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Products Every Beginner Artist Needs !
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items These are all items I have used and recommend as an art student who has been showcased, commissioned, and drawing for 10+ years!
A good quality drawing pad is super useful and I love this brand! It comes in several sizes to make both small and large artworks! It holds up well and is great to work with!
Strathmore Drawing Paper
You need a range of pencils! Having a combination of different pencils will make your life so much easier especially if you struggle with adjusting your hand pressure when drawing.
Faber-Castell Graphite Sketch Set
I wouldn't have survived without a sketching board in school. It's a great portable surface for when you're working outdoors or in a studio especially if you dont have an easel.
Sketch Board
I love newsprint. It is perfect for when you just want to get ideas out, make first drafts, or plan out a composition without using your good drawing paper.
StrathmoreNewsprint Paper Pad
My most highly recommended item! Vine charcoal is my favorite tool. It is soft, blendable, buildable, and great for making detailed work. It is soft and easy to work with, great for expressive marks, and my overall favorite drawing medium.
Vine Charcoal by Artist's Loft
Compressed charcoal is a great added tool if you want darker, more permanent lines in your work. It's buildable and bold, perfect for when you need to add some contrast.
Jumbo Compressed Charcoal
The perfect charcoal to really bring out highlights within your artwork. It's great for when working on toned payer or when the paper your using just doesnt have enough contrast between light and dark values.
White Compressed Charcoal
If you don't like getting your hands dirty or need to blend small areas, these blending sticks are perfect~
Blending Stumps & Tortillons
Easy, washable rags for when you need to wipe your hands. Charcoal, paints, and pencils all leave residue so these reusable rags are great for preventing smudging, transferring, and getting your clothes messy.
T-Shirt Rags
The only sharpener that doesn't break the ends of my pencils, gets them super sharp, and has lasted me YEARS
Prismacolor Pencil Sharpener
A kneaded eraser is one of my most used tool. Wonderful for making subtractive marks, doing small details, highlighting, and lightening my sketches. Super versatile and worth it!
Kneaded Erasers
Mixed media has been great whenever I've wanted to do collage, watercolor, drawing, or a mix of mediums! Durable and flexable for all kinds of arts.
Mixed Media Paper Pad
I have bought this sketchbook three times already and I can say it is my favorite portable, on the go sketchbook. The paper is nice, it has a beautiful cover, and it holds up over time.
Tree Sketchbook
I use this spray on all of my charcoal, watercolor, and pencil artworks and it's been great. After a few coats I have no smudging or transfering even with pieces with layers of charcoal. Super useful when preserving artworks.
Krylon Workable Fixatif Aerosol Spray
Super useful knife for whenever I'm making paper art or needing to cut out and transfer artworks to another sketchbook. It's durable and great if you work with multiple mediums.
X-ACTO Precision Knife
A good, strandard cutting mat that does perfect protecting my surfaces from not just cuts but glue, paint, ink, and scratches.
12" x 12" Standard Cutting Mat