Ouch, ouch and more ouch I know. Over the past couple of years I've gone to supply stores and picked up a couple things here and there. A giant container of gesso, a couple of shades of golden acrylics that went on clearance, and some cheap canvases, but I never made any real attempt to rebuild my entire stock. Last year in April I decided to myself that I was focusing on what really meant to me in life and made a large amount of changes. I quit smoking, changed some eating habits and made an attempt to go to the beach several times over the summer and draw on the beach. While I did hold true to these changes, I still didn't make a serious attempt to consistent draw or paint, or once again, expand my laughable art stock. Starting this most recent January, I put my proverbial foot down and got to stocking with a pair of scissors in one hand, and the Sunday paper in the other. Unfortunately, as luck would have it, me and my significant other are experiencing a minor setback in finances so I will have to put off my stockpiling till approximately the end of April. In the mean time, here are the fruits of my labor thus far:
32x35 rotary mat $27 at A.C. Moore with 50% coupon
I consider a rotary mat an essential aid to my sketchbook more then anything else(if used solely for sketchbook purposes one of this size really isn't needed, but I wanted to spoil myself for later projects). I realize that might be perplexing to many others, but I'm a big believer in preserving charcoal and pastel works in my sketch books and this is how I do that:
Not only do these covers provide protection for the work itself, but also for the page making contact with it, and it has the potential to add an element of design to the page, something art school professors love. I will post more examples of the design elements this can add in future posts when I break out sketchbooks from college.
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| Hard Back for Charcoal/Watercolor paper |
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| 12x14 Paint Pallet |
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| Left side: Color Wheel/Right Side Monochromatic Grey Chart |
One large piece of hardwood $7 + Glass 12x14 $2
One of the best purchases I've made so far. I had this hardwood cut a couple of times, initially to shape one large piece I could tape paper to and use as a backboard for charcoal works, and again with the scraps I had a piece cut to the size of the glass purchased in order to make my paint pallet (will describe in detail in a later post). One of the remaining scraps was made into a color wheel and monochromatic chart (another later post) and the other will probably be used for another chart. All together I saved probably twelve to fifteen bucks for better quality tools (the handmade pallet especially).
18x24 Charcoal paper pad made from recycled materials 40% sale
For the hippy in me, basically paper to do charcoal work with. I prefer to do still life/portrait practices with charcoal for the easy range in values, and fast smooth application.
9x12 Bristol Paper pads in velium and smooth textures 40% sale (I believe these came to $5 each)
Excellent paper for pen and ink work as well as colored pencils (one of my favorite mediums). This will be utilized more for my project called "Black Cat"
Male Mannequin 50% coupon $5
I've never actually gotten into using these, but I plan on grabbing one or two more and utilizing them for porportioning with multiple characters, as well as perspective.
These are the basic tools I felt I needed to aquire first, and I'm rather proud of myself for the savings I made by sale watching, coupon clipping, and willingness to make certain things from scratch. I have purchased other items as well such as pens and pencils, but those I feel aren't really worth writing about just yet.
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