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Art Materials

I use a variety of the following art materials and mediums when creating artwork. I enjoy working with them all, and each medium is unique and offers different possibilities for creation. I primarily order online from Blick Art Materials because of the comparably inexpensive cost.

Paint Markers

I love using Paint Markers, or Paint Pens, when drawing or painting. They cover the paper very well, come in a variety of colors, dry quickly, and facilitate a fluid and quick creative process.

Primary Colors, Sets of 6

Primary Colors, Sets of 6

This set contains one marker in each of six colors, including Black, White, Red, Blue, Green, and Yellow.


Pastel Colors, Sets of 6

Pastel Colors, Sets of 6

This set contains one marker in each of six colors, including Pale Violet, Cream Yellow, Pale Blue, Pastel Peach, Peppermint, and Blush Pink.


Hot Colors, Sets of 6

Hot Colors, Sets of 6

This set contains one marker in each of six colors, including Yellow, Orange, Light Blue, Light Green, Rosemarie, and Hot Purple.


Metallic Colors, Set of 3

Metallic Colors, Set of 3

This set contains three extra fine tip markers. Colors include one Silver, and two Gold.


Pens

The Pilot Precise V5 are my favorite pens, because they are precise, come in a variety of colors, and are perfect for water washes after the application of the ink. The colors stay strong and bold, and blend just enough to create subtle shades and washes with water.

Set of 7 Colors

Set of 7 Colors

This set comes in a plastic pouch, and includes one each of Blue, Black, Red, Green, Purple, Pink, and Turquoise.


Markers

I use a variety of markers in my artwork. The Sharpie Magnum 44 is great for laying down large blocks of color, and the regular fine point Sharpies are a fantastic all purpose coloring tool. The Prismacolor markers are awesome. I regularly use the 10%-100% shades of warm and cool gray to achieve interesting portrait results, and the markers come in hundreds of different colors.

Set of 120

Prismacolor, Set of 120

This set of 120 contains Process Red, Blush Pink, Warm Gray 20%, Warm Gray 30%, Warm Gray 50%, Warm Gray 70%, Warm Gray 80%, Warm Gray 90%, Cool Gray 10%, Cool Gray 20%, Deco Peach, Cool Gray 30%, Cool Gray 50%, Cool Gray 70%, Cool Gray 80%, Cool Gray 90%, and many more!


Sharpie Fine Point Marker

Sharpie Fine Point Marker

Mark almost anything with bright, lasting color! The Sharpie Fine Point Marker has a tough, resilient 0.5 mm tip. Permanent ink is fast drying, quick flowing, and resists water. Set of 4 Assorted Colors — Set includes the colors Red, Green, Blue, and Black. Set of 8 Assorted Colors — Set includes one of each color in the set of 4 colors, plus the colors Yellow, Purple, Orange, and Brown. Set of 12 Assorted Colors — Contains one each of Black, Yellow, Purple, Red, Green, Brown, Orange, Blue, Aqua, Berry, Lime, and Turquoise. Set of 24 Assorted Colors — Contains one each of Black, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Purple, Brown, Orange, Berry, Lime, Aqua, Turquoise, Magenta, Tangerine, Olive, Navy, Burgundy, Marigold, Plum, Lilac, Pink, Sky, Mint, and Peach.


Sharpie Magnum 44 Marker

Sharpie Magnum 44 Marker

For the really big jobs! Sanford'sMagnum 44 Marker is excellent formaking fast signs. Amateur andprofessional sign makers alike enjoythe versatility of both 3/8" and 5/8"wide line options with this giant wedge tip. Its quick-drying, permanent ink is highly water-resistant.


Colored Pencils

I like the effects, shading, and rough sketch work that can be achieved with colored pencils. Crayola brand works great for me, but I have not tried any others.

Crayola Colored Pencils

Crayola Colored Pencils

Give your students plenty of pre-sharpened pencils to go around. The convenient package makes them easy to use and store. Available in sets of 462 with 14 different colors and sets of 240 with 12 colors. The 240-Pencil Classpack contains Orange, Sky Blue, Black, Red, Yellow, Red-Orange, Yellow-Orange, Brown, Blue, Violet, Green, and White Colors.


Oil Pastels

Oil pastels are fantastic for blending, and creating unique effects with watercolor overlays. The oil repels water, which can create interesting shapes around the pastel colors.

Sakura Cray-Pas Specialist Oil Pastels

Sakura Cray-Pas Specialist Oil Pastels

Specifically developed and formulated to meet the demanding standards of professional artists, these pastels have exceptional color intensity and luminosity. Using high concentrations of extra fine pigments, Sakura created extremely smooth and soft textured pastels that are highly lightfast and suitable for any technique — from fine detail using their square corners, to glazing and wash techniques with a variety of oil painting mediums. 2-1/2" × 3/8" square pastels, unwrapped.


Charcoal / Pastel / Chalk

Charcoal is one of my favorite mediums because it covers area so quickly and with precision. It's very tactile, and you can smudge, smear, and grind your way to interesting images. The compressed charcoal is fantastic because it allows for really deep blacks, and contrasts with white chalk. Pastels are another great dry medium for blocking and smearing in amazing colors.

Conté Compressed Charcoal

Conté Compressed Charcoal

Conté offers deep black charcoal in round sticks. Boxes of twelve are available in various hardnesses, ranging from 4B-very soft to HB-hard, and also in an assortment.


Holbein Artists' Soft Pastel Sets

Holbein Artists' Soft Pastel Sets

Holbein has developed an exceptional range of artist-quality soft pastels that offer great covering and blending power because of their soft powder richness. From inception to final production, Holbein's unique manufacturing process is computerized and mechanized. Every stick is scanned individually to guarantee even distribution of pigment and pigment purity, ensuring a predictably constant hue for use in sketching, undercoating, and finished work. Individually wrapped sticks feature a square shape for versatility — use the flat sides or sharp edges! A smaller size (2" L × ½" Sqr) makes them easy to hold and less prone to breakage. A pastel fixative is recommended to prevent colors from fading.


Crayons

Crayons are a lot of fun, and they're fairly inexpensive which makes them ideal for experimentation.

Set of 96

Set of 96

Students can explore a full spectrum of color possibilities, encouraging creativity and flexibility. Flip-top box and tiered sleeves allow for easy access. Has a built-in sharpener.


Watercolors

I think watercolors are for the fearlessly adventurous. The medium is very difficult for me to control, but I love that about watercolors. I never know exactly where the water is going to run, or how it will affect or be affected by other mediums and colors already on the paper. In addition to exciting experimentation, the subtleties and effects that are possible are limitless, and unused watercolor paint can be left open on a palette to dry... just add water!

Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolors

Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolors

Since 1832, when Henry Newton and William Winsor introduced the first moist watercolors to the world, much of Winsor & Newton’s reputation for supreme quality has stemmed from the Artists’ Watercolor range. More than 170 years later, the original Winsor & Newton moist watercolor continues to be formulated and manufactured according to the company’s founding principles — to create an unparalleled watercolor range that offers artists the widest and most balanced choice of pigments with the greatest possible permanence. Through strict adherence to these founding principles, Winsor & Newton has achieved brilliance, transparency, and purity of color unparalleled by any other watercolor. For the 21st century, these key qualities are achieved through a combination of choice of raw materials, custom-made machinery, and expert formulation by experienced chemists and artists who have spent their working lifetimes formulating Artists’ Watercolor. Today, the Winsor & Newton Artists’ Watercolor range benefits from continued advancements in pigment technology and production methods, building on the company’s already high standards to produce even brighter, more transparent, and more stable colors. Equally important, many of the formulations remain the same — proving that they cannot be bettered! Gift Idea — Great introductory and travel sets are available. See Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolor Gift Sets for pictures and specifications.


Acrylic Paint

Acrylic paint is one of the most versatile mediums I use. It can be mixed with water for varying thicknesses, applies beautifully opaque, and is great for initial color blocks to last mark making details. And I think Golden makes the best acrylic paints.

Golden Heavy Body Artist Acrylics 5 oz

Golden Heavy Body Artist Acrylics 5 oz

Golden Heavy Body Artist Acrylics are known for their exceptionally smooth, thick, buttery consistency, and for their excellent permanency and lightfastness. These paints have the ability to "stand up" and retain brush strokes or palette knife marks on the canvas. Heavy Body Artist Acrylics also contain the largest assortment of unique pure pigments in a 100% acrylic emulsion vehicle available to the professional artist. They contain no fillers, extenders, opacifiers, toners, or dyes. Each Golden Heavy Body color is formulated differently depending upon the nature of the pigment. Colors that tolerate higher pigment loads dry to a more opaque, matte finish, while colors that are more reactive and do not accept high pigment loading dry to a glossy finish and tend to be more transparent. Since Heavy Body Acrylics contain no additives, such as matting agents, the gloss of each color will be different. All Golden Heavy Body Acrylic colors are thixotropic in nature. This means that when brushing or stirring, the paints actually lose viscosity and feel much thinner. The faster the paints are moving, the thinner they feel. Returned to a state of rest, Golden Heavy Body Acrylic paints gradually increase in thickness until they are again restored to their formulated viscosity. Golden Heavy Body Acrylics retain excellent flexibility when dry, greatly diminishing the possibility of cracking that occurs in other natural and synthetic polymer systems. They also can absorb the constant stress and strain placed on canvas when it is shipped, or as it expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity. A hand-painted color chart is available upon request. Multiple Sizes Available — Golden Heavy Body Artist Acrylics are also available in 2 oz , 4 oz , 8 oz , 16 oz , 32 oz , and 128 oz . Gift Idea — Students and professionals at all levels appreciate Golden Heavy Body Acrylics. A variety of introductory and gift sets are available. See Golden Heavy Body Artist Acrylic Sets for pictures and more detailed specifications of these sets.


Brushes

A good brush is like a good friend, reliable hand in hand. I've found my comfort zone with a medium sized wash brush for covering large areas and a small fine-tipped brush for details. I'm still experimenting with all the rest, and there are many!

Blick Watercolor Brush Set

Blick Watercolor Brush Set

Blick's Watercolor Set is an affordable student set for fine detailing in watercolors and inks. It's a heterogeneous sampling that includes some of our best heritage watercolor brush series, as well as some of our newest brushes. We've had to make changes in the composition of this set from time to time, as some brushes become unavailable, but we've kept the value in the set. The complete set includes the following brushes: Blick Masterstroke Finest Red Sable Round (Series 558), Size 2 Blick Pointed Scholastic Round (Series 566), Size 5 and Size 7 Blick Academic Sable Round, Size 3/0 and Size 0 Blick Studio


Sable Detail Round, Size 0

Paper

Paper is important because it has a large impact on the quality and ability to hold the mediums being used. I like a variety of paper textures and weights, but primarily stick with heavier paper, which can hold the wet mixed mediums I often use. Acrylic primed paper and watercolor paper are great, but I really love Strathmore Bristol Smooth because of the ability to blend oil pastels easily, and the paper holds ink and watercolor washes well.

Strathmore 400 Series Bristol Pads

Strathmore 400 Series Bristol Pads

The same great product as the Strathmore 400 Bristol Board, but in a convenient pad form. Each pad contains 15 sheets of 2-ply Strathmore 400 Bristol.


Strathmore Acrylic Pads

Strathmore Acrylic Pads

This heavyweight, versatile Strathmore acid-free paper was made with the acrylic artist in mind, but it is also well suited for a variety of other painting, drawing, pastel or charcoal applications where a heavy paper with a toothy surface is desirable. The paper has a cream-colored linen finish. 246 lb (300 gsm). Pads are tape bound on the short side. 10 sheets per pad.


Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Blocks

Strathmore 400 Series Watercolor Blocks

A random-textured professional surface for intermediate and advanced watercolor students. Acid-free.


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