by NicPro with the green band on it.

Red Mechanical Pencil leads

I love Mitsubishi leads and was very excited that they come in red. I put these in my NicPro Mechanical pencil that has a red band on it so I know what color it is! Love it!

Alcohol Art Markers

If you haven't ever used Alcohol markers, you've got to give them a try! They are amazing. Use these fun markers to add some color to your drawings!

Who's Who in Disney

A great book to use as a drawing reference. I have my students draw something from this book as a warm up exercise! I learned this trick from my mentor!

Rechargeable Tracing Light Table

I love this rechargeable light table! Makes a great drawing surface and there's no cords.

Small Pencil Pouch

A small pencil pouch to keep your supplies together.

Red Plastic Sheet

Lay this on your colored reference or artwork and it will change it to black and white so you can check your values. Great tool!

Tracing Table

A great tilted rechargeable tracing table to transfer your drawing to your watercolor paper.

Blank Comic Book

This is a fun way to create your own comic book. A great gift idea for an artist!

Eraser Shields

This metal stencil allows you to erase small areas by blocking off the areas you don't want erased.

    COLORED PENCIL    

Prismacolor Colored Pencil Set 150 ct

This is an upgrade from the standard set of professional colored pencils that is on the list. If you can afford these, it's worth it!

Prismacolor Colored Pencil Set 72ct

A great set of professional colored pencils. This is the smallest set you'll want but if you can afford it, get the larger set of 150ct.

Stonehenge Paper Pad

Some of the nicest drawing surface I've used. Especially good for colored pencils and portrait drawing because of the smooth texture.

Battery Operated Pencil Sharpener

An amazing personal pencil sharpener for graphite or colored pencils. I have each of my students get one because they are so awesome!

Kneaded Eraser

This eraser can be molded to erase tiny areas, you can press and lift instead of rubbing and you can knead it to clean it!

Poster Putty (Colored Pencil eraser)

The poster putty acts as an eraser for colored pencils because they are was based.

Colored Pencil Colorless Blenders

A colored pencil with no pigment. You use this to blend and burnish colors on your paper!

Bristol Paper 9x12

A nice smooth paper for final pencil, colored pencil and charcoal drawings.

Battery Operated Eraser

This eraser is great for erasing or lightening wax based colored pencils or graphite leads.

Hake Brush

A great inexpensive brush for getting eraser and pencil crumbs off your paper without smearing! A must have!

Micro-size Retractable Erasers by Mono Zero

A set of tiny ended rectangular and round retractable erasers, great for tiny areas. I absolutely love these erasers!

Toned Paper (tan)

This mid-value paper is great for charcoal, colored pencil and graphite art!

Colored Pencil Organizer Bag

An amazing way to organize all your colored pencils! You'll love it!

Blank Comic Book

This is a fun way to create your own comic book. A great gift idea for an artist!

    WATERCOLOR    

Original Gold Variety Brush Set

These are the best brushes ever! This is a good variety set. You can buy on Amazon or kingartco.com. They are often on sale which makes them reasonably priced.

Original Gold Max Round Brushes

These are the best round brushes ever! They hold a tip and are very durable. You can buy on Amazon or KingArtCo.com. They are often on sale which makes them reasonably priced.

Daniel Smith- Deep Scarlet Watercolor Paint (dark red)

Dark Red- A wonderful deep reddish-brown tone. (Can also use Perlyene Maroon)

Daniel Smith- Quinacridone Gold

A very vibrant intense gold color, a great color. Love this!

Daniel Smith- Indigo Blue Watercolor Paint (dark blue)

Dark Blue- A wonderful neutral black tinted blue color!

Daniel Smith- Alizarin Crimson Watercolor Paint (medium red)

Medium Red- A must have! A bluish-red pigment listed on the basic palette of a vast majority of artists. You can also use Quinacridone Rose or Rose Madder in its place.

Daniel Smith- Pyrrol Scarlet Watercolor Paint (light red)

This is a great fire-engine red. (You can also use Perylene Red or Permanent Red Light in its place as well.)

Daniel Smith- Phthalo Yellow Green Watercolor Paint (light green)

A light very vibrant green that makes your greens pop!

Daniel Smith- Cerulean Blue Watercolor Paint

Light Blue- A great light blue. Make sure you get just Cerulean Blue not Cerulean Blue Chromium.

Daniel Smith- Raw Sienna Watercolor Paint (medium brown)

Medium Brown A lighter brown great for natural scenes.

Daniel Smith- Sap Green Watercolor Paint (mid- dark green)

Medium Green - A great natural green value that you will enjoy using!

Daniel Smith- Yellow Ochre Watercolor Paint (light brown)

Light Brown - Don't let the name fool you. A must have! You'll be surprised at how much you'll use this!

Daniel Smith- Cad Yellow Light Watercolor Paint (medium yellow)

Medium Yellow- A clean lemon yellow color that is awesome! (Can also use Lemon Yellow)

Daniel Smith- Neutral Tint Watercolor Paint

An easy way to shade a color a little darker- just add some of this!

Daniel Smith- Cobalt Blue Watercolor Paint (medium blue)

Medium Blue- A basic blue, closest to a primary blue as you can get!

Daniel Smith- Ultramarine Blue Watercolor Paint (medium blue)

Medium Blue- Some artists prefer this for their Medium blue and others Cobalt Blue. I actually like having both!

Daniel Smith- Permanent Orange

A great secondary color ready to use instead of mixing your own! (Can also use Cad Orange Hue)

Daniel Smith- Van Dyke Watercolor Paint (dark brown)

Dark Brown This is a great dark value. (Can also use asphaltum or raw umber.)

Daniel Smith- Naples Yellow Watercolor Paint (light yellow)

Light Yellow- a soft creamy yellow/white tint. One of my favorites!

Daniel Smith- New Gamboge Watercolor Paint (dark yellow)

Dark Yellow A vibrant warm yellow that you'll discover many uses for! (Can also use Indian Yellow)

Paint Brush Case

A hard case for carrying your brushes to keep them from getting damaged.

Onyx Pens

An inexpensive permanent ink pen-- love these!

Mounting Board for Watercolor Painting

A must have for watercolorists to keep your paper from curling up!

Masking Fluid

Some watercolor projects use masking fluid. This is this easiest to use that I have found.

Arches 140# Cold Press Paper

I love using the full sheets (22x30) of Arches paper. It seems to act a little differently than the book, and I like to be able to cut it to a particular size that I want. It comes in both bright white and natural white and I like both.

Arches 140# Cold Press Watercolor Paper

Hands down the best watercolor paper out there! Buy these books or pick up full sheets that are available at an Art Store.

Rechargeable Tracing Light Table

I love this rechargeable light table! Makes a great drawing surface and there's no cords.

Watercolor Spray Bottle

You'll need some type of spray bottle to keep your paints wet. This is a simple basic spray bottle.

Watercolor Palette- 33 wells

This palette is great for home and class. Holds a whopping 33 colors!

Watercolor Palette- 24 wells

You'll need an empty watercolor palette to squeeze your paint tubes into. Holds 24 colors. I really like this one because of the extra mixing areas!

Watercolor Palette- 18 well

This palette is a great one to carry for class or travel. It holds 18 colors with a generous amount of mixing area.

Continuous Spray Bottle

A fancy spray bottle for all watercolorists.

Watercolor Rag (diaper)

Using an absorbent rag instead of paper towels is so amazing! My favorite is a diaper fabric. I use is again and again, to wipe my brush on and keep refolding it, when it's completely filthy I throw it in the wash! Think of the paper towels you'll save!

Brush Marker Set

A great set of brush markers with different thicknesses for ink drawings or line and wash watercolor paintings.

Watercolor Pan Set

This is a great set of vibrant fun color for kids and art journaling projects.

Watercolor Tube Organizer

This lipstick organizer is a great way to organize and store your watercolor tubes!

Brush Stand

A inexpensive holder for your wet paint brushes! Helps keep them from rolling off the table!

Clip On Fan for Watercoloring

A rechargeable fan for blowing your artwork dry. I keep it clipped on my work table. It's awesome!

Collapsible Water Container

The collapsible dog bowl works great for your water dish. It's awesome because it collapses to fit in your bag easier!

Clip On Paintbrush Holder

This drum stick holder is great for holding your paintbrushes, just clip on the edge of your table or easel! Awesome Hack!

Blank Watercolor Postcards

These are great postcards for creating your own postcards to send out!

Travel Brushes

A great smal set of brushes to travel with. Keeps the brushes from being damaged!

Watercolor Pen Set

These brushes can be filled with water so you can watercolor without having a water container. Fun for watercolor sketching on the go!.

    OIL PAINTING    

Oil Paint- Cobalt Violet

This is a convenience color that comes in handy, especially if you like a variety of purples.

Oil Paint- Yellow Ochre

(Dk-Yellow) You'll be amazed at how much you use this color! Use M. Graham or Gamblin.

Oil Paint- Cad Red Light

(Light-Red)- An essential palette color- I prefer M. Graham or Gamblin brands.

Oil Paint- Asphaltum

(DkBrown). A great darkest brown.

Oil Paint- Sap Green

(Mid to Dark Green) a good natural green!

Oil Paint- Cobalt Teal

I enjoy this convenience color! Not a necessity but definitely a nice luxury!

Oil Paint- Ultramarine Violet

(Dk Purple) This is a convenience color, great for shadows and adding to deep neutral colors.

Oil Paint- Cobalt Blue

(Med-Blue) This will become your go- to blue!

Oil Paint- Radiant Blue

A great convenience color!

Oil Paint- Transparent Red Oxide

(Dk-Red) or you can use a Transparent Earth Red in Gamblin or M Graham brands.

Oil Paint- Raw Umber

A must have neutral color.

Oil Paint- Burnt Umber

(Mid-Brown) Great for value painting and more!

Oil Paint- Cad Yellow Medium

(Lt-Yellow) I prefer Gamblin or M Graham. Can also use a Cad Yellow Light

Oil Paint- Ultramarine Blue

(Dk-Blue) A great deep blue!

Oil Paint- Cad Green

A convenience color that comes in handy!

Oil Paint- Titanium White (large tube)

You'll use this a lot when mixing colors so that is why I have a larger tube listed!

Oil Paint- Cad Yellow Light

(Light Yellow) An essential color.

Oil Paint- Naples Yellow

(Light Yellow) My favorite! This is great subtle yellow! I prefer M. Graham in this color.

Oil Paint- Ivory Black

A great dark black.

Oil Paint- Alizarin Crimson

(Mid-Red) Gamblin brand is fine too.

Oil Paint- Cad Orange

A handy convenience color to have!

Radiant Blue Oil Paint (light blue)

Light Blue- I love this light sky blue color. A great convenience color!

Ebony Splendor Long Handle Filbert Brushes

An inexpensive set of filbert oil painting brushes.

Ebony Splendor Long Handle Round Brushes

An inexpensive set of round oil painting brushes.

Canvas Panels

Inexpensive panels to start learning on.

Aluminum Palette Knife

A great tool for mixing paints on your palette

Paint Brush Case

A hard case for carrying your brushes to keep them from getting damaged.

Paint Brushes

I prefer not spending too much on brushes. These are some I like.

Paint Tube opener

This tool is so handy for opening your tubes of paint without damaging them! I keep one in my paint kit always!

Turpenoid Brush Cleaner

This odorless turpentine is what you'll fill your brush cleaning container with to keep your oil paint brushes clean.

Disposable Grey Palette Paper

This disposable mid-value palette paper makes clean up a breeze!

Oil Painting Palette with Lid

This is a great holder for the disposable gray palette. You can take your wet paints home and plop them in the freezer to keep them good. Also works well to carry small wet paintings. You just need to clip the plastic pegs off.

MDF Panel 8X10

If you don't like the texture of canvas, try using mdf boards with 2-3 layers of gesso for a smoother finish.

MDF Painting 11 X 14"

If you don't like the texture of canvas, try using mdf boards with 2-3 layers of gesso for a smoother finish.

Gesso

Put 2-3 layers over your mdf boards sanding in between if you want a smooth texture. You can also use this to apply to canvas panels to get a smoother surface.

Walnut Oil- Medium

This is a great medium to mix with you paints if they are too stiff.

Stretch Canvas

An inexpensive stretch canvas to try when you are learning to paint. Approx. 9X12 to 11 X 14 is best to start with.

Rubber tip tool

I like using these rubber tips tools to scrape out thin lines such as in the vein of leaves, etc. I often use them to sign my wet painting with!

Oil Paint Brush Washer Container with Lid

A study no-spill container for your turpenoid oil brush cleaner.

Wet brush holder with tray

Here's a holder for the wet brushes to them from rolling off the table or making a big mess.

Oil Paint Tube Holder

This is a great way to store your 37 ml oil paint tubes. By storing them cap side down the oil raise to the top so when you squeeze some out you're less likely to get an oily mess! It's really a test tube rack, but hey it works!

Lab Coat

To protect all your clothing, use a lab coat instead of an apron!

Detail Fine Line Paint Applicator

The handy little calligraphy tool can be used to get a thin signature by mixing your paint with a little walnut oil to thin it.

Murphy's Oil Soap (brush cleaner)

The most amazing soap for cleaning off the oil paint from your hands and brushes.

Grey Glass Palette

This glass palette is 11x16 and fits the oil painting palette box with lid so you can seal your wet paints up!

Handheld Wooden Palette

I love this handheld palette! Please note if you are left handed, you'll need to order a right-handed palette.

Workable Fixative

I use this to spray my pencil sketch on the canvas before I start painting. It keeps the paint from making the graphite lines dissolve. Also used for charcoal pieces.

White Glass Palette

This is a great inexpensive white palette that I use. It comes in two sizes and I've discovered the smaller version is handy to have and fits easily in the freezer to keep the paints from drying out.

Painting Apron

If your painting, you'll need an apron or lab coat of some kind. This is a great apron.

Disposable Gloves

If you don't want stained fingers, grab some of these gloves!

Paint tube ringer

To squeeze every last drop of paint from each tube!

Brush Stand

A inexpensive holder for your wet paint brushes! Helps keep them from rolling off the table!

Clip On Paintbrush Holder

This drum stick holder is great for holding your paintbrushes, just clip on the edge of your table or easel! Awesome Hack!

Art Ruling Pen

This tool will help you create a signature for your oil painting using paint mixed with walnut or some other oil.

Painting Easel- floor model

If you want to paint at home and are looking for a great floor easel, this is it!

Plastic Scraper

The plastic scraper works perfectly for scraping off your glass palette without scratching it. Its comes was tons of extra blades and four handles.

Painting Easel- tabletop model

If you want to paint at home and don't have much space, this is a great easel.

Empty Pizza Box

Grab a clean pizza box at your local pizza restaurant and use it to transport your wet paintings! Cheap and you can get a varieties of sizes!

Paint Brush Roll Up Container

You'll need some type of holder to carry your paintbrushes in to keep them from getting damaged.

  CHARCOAL  

Blending Sponge Pen

Great charcoal blending sponges

Charcoal Pencil Set

A variety of extra soft, soft and medium charcoal along with a white charcoal.

Mars Lumigraph Black

Use these black pencils for fine detail when working in charcoal.

Kneaded Eraser

This eraser can be molded to erase tiny areas, you can press and lift instead of rubbing and you can knead it to clean it!

Blending Set

This blending set includes makeup blender, blending stumps, and the pastel sponge tools with changeable triangle sponges which would all be perfect for charcoal drawing.

Willow Vine Charcoal

Soft charcoal sticks.

Frog Tape

Use this tape to cover the shelf of the easel to keep it clean.

White Conte Pastel Pencils

A great companion to charcoal. It adds a wonderful contrast when working on toned paper.

Charcoal Powder

Powdered charcoal for large quick coverage.

Blending Stumps

A great way to soften your strokes and to shade.

11X14 Toned Paper

A great surface for working with charcoal on!

Electirc Eraser

Great for erasing small areas, works especially well with charcoal.

11X14 Charcoal Paper

White charcoal paper

Strathmore Charcoal paper

Large paper for charcoal drawing. Works better than drawing paper when using charcoal because it allows you to lift easier.

Charcoal Brush Set

This flat brush set will help you blending your charcoal.

Variety erasers

These different erasers work great for charcoal work.

Micro-size Retractable Erasers by Mono Zero

A set of tiny ended rectangular and round retractable erasers, great for tiny areas. I absolutely love these erasers!

Workable Fixative

I use this to spray my pencil sketch on the canvas before I start painting. It keeps the paint from making the graphite lines dissolve. Also used for charcoal pieces.

Charcoal/Graphite Powder Set

Charcoal Powder and Graphite powder

  GIFTS & GADGETS  

Art Bracelet

A cute bracelet all female artists are sure to love!

Art Keychain

A fun artistic keychain!

Palette Necklace

A cute painter's palette necklace.

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