Supplies list

You can find printable PDF handouts of this page here: color | black & white | text only

PAPER

8.5″ x 11″ office paper for sketching, thumbnails, taking notes

14″ x 17″ pad of  bristol board – regular (vellum) or plate (smooth) surface for final artwork. Try Strathmore or Canson brand.

Heavyweight tracing paper (also called vellum)

PENCILS
An assortment of graphite pencils — you’ll mainly want HB but a few softer (say 2B and 6B) and harder (4H or 6H) pencils will come in handy.
mechanical pencil in .5 mm or .7 mm size

Erasers: Kneaded and white plastic

INKING TOOLS
India ink: Koh-I-Noor Universal 3080-4, Windsor-Newton (Waterproof India ink), Dr. Ph. Martin’s Black Star (Hi-Carb), or other brand of waterproof India ink (if you get the Koh-I-Noor, you will need an ink jar with a tight seal as well). Higgins brand inks are pretty watery; use them for nib pens only.

Nib Pens: a few pen nibs and holders. Here are some starter sets:

Brushes: Round watercolor, size 2-4, acrylic for starters, or up to Kolinsky sable. Raphael makes a lovely sable brush; it has an orange tip. If you shell out for sable, definitely get the brush basin (see below)

“Graphic white”: white ink for correction, Deleter #2 brand recommended.
Small/stubby round brush to apply white with

Brush soap


Brush basin: Highly recommended. The best kind is the square one from Plaid Industries or Masters, not the round one or other brands.

DRAFTING TOOLS
Clear plastic grid-style ruler, 18-inch
T-square, 18-inch

Ames lettering guide – available in the drafting section of art stores


Proportion wheel – available in the drafting section of art stores

Drafting tape

OPTIONAL

Ink palette

Technical pens: Make sure they have archival, pigmented ink, not “permanent”

Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils: Various colors, particularly “light blue”. (Avoid non-erasable colored pencils.)


Circle and ellipse templates
Compass with ruling pen attachment


30-60-90 triangle


other drawing implements

calendar with a week- or a day-at-a-time pages.
manila envelope or portfolio for all your work.
A pad of Post-it® Notes