Supply Lists
After years of trial and error using several different types and brands of art supplies, I have tried to find what tends to work best (and what doesn't work well) for most of my students. I have compiled a list of necessary supplies for beginning artists in several mediums, listing recommended brands in order of my preference. I have chosen all of these products with the beginner in mind. Although other brands may be convenient, more expensive, or less expensive, please realize that they may be more frustrating for the beginning student to use. I have selected these products based on their quality, ease of use, and price for beginning artists. Once an artist has had the opportunity to establish basic skills in their chosen mediums, they may wish to try different brands to see what suits them best. I would be more than happy to suggest other mediums and brands for the developing artist to experiment with when they are ready.
Please check with the instructor before purchasing any of the optional supplies, to make sure that the student is ready to try a new medium. All of these mediums use some of the basic concepts and techniques used in drawing, so the instructors like to make sure that the student has a good understanding of these before moving on to other mediums to make the learning process a little easier. You may also want to speak with the instructor about the different mediums to see which would suit the student best.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! Thank you!
Carey-Lynn Melnychuk
Gail Adams Studio of Art
All of these supplies are available at Art Placement; some are also available at stores carrying school/office supplies. To save you some time and running around, I have given this list of supplies and brands to the store and our students will recieve a discount on all art supplies.
- Beginner Art Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Pad of good quality drawing paper, approx. 11x14 |
Strathmore/any other good quality drawing paper (not "sketch"), white |
Pad of newsprint, same size as drawing paper or slightly larger |
Any brand |
2 HB pencils |
Staedtler/Derwent/any other brand |
2 white erasers |
Staedtler Mars Plastic (reg. size) |
Roll of tape |
Scotch Magic tape, green label, wide (19 mm.), in plastic dispenser |
6B graphite stick |
General's/Cretacolor, wide, rectangular stick |
2 red pencils with thin, hard lead |
Verithin/Sanford Col-erase/Berol Eagle/Ticonderoga |
Smooth board, larger than drawing paper |
12x16 or larger: canvas board,/smooth masonite board/any other smooth, hard, flat surface |
- Beginner Pastel Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Small, assorted set chalk pastels, 12-24 |
Nupastel/Pro-art Artist/Mungyo/Alphacolor, adults see note below |
Small, assorted set pencil pastels, 12-24 |
Stabilo Carb-othello/Derwent |
Sheet of pastel paper (not a pad), in a light color (if in doubt, get white) |
Canson Mi-Tientes |
Can of pastel fixative spray |
Lascaux/Winsor & Newton/Krylon, workable only, should say for pastels |
Any extra individual pastel colors for each specific picture |
Carb-othello pencils/Derwent pencils/Nu-pastel/Holbein/Rembrandt/Winsor & Newton |
*Take your picture into the store with you to select paper color (if in double, choose white or another light color) and individual colors. |
*Adults may want to invest in better quality chalk pastels such as Nu-pastel (good quality, lower cost) Rembrandt or Winsor & Newton (excellent quality, slightly higher cost…not appropriate for young children) |
- Pencil Crayon Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Large assorted set of colored pencils, 24-36 or larger |
Prismacolor |
- Beginner Scratchboard
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Claybord black, 8x10 to start (buy more boards or different sizes as needed) |
Ampersand Claybord black |
Size 112 scratch knife blade with holder |
Speedball |
Black ink brush pen |
Pigma brush pen |
Soft cloth |
Any kind |
- Beginner Watercolor Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Small round watercolor brush, size #4 (taklon) |
Any good quality watercolor brush |
Round watercolor brush, size #8 or #10(taklon) |
Any good quality watercolor brush |
Flat brush (taklon), 3/4 inch |
Any good quality watercolor brush |
Watercolor paper pad, 140 lb or heavier, approx. 9 x 12, or 10 x 14 |
Cotman/any other good quality, cold-pressed watercolor paper |
White plastic palette, with paint wells & large mixing space (preferably with a lid) |
Any kind |
Roll of paper towel |
Cotman/Grumbacher Academy |
Watercolor tubes (can be hue): Permanent rose; Cadmium red light; Cadmium yellow light.; Yellow ochre; Cerulean blue (not Academy brand); Ultramarine blue; Indigo; Burnt umber; Burnt sienna; Viridian green; Ivory black |
Cotman/Grumbacher Academy |
- Beginner Acrylic Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Acrylic paint tubes (can be 'hue'): Alizarin crimson; Cadmium red medium; Cad. Yellow medium; Yellow ochre; Ultramarine blue; Cerulean blue; Burnt umber; Burnt sienna; Viridian green; Ivory black, Titanium white |
Grumbacher/Winsor & Newton/Colors or any other good quality student/artist grade acrylic tube paints |
2 Canvas boards/stretched, any size (buy more as needed)(taklon) |
Any kind |
Small round acrylic brush, size #4(taklon) |
Any good quality acrylic brush |
Round acrylic brush, size #8 or #10 (taklon) |
Any good quality acrylic brush |
Flat (taklon) brush, 3/4 inch |
Any good quality acrylic brush |
Pad of paper palette |
Any kind |
Roll of paper towel |
Any kind |
- Summer Art Camp Supplies
Supplies |
Recommended Brands |
Pad of good quality drawing paper, coil bound, approx. 11x14 (or 9x12) |
Strathmore/any other good quality drawing paper (not “sketch”), white |
Pad of newsprint, same size as drawing paper or slightly larger |
Any brand |
HB pencil |
Staedtler/Derwent/any other brand |
White eraser |
Staples brand/Staedtler Mars Plastic (reg. size) |
Roll of tape |
Scotch Magic tape, green label, wide (19 mm.), in plastic dispenser |
6B graphite stick |
General’s/Cretacolor, wide, rectangular stick |
Red pencil with thin, hard lead |
Verithin/Sanford Col-erase/Berol Eagle/Ticonderoga |
Smooth board, larger than drawing paper |
Canvas board/smooth masonite, slightly larger than drawing paper/any other smooth, hard, flat surface |
Also bring daily: backpack, water bottle, comfortable shoes. If staying full day, bring a bag lunch to eat on the premises. |
Optional: nut-free snack, hat, sweater/jacket, wear sunscreen & bugspray |