6 Art Supplies Every Beginner Must Swear By!

As much as talent and skill of using various painting media is necessary, so are good quality art supplies. An artist, beginner or accomplished cannot fathom producing a piece of art that he/she can actually be proud of without fine brushes or colors. Having said that, the art supplies that you may need greatly depend upon the type of medium you most relish to work with, be it watercolors , acrylic, pastels or oils.

Nevertheless, for a beginner, there are certain paraphernalia that definitely take the top shelf of the most essential art supplies. Here’s the list.

1. Pencils
Regardless of your choice of media, good quality graphite pencils is a must for anybody since it is what helps to form the basis of any painting, before you even begin painting. Hence having 3 to 4 basic graphite pencils, with a 2B pencil for sketching and shading, a 4B pencil for lighter areas and a 6B pencil for darker shadows is a must.

2. Eraser
When there’s pencil, there’s got to be an eraser. Get quality white and kneaded erasers to erase any mistakes or flaws. A kneaded eraser can also be used to treat minute areas and to create exceptional effects of light.

3. Drawing paper
You need to hoard on medium quality and inexpensive drawing paper to keep practicing sketching and improving your skills as an artist.

4. Painting surface
Choosing a painting surface obviously depends on the medium of painting you use. So, if you are a watercolor fan your best bet at this stage would be to opt for pre-stretched watercolor pads which saves you the effort of stretching it yourself. If you like to paint with Acrylic paint then you can go for a canvas or an acrylic paper. Though, my advice would be to go for the later since it is much cheaper, takes lesser space and eliminates the pressure of creating the perfect painting in one go, therefore leaves room for mistakes and learning from them.

5. Paint
First of all remember that you do not need a huge array of painting colors to begin your painting journey. In fact it is much easier to handle and learn well with a few of the basic colors, and you can still paint just about anything with them. And this holds true for both Acrylic and watercolors.
So, your color palette should typically consist of

* Cadmium Red
* Alizarian Crimson
* Pthalo Blue
* Pthalo Green
* New Gamboge (Yellow)
* Burnt Umber

You can mix these in different combinations to get a large variety of colors of your choice.

6. Brushes
Last but no the least, you need good brushes to get painting. When working with watercolors, you will need at least three basic paint brushes:

* A large flat brush for washes (3/4)
* A round brush for general painting (size 8, 10 or 14)
* A liner brush (size 6 or 4)

If working with acrylics, you will again need at least three basic brushes:

* A large flat brush for background (1”)
* A filbert brush for general painting (size 6 for medium size paintings)
* A liner brush for details

One thing to remember is that you should look to invest in quality and reliable art materials to get the best results, although you can practice using their cheaper alternatives as well. You can find all the art supplies including Acrylic paint (Akrylfärg), Spray Paint, Mont Blanc, Markers and much more at Artx.

ArtX is a renowned online store where you will find anything and everything you need to create a stunning artwork with ease and at best prices. So, now that you know which basic art supplies you need to possess and where to find them as well, wear your Picasso hat and start creating some beautiful and inspiring art now!