Favorite Materials
Favorite starter set? This one: Sennelier Set of 120, Paris Colors, Half Sticks
Schmincke Soft Pastels softest; very buttery, use for top layer only
Sennelier Soft Pastels and Sets Fabulous pure colors, but can be crumbly so I recommend the half sticks.
Townsend Terrages Pastels and Sets Larger & grittier, fabulous colors
Unison Large Handmade Soft Pastels Good workhorse pastel, medium grit and large size
Mount Vision Soft Pastels and Sets Lower price with good color range
Girault Pastels Harder and more brittle
PanPastels Powder; use with applicator; great for underpainting
UArt Premium Sanded Pastel Paper All around good sanded paper; recommend 400 grit; can take both water and alcohol,
black and oatmeal only two colors
UArt Premium Sanded Pastel Paper Boards Good stiff boards for plein air work, recommend 400 grit; can take both water and alcohol, black and oatmeal only two colors
Sennelier La Carte Pastel Card Luscious toothy surface BUT CANNOT get wet
Pastel Premier Sanded Paper Beautiful sanded paper, can use wet or with alcohol; white and colors
Clairefontaine Pastelmat Mounted Boards Less tooth so uses less pastel; Can use water but alcohol does odd things, comes in white and good colors
Canson Mi-Teintes Touch Sanded Papers More affordable; Less tooth so uses less pastel; Can use water but alcohol does odd things, comes in white and good colors
LuxArchival Professional Sanded Art Papers Lush soft surface; expensive
Evolon archival plastic fabric; creative mixed media possibilities
Golden Pumice Gel Mediums Make your own pastel paper or board. Good for larger sizes than paper comes. Apply with a brayer (see favorite tools list) for even application.
Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolor
Schmincke Horadam Aquarell Watercolor Pans and Sets
Handmade Artisanal Watercolors by Greenleaf & Blueberry
Tansy Hargan Handmade Watercolors
Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watercolor Crayons
Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils
Ecoline Brush Pen Watercolor Markers and Sets
Schmincke Horadam Artist Gouache and Sets
Stoneground Handmade Gouache Set
Richeson Shiva Series Casein Paint
Arches Full Sheet Watercolor Paper
Toddy Paper Filter Bags will be transparent once collaged
Deli paper translucent once collaged
(Also see materials list for brushes, brayers, and tools)
Golden Fluid Paints are my favorite; they are the perfect consistency, with a strong pigment load.
Golden Acrylic Glazing Medium increases the transparency of acrylics.
Golden Soft Acrylic Medium (I buy semi-gloss) I use this for collage, both as adhesive, a top coat, and an isolation coat for water soluble media.
Caran d’Ache Neocolor I Wax Crayons, great for resist techniques in making collage papers
Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watercolor crayons lightfast & highly pigmented water soluble crayons
Stabilo Woody Pencils chunky crayon-like water soluble pencils, great for mixed media work
Posca Paint Pens, wonderful, opaque acrylic markers available in various sizes; white ones I find particularly essential.
Strathmore Drawing Paper for making collage papers
Wet Strength Tissue Paper 100 sheets of top quality strong tissue paper for staining and making transparent collage paper
Dick Blick Tissue Paper less strong, but less expensive option
Acid Free Copy Paper for collage papers
Logan Deli Paper for translucent collage papers
Strathmore 500 Series Heavyweight Paper good paper surface to build a mixed media collage on
Dick Blick Artist Panels great hard surface for making a mixed media collage on
Also see material lists for printmaking because those make great collage papers.
This is what I use for my artist journals: Stillman & Birn Zeta Series Sketchbooks:
These are ideal for dry, wet, or mixed media. Archival quality. Smooth, extra heavyweight 180 lb (270 gsm) white sheets. Comes in a variety of sizes, shapes and formats.
For pencil and fountain pen sketching I use: Leuchtturm1917 Sketchbooks. They come in a variety of sizes and orientations, with colorful covers. The pure white, acid-free, 150 gsm paper opens to lie flat.
Stillman & Birn Nova Trio Series Toned Spiralbound Sketchbooks: Good choice for non-white sketchbook paper. It is lighter weight 93 lb (150 gsm) paper, in Black, Grey, and Beige, good for graphite sketching, erasing, and grayscale or white pens.
I have also used: Strathmore Mixed Media Visual Journals which has medium weight paper: 90 lb (190 gsm), acid-free, 100% cotton paper, that can take any medium, and is a bit less expensive.
Seawhite Concertina Sketchbook A4
Small Seawhite Concertina I use these for travel
Sakura Pigma Micron Pens permanent pens in black, of various sizes. (less expensive but don’t last as long)
Staedtler Pigment Liner Pens waterproof and lightfast (more expensive but last longer without drying up so fast)
Caran d’Ache Neocolor I Wax Crayons, great on their own, for resist techniques, or for mixed media work
Caran d’Ache Neocolor II Watercolor crayons lightfast & highly pigmented water soluble crayons
Stabilo Woody Pencils chunky crayon-like water soluble pencils, great for mixed media work
Lyra Graphite crayons, chunky graphite sticks, available in water soluble and not
Winsor & Newton Vine Charcoal basic sketching charcoal
Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser good for graphite and charcoal
Staedtler Mars Plastic Erasers good for most things
Artgraf water soluble; I use them for plein air, travel and rubbings
Caran d’Ache Luminance Colored Pencils smooth and lightfast (most colored pencils are neither)
Derwent Inktense Watercolor Pencils brilliant intensity and strong colors; great for plein air and travel sketching; can be used dry or wet
Derwent Inktense XL Blocks same as the colored pencils but large and chunky
Tombow GrayScale Brush Pens great for field sketching, thumbnails, and notans
Sakura Gelly Roll Opaque White Pens opaque white ink that stands out on black paper. I like the bold tip best. Bear in mind that these run out very quickly (one pen every two sketches) so you may wish to purchase multiples
Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens highly pigmented India ink great for artist journals and mixed media work
Posca Paint Pens, wonderful, opaque acrylic markers available in various sizes; white ones I find particularly essential.
Strathmore 400 Series Drawing Paper Good basic drawing paper
(Also see artist journal and sketchbook section.)
Golden Fluid Paints are my favorite; they are the perfect consistency, with a strong pigment load.
Golden Acrylic Glazing Medium increases the transparency of acrylics.
I also use Golden Heavy Body paints on larger works or for underpainting on wood panel.
Golden Matte Medium decreases paint gloss, adds translucency and extends paint.
Golden Open Medium slows the drying time of regular acrylic paint.
Golden Open Acrylic Paint these dry slower, which is helpful in printmaking or plein air painting.
Golden Soft Acrylic Medium (I buy semi-gloss) I use this for collage, both as adhesive and a top coat.
(also see material lists for paintbrushes and tools)
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