Art Supply Guide and Reviews!

Be prepared when going shopping for art supplies. Know the best brands, best values and save lots of money. I explain what the different art supplies are, how they're used and what other art materials are required. So that you are happy with the art supplies you bought and got the right ones you need.  I review the best paints, pencils, markers, brushes and all the materials you want to buy.

Let's go shopping for art supplies.

Faber Castell 9000 are the best pencils. My favorite. They're also the most extensive. I recommend these.

The regular Faber Castell goldfaber are also very good and less expensive.

I also really like the Staedler Mars Lumograph. Very good and less expensive than the 9000.

White pencils

White pencils for highlights are great to use on toned paper.

They come in pastel, charcoal and Conte crayon.

A nice effect. I've seen it used successfully but they're difficult to use and take practice.

They're not too expensive so you can pick a few up and give them a try.

Mechanical pencils

The best is the Staedler mechanical pencil. They come in different sizes. You can just choose one size you like or get all the different sizes available.

Staedler replaceable leads are my favorite. Different grades of graphite leads are available. 6B and 8B are the darkest. B is middle toned and 4H or 6H are the lightest.

Other brands are available that are cheaper but I prefer Staedler and try to get that. If it's not available, try one that appeals to you. They all work the same way.

color pencils

Faber Castell is the best brand. Stay with those or Prismacolor.

The wax pencils are different than the watercolor. Try both.

Cheeper pencils can be a better value, but their quality usually isn't that great.

Try a small set first, before investing in a large amount.

Once you have all the basics, you can individually buy the colors you need.

With all pencils, get an appropriate sharpener.

Get a color pencil technique book to learn how to use them.

Metallic pencils

While being a little different in color than regular color pencils, they're not exactly metallic.

A worthwhile buy for pencils of different colors

Conte pencils

You can buy some of these if you like. They have a little different effect than graphite or charcoal pencils. I find them hard to work with and difficult to sharpen. They do have a little of a different effect than other pencils. They're not expensive if you want to try them.

Pencil holders

If your pencil is getting too small to use, putting on a pencil holder to expand its length is an option. It doesn't feel the same as just using a pencil, but it saves the pencil when it becomes too small. One pencil holder is all you need. The way around this is to use mechanical pencils because they never get small.

Tortillons

These blending utensils are rolled up paper that blends and smudges graphite, charcoal, Conte pencils and other dry medium. You can blend with them by smudging the graphite or charcoal on the paper to get a smooth effect.

Sharpeners

Make sure the size of the sharpener is compatible with the thickness of the pencil.

The more expensive sharpeners are better like the Staedler.

Get one that has a compartment that holds the shavings.

Electric sharpeners are generally good and fast but large and not too portable.

If your sharpener is breaking the pencil point before it's sharp, get a piece of fine sandpaper and sand the pencil tip to a point.

Erasers

get just one big eraser. They last a really long time.

The best precision eraser is the Mono Zero. You can erase the detail you need without erasing a big portion of your drawing. They come in different sizes. Get one of each. When they're used up you can buy replacement cartridges.

Charcoal

Charcoal comes in pencils or sticks. I recommend getting the pencils because the stick charcoal gets all over your hands when you use it.  It also comes in different grades, some lighter some darker. They're not expensive. Sometimes at the art supply store you can try them out before you buy. You will need some paper that is specifically for charcoal or compatible with charcoal. On the front of the sketch book, it says what medium you can use on it.

paper

Get the one for the medium you are using. e.g. Graphite, charcoal, pastel, watercolor.

The heavier the weight, the thicker the paper. e.g. 100 lb. is really thick.

Smoothness of the paper is called the amount of tooth. Smooth paper has less tooth, vellum has more. Both papers have a different effect when drawing with your medium. Try them to find your favorite.

Expensive paper is usually better.

Strathmore or Canson are better brands.

Paper comes in white, black or mid toned. Mid tones are usually grey or tan. For mid toned paper you need to draw in white or a very light color to show highlights and darker colors for shadows. So also get White pencils like Conte, pastel or charcoal.

Brushes

The best brushes are the higher end brands. They are more expensive but seem to be the only option since the cheaper ones are generally unusable. Get a few if the bigger ones for broad stroke painting, and a few of the thinner bristle brushes for detail.

There are all different shapes of the bristle brushes. They are not absolutely necessary for painting but you can make some cool effects.

Some are for oil, acrylic, or watercolor. You can get those for the medium you are working with, or just mix and match and try using any brush for any medium. A lot professional artists do that.

Get a good brush cleaning kit. You want to keep your brushes clean so that they last longer, they are expensive.

paint

Winsor Newton is my favorite brand. It is used by great artists to make master works. It lasts for years and comes out professional looking.

for the medium, linseed oil is all you need. Avoid the refined linseed oil because it has a smell. The best mineral spirit to thin out oil paint is Gamsol because it's the least toxic. Still a good idea to leave the window open when using any mineral spirits.

Acrylic paint can be used with medium or with water.

For watercolors use water.

To go cheep, the Reeves brand is the cheepest. It's quality is ok, but not great.

pastels

Soft pastels are a medium that produce nice colors but they can be messy and hard to use.

Get a few sticks of the various brands before choosing your favorite. If you decide it's a medium you like, you can invest in a set.

A good brand to start with is the Faber Castell, but try some of the others as all of them are different.

Pastel pencils are a good option but are hard to sharpen so you might want to get a little sandpaper and a small exacto blade for that purpose.

you're going to need pastel paper as that's the best thing to draw on. It comes in white or in colorful mid tones.

Oil pastels are totally different and even harder to use. They are more like crayons than soft pastels. Try a few out before investing in a set of them.

Always a good idea to get an art technique book on pastels. There is also a Pastel magazine at art store or the book shop.

Inks

get some bottles of ink with a  metal quill dip pen or paint brush to start.

You can get ball point pens in an assortment of colors.

Markers

The best markers are the Copic. They are also more expensive.

Prismacolor are less expensive, but not as good.

There are all different sizes, from coarse to Thin to fine. The size is usually written on the markers in millimeters.

Get a few markers at a time. Once you start using them on a regular basis, then get more.

A set of markers can save you money, but be sure you're going to use all the colors before you buy so that you don't have colors that came with the set that you never use.

It might take some practice to get good with markers so give them a chance.

Easels

There are a lot of really good , high quality, expensive easels. I find that the cheaper easels, though not as good quality as the more expensive easels, seem to be good enough for the job they do. If you see an easel you love, then definitely get it, but if you want to save money, you can on easels.

Pallets

glass pallets are the best. You can use a disposable paper pallet. You can use a sheet of tin foil. I don't recommend the wood pallet because it's hard to clean.

You can make your own pallet by taking the glass out of a picture frame you can buy at the dollar store and painting one side of it white with acrylic or gesso.

Pallet knives

It's up to you if you want to get one of these. They're inexpensive and useful.

Just get one, it's all you need to start. Any shape is ok. I would get the metal ones as they are easier to clean and scrape paint with.

plastic ones are also available.

Figure drawing technique books.

This is very difficult subject matter that will take a while to learn. Start with the simplest book possible, like the Andrew Loomis, then go on to the more complicated anatomy charts. Learn all sizes and proportions of the body parts as well a how they turn and move.

Perspective is not a complicated subject but can be when you read an entire book on it. Learn the simplest perspective rules first. For starting out, that's all you need.

Art technique books

Start with the simplest in the type or genre you want to draw. Also draw the paintings from other artists you love or just draw from life.

Take your time. Look at all the books, choose the ones you like. They're generally really good. Whatever art materials you are going to buy, get an art technique book that teaches you how to use it.

Digital art technique

Imaginefx is one of the best magazines to learn digital art.

great tutorials by talented artists. I love reading it. You'll learn a lot.

My favorite platform for digital art is Photoshop. It requires a monthly subscription but it's one of the best.

Top art technique book picks

Patric Jones for oil painting and digital  painting with Painter

Patric Jones for anatomy

How to draw comics the Marvel way with Stan Lee

Watercolor with Stephanie Law

CG characters from sketch to finish

Art schools

CG master academy CGMA.com is a really good online school. Be prepared for hard work and a time investment of about 2 hours a day. Well worth the effort for the results you get.

"Smart school" is good. Taught by some really good professional artists. Very expensive, but a good choice for learning art if you're in the sci-fi, fantasy illustration genre.

I recommend taking classes from artists you like, if they teach. At least watch their tutorials and read their technique books.

It is a good option to teach yourself. Go to life drawing classes and copy art by your favorite artist. Go to museums and draw from the old master paintings.

Tracing paper and Transfer paper

Put the tracing paper over your finished drawing and trace it with pencil.

Put a piece of transfer paper on the back of your tracing paper.

Put both papers on your canvas and go over your traced lines with a pen.

Now you have your drawing traced on to your canvas.

You can paint on the canvas and keep your graphite drawing also.

Templates and French curves

These are great when you need to measure exact lines, circles, ellipses and curves

Conclusion

Congratulations! You guys have made it to the last chapter of this installment of, "What to buy at the art supply store".

I hope you learned a lot and now are better prepared to buy the right things that you need. Hope I saved you a ton of time and money, and made your next trip to the art supply store way more fun!

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.