Professional Art Supplies

As an amateur artist, the essential professional art supplies you must begin with are a pencil and a notebook. As time goes, you might need the most sophisticated supplies for your creative pieces. So let’s dive into the basic art supplies you need, whether an amateur or an expert artist.

Quality pencils

A pencil is the most essential tool for all artists across the board. It can’t be any pencil, but one that will truly connect with your style. Before you get the right pencil, you might have to try several of them until you find the one that connects with your artistic style. There are two grades of drawing pencils, those with hard graphite and those with soft graphite. Soft graphite leaves a darker mark and needs frequent sharpening, whereas harder graphite leaves lighter marks and remains sharper for a long time. With several sets of pencils, an artist can use a variation of marks in drawings. As a beginner, you will find that not all the pencils found in the set are useful for most of your drawing. So to save on the cost, you may buy individual artistic pencils.

Sketchbook

As an artist, a good sketchbook or canvas is a must-have, depending on the medium of drawing you prefer. If you compare an athlete’s training tools, the sketchbook is like a workout space for an artist. A sketchbook is where you try your creative ideas before they are actualised on a real platform.

Good old canvas

It is either linen of cotton that comes rolled up or stretched. Some may require additional framing or maybe self-stretching. Rolled up canvas is convenient and affordable, while the framed one is cumbersome.

Quality surface

The quality of the surface of a piece of art is drawn or sketched on matters as much as the medium is. The drawing surface has an impact on the final result of your drawing, i.e. the texture of the surface determines the way your drawing material is received. Using heavy textures, your drawing will appear like the lines are broken, while a smoother surface gives smoother lines on your art. Some artists prefer heavily textured surfaces, whereas some prefer a smoother surface. Paperweight has an impact on the outcome of the art. The paper thickness has an impact on the quality of the final results. Another important aspect of the art material is acid-free material. Acid-free content is known to stand the test of time. Such papers will not submit to bleaching or fading when exposed to UV lights. Types of papers to use include; drawing paper, charcoal paper, or Bristol paper.

Erasers

Without an eraser, you are never called an artist. Fact. They are designed to clean errors and as a mark-marking tool. As an artist, you have several options to choose from for an eraser. Rubber erasers are designed to wipe out marks made from graphite pencils. It requires some friction to erase content or marks. Kneaded eraser removes material from the surface. Friction is not necessary to remove. Gum eraser is another type that is used to remove marks or ink from delicate surfaces. It requires some friction to erase. Plastic erasers are the toughest of all and can almost erase anything.

Brushes

This is an ultimate tool for painting, but some artists may sponge or fingers to sketch or draw. There are several options for brushes for an artist, and these include round, flat, bright, filbert and more.