an artist can create great work with anything, but sometimes an upgrade is in order. this list is comprised of professional art supplies that are good quality and long lasting.
Sections
5
paint
brushes
drawing materials
sketchbook
tools
paint
investing in good paints makes all the difference.
vibrant gansai paints. these operate differently than western water colors. they are more vibrant, less transparent, and creamy. like a cross between western watercolor and gouache. large pans.
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Watercolor Paint Pans and Sets
rich colors, professional-grade acrylic paint.
Golden Artist Acrylic Heavy Body Paints and Sets
high quality western style water color paints.
Daniel Smith Watercolor Paints and Sets
acrylic gouache in beautiful colors. love the pastel set. good if you like the matte dry down of traditional gouache but want something that better resists water reactivation.
Holbein Acrylic Gouache and Sets
decreases the speed of acrylic paint dry time.
Golden Acrylic Retarder
thins acrylic paint without impacting the integrity of the paint binder.
Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid
bright paint markers. good quality and the sets have great color arrangements. works on many surfaces. leaves a flat, saturated color application that i really enjoy.
Posca Paint Markers and Sets
brushes
effective brushes with minimal shedding are important.
good brushes for gouache, acrylic, and watercolor. not too soft or absorbent. good snap.
Princeton Velvetouch Synthetic Brushes and Sets
holds a lot of water. suitable for watercolor. very soft.
Princeton Neptune Series 4750 Synthetic Squirrel Brushes and Sets
best option if you are more rough with your brushes. long lasting and good quality.
Royal & Langnickel Zen All Media Brushes and Sets
drawing materials
for sketching, coloring, and lettering.
colored pencils great for achieving smooth blended effects. can look like paint or oil pastel due to unique formulation. requires a different technique than typical colored pencils.
Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils and Sets
high quality colored pencils with typical colored pencil texture. nice array of colors and lays down smooth. i like using them for monocolor portrait sketches.
FaberCastell Polychromos Pencils and Sets
smooth graphite pencils. i prefer the black pencils the most but each color varies in graphite hardness. erasers aren't the best.
Blackwing Pencil Packs
putty eraser for more erasing variability and dusty drawing mediums
FaberCastell Kneaded Eraser
ergonomic, nice quality graphite, and fun to use. good for sketching or note taking.
Sakura SumoGrip Mechanical Pencils
best white gel pen
UniBall Signo Impact Rollerball Gel Pens and Set
best erasers.
Tombow Mono Eraser
i prefer the firm nibs over the soft nibs, but both are nice. the black ink is a warm black rather than a blue black. mostly waterproof. not the most long lasting.
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens and Sets
love these for adding color to pen sketches. would work nicely for fashion, architecture, or interior design sketching.
FaberCastell Pitt Artist Brush Pens and Sets
adds pretty colors to sketches, line art, or lettering projects. water based. has a brush tip and bullet nib.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens and Sets
markers that look reminiscent to water color. gives a great effect. adds color to line art and lettering. fun to use. some of my favorite markers.
Ecoline Brush Pen Markers and Sets
my favorite fine liners. the pen nibs don't feel too hard or scratchy. water-based.
Marvy Uchida LePen Fine Line Markers and Sets
sketchbook
mixed media
thick cotton paper. perfect for many different mediums (gouache, pencil, watercolor, pen, etc.)
Etchr Mixed Media Hardbound Sketchbooks
tools
makes art making easier
keeps acrylic paint wet for a couple days. place wax paper at the bottom before adding paint. there is also an option to make it a wet palate with the masterson palette sponge or damp paper towels.
Masterson StaWet Palette Seal
good metal palette knives
Blick Palette Knives by RGM
amazing for canvas stretching. way better than manual staple guns. easy to use and doesn't cause hand pain.
Arrow T50AC Professional Electric Staple Gun and Nailer T50AC
easily removes any stapling mistakes.
Arrow Staple Puller SL24D
helps keep clean water and dirty water separate for watercolor or gouache.
Meeden Porcelain Brush Wash Bowl
convenient storage and easy to build
Meeden Deluxe Storage Cart
first few screws are a little tricky but easy to build. i like how adjustable it is.
Meeden Versatile HFrame Easel
canvas storage. i also like to lay some canvas fabric over it and arrange newly stretched canvases on it while they are drying from gesso.
Meeden Print Rack
handy for larger canvases.
Fredrix Premier Canvas Pliers
saves hands when stretching thick canvas material.
