Crafty, Creative Kit for Children At Heart
If it’s been a while since you’ve gone buck wild with a fistful of crayons, I’m here to assure you that no matter what your level of skill, few things are more fun or therapeutic to the analytical adult mind than rolling up your sleeves and getting down and dirty on an art project. These five artsy essentials will help you kit out a beginner’s art space where you can unleash your creativity beast.
Tarp (or Art Mat)
Don’t let the word “tarp” conjure up images of a room-sized plastic sheet. For your purposes, a tarp can be any surface that lets you do your thing confidently without risk of ruining your furniture. A desk-sized sheet cut from an old shower curtain works well, but in lieu of that, a cardboard cereal box that’s been cut open can provide a sizable protective surface. Interested in collage or scrapbooking? Opt for a self-healing art mat that will let you create precision cut-outs without carving lines into your desk.
#2 Pencil
The tried and trusty #2 pencil isn’t just for Scantron answer sheets. An HB on the graphite scale, a #2 pencil produces a line that is neither too hard (light) nor too soft (dark) — basically, your go-to school pencil just happens to be the Goldilocks of beginner art supplies.
Watercolor Pencils
Combining the control of a pencil with the coverage of paint, watercolor pencils are an ideal medium for beginners who feel a little intimidated by paint. Simply color and then dab or brush with water for an instant impressionist wash. Don’t have brushes? Cut a corner off a fresh kitchen sponge or dip your fingers in water and go to town.
Chalk Pastels
Chalk pastels are super fun and ridiculously messy, which makes them great for getting in touch with tactile moments of expression. Crumbled up and ground into paper, canvas or wood, chalk is a smeary, blendy way to bring your works of art to life. Unlike pencil or watercolor, chalk can color over things, so use it to shade or highlight images that you’ve already painted or colored in and blend with a pinky finger or Q-tip for a soft, diffused effect. (Just be sure to protect your artwork from further rubbing when you’re finished.)
Also you can also use it on your hair.
A Big, Bad-Paper Notebook
A beautiful Moleskine watercolor book might be tempting, but if you’re not confident with sitting down to doodle you might be shooting yourself in the foot. The beauty of a big, bad paper notebook is the bad paper — a key to feeling comfortable with trying new stuff is not being afraid to ruin your supplies, and you won’t feel free to do that if your supplies cost a billion dollars. Get yourself a sizable tome of crappy scratch paper so you don’t feel guilty when you mess everything up. (After all, that’s the point.)
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