10 Art Supplies Student Artists Should Have

1. Sketchbook-this is an absolute MUST have for any artist. The sketchbook can be used for so many different things and is critical to your development as an artist. Use it for preliminary drawings to grow your ideas and concepts. Practice various art materials. Record your observations. Create compositional studies of your subject matter. Explore a theme…etc. Make sure you have your sketchbook on you, and are using it, every day.
2. graphite pencils, sharpener, eraser-the basics for any artwork usually begins with a pencil sketch.
3. painting surface-canvas board, stretched canvas, paper-whether you are using oil paint, acrylic paint or watercolors that will determine the best surface to paint on. Explore the different mediums on different surfaces for effects that may not have been obvious.
4. paint set-acrylic or watercolor-student artists usually begin painting with watercolors and acrylics. Oil paints are an exciting medium to have as well.
5. assorted brushes-round, flat brushes-get the correct type of brush for the paint. Watercolor brushes are designed to hold a lot of water/watercolor in them, oil/acrylic brushes are stiffer and able to manipulate thick paint.
6. colored pencils-Prismacolor is my favorite brand. Try to avoid the really cheap sets as the color is not saturated and they are therefore way too light. You really will see a difference with color mixing/layering with the better brands.
7. charcoal pencils-I spent the first two years of art school using charcoal sticks and pencils. A great sketching and shading medium.
8. palette-for mixing paint colors-the bigger the palette the better. I prefer a lot of space to mix my colors. For oil and acrylic painting I like to use freezer paper taped to a piece of cardboard. You can make it any size and it’s disposable! For watercolor, use a palette that has wells to hold the liquid paint.
9. pastels-chalk pastels or oil pastels-great for drawing with color. The two types of pastels lay down color quickly and are a lot of fun to layer and blend.
10. ink pens-Sharpie, Micron, Pitt-these pens are perfect for black and white line drawing. Easy to use and transport and another must for the artist using a sketchbook daily.

As someone that has every art material ever created, these are the basics to get started with. When it comes to paints, buy the best quality that you can afford. You absolutely get what you pay for and color mixing will be so much fun when the pigments are high quality. Think about the color wheel, you only need the primary colors and white and then can create all the colors you need!

Take a peek at our suggested art supply resource list blog post for great online companies to get supplies from. Happy shopping!