A-Z Student Art Supplies

We'll jump right in with our guide for new term art supplies.

A     Acrylic paints, grab yourself an economical set of student quality acrylics, they give good coverage without breaking the bank. If you're keen to learn colour mixing buy individual tubes or bottles, such as our ARTdiscount brand or System 3.

B       Brushes depend on your chosen paints, honestly a few select sizes will do the job. If you’re painting at an easel in a studio, tutors may encourage long-handled brushes, try our ARTdiscount bristle brushes.

C     Charcoal, get hands on with this natural material; either dark compressed sticks or fragile lighter willow charcoal. Its messy work so best use a spray fixative which sets it to the paper and reduces smudges.

D     Drawing Equipment – Turn up with the right gear for your course, you should be provided with a list. You won’t be thrown in the deep end and use everything on day one. If in doubt, ask.

E     Easel – Contrary to belief you don’t need copious amounts of space to own an easel. If you have a desk try a table easel, some even have handy built in storage boxes like the Edinburgh Table Easel.

F      Fine liner pens – For sketching on your travels, notes in lectures, storyboards or architectural pieces. Available in may nib sizes, for teeny tiny detail to crisp lines.

G      Gumstrip tape has similarities to envelope glue, once damp it's used for stretching watercolour or cartridge paper to a board to prevent warping or buckling during painting.

H      HB pencil, a standard pencil is a staple although a full range of graded graphite pencils is better for tonal shading and variety of line. HB means hard black and the increasing numbers refer to softness.

I     Indian ink is expressive and free flowing, this bold black ink can be applied with brushes, pens, sticks or straws, for mark making projects.

J     Jumbo teletube is ideal if you travel on public transport or walk to campus. Life's easier if you roll up your A1 drawings and keep them safe and dry.

K     Kneadable putter rubber, that’s right it’s a doughy eraser. It doesn’t disappear into tiny rubber pieces either. Made for easy removal of charcoal, soft graphite and even some coloured pencils. Who said anything about mistakes?

L      Lino cutting, if you're lucky enough as I was to take a printmaking class, lino printing is one of the most popular techniques. We recommend a kit with the tools to get started.

M     Masking tape, a handy roll for taping paper to a board, sticking inspirational snippets in your sketchbook or repelling paint.

N     New student, or returning student, both will need new art supplies or freshen up from last year and prepare for the start of term. We have an online chat if you need any extra guidance.

O     Oil pastels available in sets, these are easy to apply, blend and come in brilliant colours, try them for a vibrant life drawing classes.

P     Portfolio by far the best storage for keeping your work flat, which can be displayed in portfolio sleeves. Makes transporting your art to class and interviews easy whilst looking super professional. If you’re still testing the water, try a smaller Polyholdall.

Q      Quick drying oils, if a wise tutor suggest oils be aware they can take up to 6 months to dry, regardless of if you whip out a hair-dryer. Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oils are touch dry in 24 hours.

R     Ruler its not just accurate straight lines that you'll need, we have scale rules for architects, and metal cutting rulers.

S     Sketchbook - an artists companion, you will be encouraged to draw everyday and this is the perfect way to learn. Fill them up with ideas, rough drafts and mini masterpieces.

T     Tool Box, for somewhere to store all your stuff or to carry your paint tubes, pencils and gubbins to class. Keeping it together in several separate compartments. How convenient!

U     UHU the all purpose adhesive, will stick anything. Generally you'll need glue even good ol' PVA. Use 3M Spraymount for any exhibited work such as degree shows.

V     Varnish, optional for a finished painting. A UV varnish is useful to apply if your painting will be on display in direct sunlight.

W     Watercolour pencils, are water-soluble and can be used both wet or dry. If pencils aren't your thing, a traditional watercolour paint set is great for adding colour to sketches, or final illustrations.

X     X-Acto knives or Swann Morton. A scalpel blade for cutting paper, card and sharpening pencils. Don't forget a cutting mat as a surface.

Y     You, its not ALL about the art materials. It's what you work with best, what you're comfortable with or what makes your creative juices flow.

Z     Zerkall Paper, if you do try printmaking such as block printing, mono printing or etching then this smooth paper is a mighty fine choice.

ARTdiscount wishes you good luck in your studies and don't forget to tag us with your exciting new art supplies!
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