Top 7 Supplies you Need to Start Painting
My Favorite Supplies!
One of the questions that I get asked most often is what are my go-to supplies! What are the best brushes to use? What kind of paint do I use? What is the best brush cleaner?
My goal is to help beginner painters jump right in without fear! I try to make things simple and easy so you can avoid overwhelm!
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I remember how it was when I got back to painting and felt like I didn’t know where to start. There were so many choices and I was just ready to create!
Anyone else feel the same?
I am betting I am not the only one that just wants a list of what I need so I can get started!
So… I have made it super simple and I am going to go over some of my favorite supplies with you!
You can’t paint without brushes.
Well, technically you can but we will talk more about that some other time! 😉
I have two sets of brushes that I really love.
Adi’s Art Set– You get high-quality set of brushes at a low price! This gives you a great variety of sizes and types to start with!
My next favorite set of brushes is this Detail Brush Set! I can’t stress enough how much I would recommend getting a set of these brushes! It is a lifesaver when you are trying to make skinny lines and details in your painting.
After using several over the years, this is my fav!
There are tons of choices when it comes to a brush cleaner and I am sure they are all great in their own way but this is my personal favorite! All you have to do is wet your brushes, swish them around on the hard soap and rinse them. It helps preserve and condition your bristles as well!
Think of this as your sketch book for painting!
This pad is just like a sketchbook! Use it to practice brushstrokes and do a painting before you commit to putting it on canvas or just come up with ideas. The thing I love about the mixed media pad is that it takes the pressure off of you as the artist to try to feel like things need to look perfect. For some reason we have the tendency to feel like that when we paint on canvas. (which is a lie by the way!) This is your own little sketchbook for you to practice in, make mistakes in, and grow in! My favorite size is 11×14 because we do a lot of paintings that size in my membership as well! Your can also frame paintings that you do in your mixed media pad in a simple 11×14 frame with a mat and they look gorgeous!
There are so many options when it comes to what you choose for your paint! Some Artists may disagree with what I’m saying and think you need to only buy studio quality paint but I don’t believe that! Again, I like to keep things simple and affordable for my students! All you need is a simple craft paint. You can always expand your Library of paints later on but you do not need to invest a lot of money in paint to get started! It also allows you a lot more freedom when you are painting because you’re not worried about how expensive it was. Simple craft paints start at $.50 a piece at Walmart!
My three favorite brands of paint are Deco Art-Americana, Michaels’s brand CraftSmart, and Apple Barrel! Im including a few links with some great starter sets!
One of my new favorite things to use when painting!
Over the past year I have really started exploring and playing around with palette knives. I love the texture and rustic nature that it leaves to the paintings. You will see a lot of my artwork done with these palette knives! This is a great set to get started with.
The best thing you can use to add texture and thickness to your paints!
You can buy gel medium in several different finishes and that is all up to personal preference. This is the gel medium I like the most. This works great to be added to craft paint which tends to be thinner that art studio paint. This really helps when you’re working with pallet knives!
Kind of important, right?!
Last but not least we have canvases of course! The reason I put it last is because any canvas will do! There is no reason to spend a lot of money on expensive gallery wrapped canvases unless you just prefer the depth of those. You can start with great value packs from Amazon, Hobby Lobby, or Michael’s and I only spent a few dollars each!
