Paper stumps
Paper stumps, also called torchons, are used for blending or shading charcoal, pastel or soft-graphite drawings. They are made of tightly rolled paper, with tapered ends for working on large areas, or a sharp point for small details.
Knives and sharpeners
You will need a sharp craft knife or penknife for sharpening pencils and cutting paper. Knives or other blades are also very useful for sgraffito work – scratching lines into an oil pastel drawing, for example, to create interesting textures.
Drawing board
You will need a firm support for drawing on sheets of loose paper. Drawing boards are available from art shops, but it is far less costly to get a good piece of smooth board, such as MDF, from a timber yard. If the board feels too hard, place a few extra sheets of paper under the top one to create a more yielding surface.
Fixative
Blowing fixative through an atomizer
The best way to preserve drawings is to spray them with fixative, which binds the particles of pigment to the surface of the paper. Fixative is available in aerosol-spray form or mouth-type atomizers. Aerosol sprays give an even coat, and are the most convenient to use when covering a large area. An atomizer is a metal diffuser with a plastic mouthpiece, which is stood in a bottle of fixative. Blowing through the atomizer will distribute a fine spray of fixative onto the drawing. Atomizers are ideal for spraying small areas, but it takes practice to get accustomed to using them, and they also need regular cleaning to prevent clogging.
Sharpening pencils
Pencil sharpeners are very convenient, but using a craft knife or scalpel will produce a longer, tapering cone that exposes enough lead for drawing broadly with the side.
Sharpening with sandpaper
Sandpaper blocks, which consist of small, tear-off sheets of sandpaper stapled together, are very handy for putting fine points on graphite sticks, pastels, crayons and lengths of charcoal.
SEE ALSO
Painting is a tactile and visual experience; in all good pictures there is a fascinating dialogue between the subject and the way the paint itself is applied and manipulated to express that subject. Whether you prefer the delicacy of watercolours, the richness of oils, the versatility of acrylics, the intricacy of tempera or the immediacy of gouache, the experience of working with a range of painting media will widen the scope of your artistic expression. Visit art-supply shops to stay in touch with what is new on the market, and don’t be afraid to experiment with unfamiliar materials and techniques.
| OIL PAINTS | Art shops stock an overwhelming range of paints, brushes, mediums, varnishes and assorted oil-painting paraphernalia. The equipment for painting in oils can be costly but, if you choose wisely and according to your own requirements, it need not be so. The basic essentials are about 10 or 12 tubes of paint, a few bristle brushes, a bottle of thinners or a prepared painting medium, a palette and a surface on which to paint. The painting surface, or support, can range from a sheet of top-quality linen canvas to a piece of hardboard. |
Oil paint constituents
Oil paint consists of dry pigments ground in a natural drying oil such as linseed, or a semi-drying oil such as safflower or poppy. Some brands of oil paint are matured and then remade with more pigment in order to achieve the right consistency, but most are given additives, such as plasticizers, driers and wax, to improve their flexibility and make them consistent in texture and drying speed. Stabilizers may also be added to prevent the oil and pigment separating in the tubes during storage. Most manufacturers offer at least two grades of paint: artists’, or first quality, and students’, or sketching quality.
Artists’ colours
A selection of artists’ oil paints
Artist-quality oil paints offer the widest range of colours and the greatest colour strength. They contain a high concentration of pigment, which is very finely ground with the finest-quality oils.
Students’ colours
A selection of students’ oil paints
Students’ colours are cheaper than artists’ colours, because they are made in larger quantities and the colour range is more limited. The more expensive pigments, such as cadmiums and cobalts, are replaced with some cheaper, but equally permanent, alternatives, and these colour names are suffixed with the word ‘hue’. Students’ colours may have lower pigment levels and contain small amounts of fillers, such as chalk, which will slightly weaken the colour strength of the paint.
Combining paints
Students’ colours are perfectly adequate for the beginner to practise with, and it is even possible to cut costs by combining the two types: for example, using artists’ paints for the pure, intense colours and students’ paints for the earth colours, which are often just as good as in the artists’ range. Some artists use students’ colours for underpainting, before adding artists’ paints for the final layers.
Size and price
Oil paint tubes range from 5ml (0.17 US fl oz) to a generous 200ml (6.66 US fl oz). The most useful size of all is probably 37ml (1.25 US fl oz), and a larger tube of white – say 56ml (1.86 US fl oz) – works out more economical, since white is used more than most other colours.
Artist-quality paints vary in price according to the initial cost of the pigment. In some brands, they are classified according to ‘series’, typically from 1 (the cheapest) to 7 (the most costly). The earth colours are the least expensive, while the cadmium colours will cost four times more. Some pigments, such as vermilion, are prohibitively expensive, and most manufacturers now replace them with modern synthetic pigments. Student-quality colours are sold at a uniform price.
Drying times
Fast-drying
(approximately two days)
Medium-drying