It’s that time of year again. The scary, exciting, and complicated journey through college. Not sure what awaits you this college semester? I remember those days all too fondly. There are many uncertainties one faces when going to college from transportation, schedules, living accommodations, and classes. However there is one glaring overlooked omission. What supplies are needed for my art classes. Well if you’re a new traditional art student and wondering what all essentials you need to make your life easier. Hopefully this article will help clear up those worries, and give you a jumpstart in the classroom to make life a smoother transition with this guide to Essentials of College Art Students.
Pack and Go
Oh the joy of trying to juggle those books, supplies, and backpack. Wouldn’t it be nice to stow it all in one place?
Welldeal Heavy Duty Art Portfolio Carry Case Bag Backpack 26″ x 19″
This portfolio backpack enables you to store large art pieces comfortably and protects them against bumps. The many zippered compartments allows you to organize your supplies effortlessly.
Mobile Project Archival
I own several of these and they are amazing. Very professional and lightweight. It holds upto 48 13 x 19 projects. Give your projects the protection and showcase they deserve.
Shining Light on Your Art
tiktecklab A4 Size Ultra-Thin Portable Tracer
To go along with the lightbox you’ll need some high quality tracing paper as well!
Strathmore 370-9 300 Series Tracing Pad
This Transparent parchment tracing paper is ideal for any revisions or additions on projects. Comes with 50 sheets of 9 x 12 inches of paper per package. Another big perk is the tracing paper is acid-free!
Let your projects flourish with color
Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Markers, Fine and Chisel Tip, Total of 24
Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, Soft Core, 72 Pack
The markers provide great consistency of ink flow with minimal bleed. The color pencils provide a smooth and solid color transition to desired areas. Both can provide excellent blending on their own or mixed together. The color options are endless!
Sketching Out A Vision
The last thing any artist wants is to have their vision hindered by subpar tools. Unleash your full potential with these reliable go tos!
2-Pack – Strathmore 400 Series Drawing Pad, 9×12 Wire Bound, 24 Sheets Each
The vision all starts with an Excellent, durable, acid free drawing pad. This is built for all your drawing, erasing, and getting your ideas down on paper with minimal hiccups.
Castle Art Supplies 12 piece Drawing Pencils, Quality Graphite Sketch Pencils with BONUS tin case.
These pencils enable you to get any line thickness and shade you need with 12 various pencil graphic grades.
The graphite ranges are:
– Hard Graphite range (5H, 4H, 3H, 2H, HB) create lighter, thinner lines that are ideal for technical drawing disciplines.
– Soft Graphite range (B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 8B) create darker, thicker lines or combine to achieve form, depth, space and atmosphere.
The Most Overlooked, but Highly Valued Treasure…
If you mostly used regular erasers for your pencil mistakes, then after a while you notice the fibers of the paper wearing down. Then if you draw or ink your line work bleeds. Another frustrating thing is the smeary smudges left behind after erasing. After several erases you notice this only begins to get worse. What if I told you significantly less smudges and bleeding could go away! Less work is better right? That’s were the kneaded eraser comes in!
Faber-Castell Erasers – Drawing Art kneaded Erasers, Large size Grey – 4 Pack
They are such a life saver. It wasn’t until I was through a couple of classes in college that my classmate let me borrow hers, and my mind was blown at how well they cleaned up my art project. After using these kneaded erasers, you will never go back to regular erasers again!
Lay Down Some Ink!
One of the most tedious aspects of a project can be inking. However if you have the right tools, it can be a joyous outing. Precision and minimal bleeding is key. Once you make a mistake it’s usually very hard to fix on an inked piece. So you want the best tools to lead you to more success than mistakes. My go to inking pens are by the Micron Brand.
Sakura 50203 8-Piece Pigma Manga Comic Pro Drawing Kit. This pack contains: One each pigma micron 005, 01, 02, 03, 05, 08, and one graphic 1mm, all black. One 0.7mm fixed sleeve mechanical pencil.
These superior pens are a recipe for fun, delight, experimentation, and seems to unlock full creative potential. Give your project the top quality ink it deserves!
The Bob Vila Tools of Art
Probably my least favorite part of art projects is the need to use rulers, cutting tools, and shape assistant tools. They are needed though to get you to the finish line.
Breman Precision Stainless Steel 18 Inch Metal Ruler – Straight Edge Ruler with Inch and Metric Graduations for School Office Engineering Woodworking – Flexible with Non Slip Cork Base.
One of the most annoying aspects of a project is when using a ruler and it slips messing up your straight line or losing your place. This is a ruler that rules them all! Stop this frustration with a non-slip ruler.
X-Acto #1 Precision Knife | Z-Series, Craft Knife, comes with Safety Cap and #11 Fine Point Blade. Also has an Easy-Change Blade System. This tool is very durable and can withstand long term usage.
Other tools tend to leave behind frustrating jagged edges. This blade cuts so smoothly, it’s like going through butter. There are almost no negative things to say about this tool. Just watch your fingers that the blade is sharp!
AmazonBasics Masking Tape – 0.7 Inch x 180 Feet – 3 Rolls
This tape is excellent for holding projects together while you trace or paint. When you’re all done it’s easy to peel off your project limiting the occurrence of tears. Also very strong and very durable.
Going in Circles Are We?
Sometimes drawing what would seem like simple geometrical shapes would be easy. However there are days when this doesn’t seem possible. Drawing a perfect circle can be very excruciating. It would take up so much of my time. Then I went to my college art store and found plastic circle templates. That made my day and many projects better!
Comes with 4 Clear Green Plastic Measuring Template Ruler Geometric Ruler Template for Drawing Templates. Make perfect circles every time!
Ready to Bring Out Your Inner Bob Ross?
Mr. Ross taught us all that painting can be expressive, fun, and a learning tool. Also that mistakes occur and with enough creativity they can be transformed into something beautiful.
Get started painting those happy trees with the all the right tools!
Arteza Acrylic Pouring Paint, 2oz Bottles, Set of 32 Assorted Colors.
This Acrylic paint requires no mixing and is ready to pour. This Paint can be used on Canvas, Glass, Paper, Wood, Tile, and Stones. The paints in this set conform to ASTM D-4236 and EN71 standards, therefore are safe and non-toxic.
Non-Stick Paint Palette 2 PCS Artist Paint Mixing Tray Palette Oval Shaped Easy Clean Art Palette 17 Wells
This sturdy 11.8 x 7.9 inch palette lightweight, but made of durable plastic material. The design offers 17 holes total. 11 small wells, 1 big wells, and 5 big central reservoirs. This allows one to mix or separate pigments however you would like. Palette is made for both right and left handed individuals.
PHOENIX Painting Canvas Panel Boards – 11×14 Inch / 12 Pack – 1/8 Inch Deep Super Value Pack for Oil & Acrylic Paint.
The primed surface of the canvas boards protects your artwork from cracking, and further extends the life of your creative masterpieces! This board are made of 100 percent cotton and natural texture to ensure paints retain their tone and gloss.
Benicci Paint Brush Set of 16 – 15 Different Shapes + 1 Flat Brush – with Pallete Knife and Sponge – Nylon Hair and Ergonomic Non Slip Matte Silver Handles – with Standable Organizing Case & Tin Box
Combining the right painting tools with your creative mind you can move… I mean draw mountains! Bob Ross would be proud to see you start your painting adventure today!
Making a Case for the Artist
Every artist struggles with organization and loses their supplies. This can decrease productivity and deter us from our goals. The best thing we can do is try to compartmentalize our supplies. A carrying case is a must !
ArtBin Carrying Case with Divider Tray
Now you will know where your stuff is when you need it. No more searching for those markers in your room or bottom of your backpack. Once organized you will be armed with all your tools to take on your creative world!
Essential Steps Forward
The art world can be fun, but it can be a world of unknown mystery as well. Hence my personal experiences and your own with the help of this post will guide you forth. I hope the journey into this semester with go smoothly these essentials tools.
Be sure to keep a lookout for more helpful guides, tips, and helpful info in my articles section of my blog!
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