What do I bring to Art Class?
Guts, a sense of humor, and stickability…..and that’s about it!
After an open attitude, good art materials are nice to have too, however, the act of making art is more important than the quality of materials used!
Try and keep a balance between these two viewpoints:
Art Snobs forget to play. There is freedom in experimenting on not-so-valuable surfaces, expensive materials sometimes make us lose spontaneity. Use what you have, finish up all the slightly crinkled papers you’ve kept for years and all the cheap dusty canvases, and dig up your kid’s leftover watercolors. A lack of materials shouldn’t stand in your way of being creative!
Choose quality every time you can. When you’ve used up all the crap, go and buy good-quality materials. Always slightly more expensive than you’re comfortable with. Quality art materials do make a difference, BUT, you can get lost in the rabbit hole of amazing materials and then be too precious to ever use them!
Materials List
Sketchbook. Something to draw in, make notes in, and capture ideas. It’s nice seeing your progress over some time captured in a single place. Once you get the hang of it, they become like diaries and you can’t live without one. Cheap option, any old notebook even if it has lines. The better option and my favorite is Moleskine, unlined, slightly smaller than A4.
2B pencil and a BIC pen are the cheap and easy options. My favorite to draw with is aquarelle colour pencils because they are soft. I don’t ever wet them or use them as watercolours.
A variety of brushes. Brushes are personal to your ‘handwriting’ and there is no right or wrong, only preference. Thus experiment with new ones.
Pallette. A disposable, covered system is best. Cheap option: Buy an A4 plastic book protector box and line it with baking paper. You can then set out your paints, cover them when you travel to and from class and keep them fresh in the freezer without making a mess.
Cleaning ‘stuff’ when working with oil. I’ll elaborate in class and in another blog post, but this is the checklist. A container with baby oil and a scrubbing coil, soap for when you get home, an old rag, baby wipes.
Something to paint on, be that canvas or canvas paper, or anything you feel like for that matter!
Your paints in some sort of toolbox. I’ll expand on colour choice in class and write another blog post. The list below is my personal view on what I cannot live without if there was an apocalypse. In reality, I want lots and lots of colours always, so don’t hold back if you don’t have to!
If you’re working in oils you’ll need solvents ( a mix of artist-refined turpentine and linseed oil), a palette knife for mixing, and gloves if you are messy.
An iPad would have made the Old Masters soooooo jealous! Keep your reference materials and Pinterest Inspiration ready for when you need them and easy to see on a larger scale than your phone. Otherwise, print out your reference material on A4 or larger, so that you save time and effort.
