The best art supplies for artists and designers
Art supplies are an important component of making good art. Having good quality tools that you like using, make the creative process much easier. Art supplies alone won’t make you a great artist, but they will help.
People often ask me about my favourite art materials so I thought I’d list my favourites here.
Gouache
I use 2 brands of acrylic gouache: Holbein and Turner (both from Japan). They both are very pigmented and have a wide selection of colours to choose from. Once the colours are dry they can be layered one on top of the other without fear of smudging the colours underneath, unlike regular gouache.
Watercolours
I’ve tried many different brands of watercolours over the years but my favourite one is Kuretake Gansai Tambi from Japan. These watercolours are opaque - similar-ish to gouache -, creamy and very pigmented.
I’d like to mention 2 other watercolours sets that I use from time to time; one is the Sakura Koi travel set that I take with me when I travel and the other one is the Art Philosophy Vintage Pastels set. Both sets have pigmented colours and mix together well.
Paint Brushes
Years ago, I took a traditional Chinese ink painting class and fell in love with Chinese bamboo brushes. They’re very versatile, can hold a lot of water/paint in the bristles and have a fine point which is perfect for small details. They’re also very affordable, starting at 12 HKD (around 1.5 USD). I have 3 sizes but use the small one more often.
Oil Pastels
I recently started using oil pastels to draw; I found these Caran D’ache Neopastels in my local art supply shop and I love the quality. They’re very pigmented, creamy and easy to blend together.
Colour Pencils
Sometimes I use colour pencils to add details to watercolour or gouache paintings. The ones I like using the most are the Caran D’ache supracolour II soft because they’re very soft, pigmented and the colours can be blended with water (because they’re water soluble).
Paper
For painting with gouache or watercolours I prefer using hot pressed (smooth) paper because when scanned, it doesn’t leave textured marks. The brand I’ve been using for the past few years is Daler Rowney, in various sizes. For coloured paper, I use any cardboard I can find in a colour I like that is at least 200 gsm thick.
Ink and dip pen
I like using white ink to add details to my paintings and my favourite brand is Windsor & Newton white calligraphy ink. It is completely opaque and it’s water soluble but when it’s dry, it’s smudge free. I use a “G” size nib for the dip pen.
I hope this was helpful if you’re looking for new materials to try. Let me know if you have any questions.
* All the materials listed here are vegan *
