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Your Guide to:

ART SUPPLIES

©DEEPSPACESPARKLE/PATTY PALMER 2013. All rights reserved. www.deepspacesparkle.com

You only need two types of paper in your home: sulphite drawing paper and school-grade watercolor paper. Here is a breakdown of both:

Sulphite Paper: Sulphite is a process that extracts the lignin from wood chips and produces pure cellulose fibers. This means that sulphite paper is a smooth, white and inexpensive drawing paper that is perfect in any art room. I use sulphite paper in every art project that uses tempera paint, markers, collage, etc. The only time I do not use sulphite paper is when I am teaching a watercolor blending lesson. For that I use a cheap school-grade watercolor.For your home-school environment, I would stock up on 50-sheet packs of sulphite paper. It is cheap, holds up very well to all paint and is what every art teacher uses.

Watercolor Paper:For all my watercolor art projects, I use school grade 90 lb watercolor paper. It is inexpensive and comes in a 50 sheet box. This will last you a long, long time. Try to remember the next time you wander into Michaels craft store that it is not necessary to buy expensive watercolor paper. You don’t need a lot of “tooth” or a heavy texture for a child’s art project. Just buy online, in bulk, and save yourself some money.

Art Paper

Your Paper checklist4 packs of white sulphite paper1 pack of the following colors: black, brown, red, green, yellow, purple, turquoise, blue, pink.Canson 90 lb watercolor paper (I would suggest 12” x 18” sheets. if they are too big for some art projects, you can cut them in half.)

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Just like with paper, there are really only a few paints you will need for most art projects:liquid tempera, watercolor pans and liquid watercolors. You can read more about paints here.

Tempera Paint:I love tempera paint. I use Crayola Artista II Washable paints almost every day in my art room. I strongly urge you to buy a pack of primary colors, secondary colors plus white and black. Any project of mine that uses tempera paint, uses one or more of these colors. You don’t have to buy dozens of each color, just buy a 16 fl. oz bottle of each color. With only a few kids at home, this quantity should last a while.

paints

“Puck” or cake tempera makes prep and clean-up a dream. The only drawback for me is that the paint dries to a rather chalky finish.

PUCK TEMPERA

Dispensing paint can be daunting, but embrace it and try not to worry about waste. Use a muffin-tin or plastic cups for shared paint projects.

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paintsWatercolor Paint:I would encourage you to purchase one set of 16-color pan watercolor paints per child plus a set of 4 fl oz liquid watercolor paints. Pan watercolors are a must-have for basic art supplies. The brand I recommend comes with a good brush, so you don’t have to worry about buying a better brush. The paint sets that you can purchase at a dollar store are terrible and come with a twiggy brush. Avoid! Spend a few more dollars and your child will have a better watercolor experience. Liquid watercolors are a wonder. Really. I use them almost exclusively with my younger students (5-7). Buy a small set and you will be thankful. The colors are concentrated which means that you can control the intensity of the color.

Store liquid watercolors in baby food jars or small salsa cups. Buy the small 4

fl. oz size.

Your Paint checklist: 1 pack of primary liquid tempera paint

1 pack of secondary liquid tempera paint

1 bottle black and white liquid tempera paint

1 set of liquid watercolor paints (4 fl oz)

1 set per child 16-color Crayola or Prang refillable watercolor set with brush

Puck or Cake Tempera

Brushes (This is a good brand so buy whatever you can afford)

Read (and watch) more about liquid watercolor paints here.

VIDEO

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Drawing & ColoringTools

PastelsYou can buy oil pastels at any craft or even office supply store. I personally don’t think the quality matters a great deal for children. I buy relatively cheap oil pastels and I’ve been happy with them. If you have middle school or older children, buying more expensive oil pastels will yield better results.I use black oil pastel for many off my art lessons as a starter. I’ve blogged extensively about why I use oil pastels for drawing but in summary, it just loosens kids up and they tend to draw bigger.

Chalk PastelsThe same is true with chalk pastels as with oil. I don’t buy the most expensive brand for my elementary students but if you have older students, they would benefit from a higher quality product.

MarkersFor basic marker rendering, I use Crayola broad tip markers: cheap and reliable. If you have a bigger budget, Prisma color markers are hands down the best.For basic drawing always have on hand black waterproof markers like Sharpie Brand. I buy the thick and thin sizes.

Your Coloring tools checklistOil Pastels 1 or 2 packs

Chalk pastels 1 or 2 packs

Sharpie Markers in broad and fine

tips

Crayola Markers broad tip