Willowing Arts
Join Us Now! Login
0
Willowing Arts logo
Menu
  • New here?
    • Back
    • Where to start
    • Apply to teach
    • You Matter
    • FAQ
    • Hearing Impaired Support
    • Free Resources
    • Philanthropy
  • Tam
    • Back
    • About
    • Contact
    • Tam’s Books
    • Tam’s Team
    • Meet in person
    • Tam’s Art Gallery
  • A Year of Magic ⭐️
    • Back
    • Join A Year of Magic
    • Join A Year of Magic – Taster Event
  • Creating Cuties
  • Art Classes
    • Back
    • Buy Art Classes
    • Access Your Classes (Member Area)
    • Suggested Art Supplies
    • Free Classes
    • Testimonials
  • Shop
    • Back
    • Everything
    • Calendars
    • Original Art
    • Giclee Prints
    • Tam’s Books
    • gift cards
    • Notebooks
    • Pocket Mirrors
    • Post Cards
    • Stencils
    • Partner Products
  • Blog
  • New here?
    • Where to start
    • Apply to teach
    • You Matter
    • FAQ
    • Hearing Impaired Support
    • Free Resources
    • Philanthropy
  • Tam
    • About
    • Contact
    • Tam’s Books
    • Tam’s Team
    • Meet in person
    • Tam’s Art Gallery
  • A Year of Magic ⭐️
    • Join A Year of Magic
    • Join A Year of Magic – Taster Event
  • Creating Cuties
  • Art Classes
    • Buy Art Classes
    • Access Your Classes (Member Area)
    • Suggested Art Supplies
    • Free Classes
    • Testimonials
  • Shop
    • Everything
    • Calendars
    • Original Art
    • Giclee Prints
    • Tam’s Books
    • gift cards
    • Notebooks
    • Pocket Mirrors
    • Post Cards
    • Stencils
    • Partner Products
  • Blog
November 28, 2019

My Fav Art Supplies – Updated! :)

By Tamara Laporte  |   in art tips  | Tags: art journalling , art supplies , favorite art supplies , favourites , mixed media art , tamara laporte , willowing  

Hey there fabulous friends! :) Time for a more up to date blog post on my favourite art supplies! I’ve been pretty consistent over the years with which supplies I’ve favoured, but it has changed quite a bit in the last couple of years, so I thought I’d do a new bloggie on this for you! Yay! :) Here we go! 

1. My favourite paper used to be (and I still like it a lot now!) = Daler Rowney – The Langton – Hot-pressed Watercolour Paper – 140lb. 1-hotpressed

But is now: Saunders Waterford Paper Block – 12x16in (31x41cm) HP

I prefer hot-pressed over cold pressed, the difference is that hot-pressed is much smoother than cold pressed. There is more of a grain in cold pressed which I don’t really like. I found a little image on google showing the difference:

2-paper

Also, if you do heavy mixed media layering with wet work, paints and collage you want to go for a minimum weight of 14olb (300gsm2). Thinner paper will not be able to withstand heavy mixed media work unless you gesso it thoroughly. :) Other good brands I use for paper too: Saunders & Waterford/ Fabriano (again I like: hot-pressed).

2. My favourite journal to work in. First up: I still haven’t found *the perfect* journal yet. It’s all about the paper for me, but one is coming very close to being perfect and it’s the Watercolour Sketchbook (HP) by Roberson (with Saunders & Waterford paper). Sadly, they’ve discontinued it! :(.  A second fav is the Saunders Waterford (HP) journals, they’re a little easier to find online, just google! :)

roberson

3. My favourite pencil is the Graphgear 1000 by Pentel. This is quite a pricey mechanical pencil but it’s worth it. What I like about this pencil is that it’s weighted, so it feels heavier in your hand than some of the cheaper ones (though they are cool too). I like my leads in the ‘b’ range and the size: 0.9. The size refers to how thin or thick the lead is. The smaller you go, the thinner your lead, the more detailed/ finer work you can do. 4-crayons

Regarding the weight of the lead: ‘b’s’ are softer and smudgier, ‘h’s’ are ‘harder’ and less smudgy, here is a swatch of lead scribbles (found through google image search) that shows you the difference:

6-swatches

Btw: totally didn’t know there was an ‘F’ option!

5-leads4. Though graphite is still my favourite sketching tool, I’ve started using Charcoal Pencils (Derwent and other brands), Stabilo All pencils (or China markers) a lot more too nowadays. This specifically when I want to achieve a dark shading without the reflection of the graphite. Charcoal is great as it’s pitch black and you can smudge it, the Stabilo All pencil is great because it writes over anything and everything and is watersoluble (but isn’t super great for smudging). I recommend both! :)

derwent-charcoal-pencils2
 

stabiloall

5. I use a variety of paints, from watercolour paints in tubes, gouache, acrylics to watercolor pencils but my go-to and favourite paint supplies are my beloved watersoluble crayons (Caran D’ache Neocolor II). I love them. They are basically really vibrant watercolour paints in a stick. They are really versatile and the colours just pop. You can use them as a crayon (dry) or you can scribble/ add colour to your page and then ‘activate’ the paint with some water and a paintbrush. You can also lift paint straight off the crayon with a wet brush. Super versatile these babies. Regarding brands, I haven’t actually used any other brands than Caran D’ache but from what I hear, other brands’ crayons don’t seem to compare. PS. careful when buying these, the box that holds the non-watersoluble wax crayons looks almost identical to the watersoluble crayons (Neocolor I’s).

3-crayons

I have recently come to love some other watersoluble paints! I absolutely adore Jane Davenport watercolour paints and her mermaid markers too! They are super vibrant (the way I like my paints) and can be written over with posca pens really well!

6. My favourite brushes are by Pro Arte – England. I like the “acrylix brushes“, they have a nice balance between being firm and soft. They are not too coarse, the hairs are fine and hold up quite well for all the mixed media stuff I do. Shape wise I usually choose the square shaped ones, but I have some round tipped and pointy tipped ones too. 12-brushes

And now that I’m working with more watercolours, I’ve loved working with the Daler Rowney System 3 Watercolour Brushes!

7. White Gesso. So, I’ll admit, for a long time I didn’t really get gesso. I was all like: why would I need to prime any of my surfaces, they’re already prepared so I can paint on them, sooooo? Now, I love love love my white gesso. I use it for a variety of things: sometimes when a painting is just going nowhere and I feel like I need to start over, I gesso over a painting and tadaa; I can start again. I also use white gesso as part of my layering process; I love brayering gesso over a mixed media background if I need to ‘mute it down’ a little. I use gesso as a white paint. In the past I would use white acrylics, but I now use white gesso for highlights or anywhere I need to add white colour paint. Lastly, I do sometimes use white gesso as a primer, if I work on a surface that is thin-ish and I need it to be sturdier, I’ll add a layer of gesso (for instance, some of the moleskines have thin pages, gesso helps firming them up). Brand wise, I’ve only ever used winsor & newton galeria and very happy with that one. There are a lot of different gessos out there though, some are coarser, some less coarse, gesso also comes in black and transparent too. 8-whitegesso

8. Speaking of gesso, another one of my favs is clear/ transparent gesso. Clear gesso is brilliant if you do a lot of collage with different types of paper and you want to work on top of your layer but you’re worried about how your former layer will react to all your different mediums. Apply one layer of clear gesso over your entire painting and you’ve basically created a new unified surface that is transparent with a nice tooth and new possibilities. You can also apply a layer of clear gesso over a graphite sketch if you are worried about it smudging when adding paints. :) Brand wise I’ve only ever used the Liquitex one which I love. (Cheaper than Golden).

13-cleargesso

9. Some of you who know me and if you’ve been on my courses you will know that I WORSHIP brayers. I know, strange tool to worship, but truly: they can create super yummy and stunning texture. They create a beautiful grungy pull-me – push-me effect. It’s awesome. I love it. Buy a brayer, you won’t regret it. ;) Brand wise I use speedball, I like the rubber ones, not the soft spongey ones.

9-brayers


10.
Golden Fluid Acrylics. Ok look, the Golden brand is stupid, stupid expensive. Silly, stupid expensive. Truly. But. But. But. They DO create the most amazingly beautiful paints. They are beautifully vibrant, the pigments are stunning and so, if once in a while you find yourself with some spare moneys, invest in a pot or two of colours that you love the look of. That said, other acrylics brands work beautifully too. It’s not necessary to use Golden brands to make wonderful art. The Golden products are a luxury kind of option in my humble opinion, but I do love them and use them a lot. (FYI: apparently Cobalt Teal is out of production, if you find one, scoop it up and SELL IT TO ME ;), it’s gorgeous). 10-goldenpaints

I have also recently been playing with Arteza’s acrylics paints and really love their colour range!

11. A favourite adhesive I use is Liquitex Matte Medium. I use different gel mediums for different things and some are more expensive than others. I have soft gel medium and heavy gel medium by Golden which are much ‘stickier’ than the Liquitex Matte Medium, but they are not necessary to simply glue down collage papers. Additionally Matte Medium can also be used to ‘thin down’ some of your acrylics paints, it’s like an extender of your paints should you want to do that. For thicker collage papers (like some of the scrapbooking papers) I do like using a heavier gel at times as it tends to ‘grab hold’ of it more strongly.

7-mattmedium


12. Impasto Gel Daler-Rowney –
This is also an extender for your paints. The word ‘impasto’ is referring to a paint style. The impasto style is when a painter lays their paint down really thickly in certain areas of a canvas, this medium can extend your paint for this kind of work. However, I use it also mostly for gluing down my collage papers.

impastogel
13. Aquamarkersby Letraset are another fav of mine, though the first batch (lighter pastelly colours) I bought were initially disappointing because I expected them to be more ‘flowy’ for lack of better word. The brighter colours tend to be more potent. So these are markers with water-colour paint inside of them which, much like the crayons, you can ‘activate’ when adding water with a brush. I particularly love the brighter colours and how they react when water is added. :) I use them quite a bit in my paintings.

11-aquamarkers


14. Tombow Markers – similar to Aquamarkers, but these have a great brush like tip that I love and the inks are vibrant and juicy. They are pretty pricey though!

tombowm
And another marker type I’ve recently discovered and love are the ecoline brush pens! Boy these guys are JUICY. :) Full of bright juicy colours!

15. Dylusions Spray Inks – I so very much love these inks! The colours are super vibrant and the inks can be used in a variety of ways: spray through stencils, use directly to paint with on a brush, use to splatter & drip! :) All awesome. Remember that these are highly potent inks: they do not dry waterproof and get ‘activated’ pretty much all the time if you work on top of them, so they’re not that good for layering, but if you learn to work with them the ‘right’ way, they can add such beauty to a page! :)

 

dylusion_ink_sprays3

16. Daler-Rowney Acrylics Artists Inks – These inks are not for spraying (though you could transfer them into a spray bottle if you want), they come in a bottle with an ink dropper. The colours too are vibrant and juicy (I’m sensing a theme here, ha!) and these do dry waterproof as they are made of acrylics. I love using them because you can create interesting layers with them, partially they remind me of the high flow fluid acrylics, similar sort of consistency, so you can create a lot of transparency.

dr-inks
17. Montana Gold Acrylics Spray Paint – These are a more recent fav of mine. I don’t get to use them that often because you really should use them outside (read the health and safety warning please if you use these!) but using these with stencils adds a great effect to your painting. I was introduced to them by Lynzee Lynx last year while in Bali on Flora’s Bloom True retreat. :)

 

montana
 

 

18. Vintage Book Pages & Music Scores – these collage pages almost always make it into my paintings. I love including old book pages and music scores. They add great texture, symbolism and mystery for me! :)

 

papers
 

19. Washi Tape – I have a million rolls of washi tape and love using these versatile, brightly coloured pieces of tape! They work great as part of a collage and can add pop, texture and interest to a layered background. Though they are sticky themselves, I tend to put a layer of gel medium under them so that they def stick. I love finding new and different patterns, there are so many different ones out there! :)

 

washi
20. In the recent years I’ve started using more (non-watersoluble) colour pencils that deserve a mention! I love using colour pencils for adding detail & nuanced shading. Here are my favourite 3 brands:

Prismacolor: 

Luminance: 

Supracolor: 

So, these are some of my current favs! Hope it was useful! Though these are my favourites not all of these products might be or become your favs! I recommend trying out different materials and get to know which ones really work for you.

Let me know what your favourite supplies are in the comment section, I’d love to know! :)

You may also like:

  • Something to make you smile

  • *NEW* Free Video!

  • Want to win a copy of my 2nd book? :D

Comments:

New Courses!
Sponsors
Blog Categories
  • art workshops
  • online art courses
  • mixed media
  • life book
  • artist interviews
  • free stuff
  • parenting

Join my newsletter to access the

Latest Courses & Discounts

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Your data will be used with unicorn care. It will not be passed on to 3rd parties and will only be used to send you Tam's magical love notes and Willowing Arts products and news. To learn more about how we protect your data check out our 'care and privacy policy' here.

Instagram

Tamara Laporte

willowing

4,882 48,522

Mixed media artist, teacher and author. I don’t see all IG msgs. For enq pls email hello@willowing.org - Join A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales:

This little princess came for a visit this evening. 😊 I love her so much! Spot the tiny kitty cat, too! 😍🥰🤩

Open
This little princess came for a visit this evening. 😊 I love her so much! Spot the tiny kitty cat, too! 😍🥰🤩

Bookworm Girl - In late 2014, I created a painting that became one of my favourites of all time. Not only for its cute quirky bookish girl and delicious textures in the background but because I felt it captured the pure magic of getting utterly lost in a good book really well.

As a kid, I was a ‘bookworm girl’, I read and read and read to the point my parents felt I was ‘too secluded’ and ‘should go out more’! But! I had books and friends in books and stories and excitement and adventures and wisdom and joy and humour and laughter and intrigue and mystery. Books provided so much solace for me, especially as someone who felt like an outsider who didn’t belong anywhere.

I belonged in the books with the weirdos, the heroes, the vampires & witches (hello Anne Rice!), the artists, the outcasts, the lonely ones hiding in secret gardens, the wise and wild old crones that lived in the forests with deer and cats, the seekers, the fighters, and the fierce souls who wore their hearts on their sleeves and never gave up.

I continued reading pretty much throughout my life though when smartphones entered the scene; I too became entranced by apps, games and social media and reading books got interrupted by the wave of technology. Until about 2 years ago I decided that I was no longer allowed my phone in my bedroom at night (my god the endless doom scrolling on TikTok did me no good) and so I ended up back on kindle and now I read again and I’m so so happy about it. I love disappearing into fantasy and letting the stories carry me away from the stresses of every day life for a while!

If you’re also a book lover (or recovering bookworm -haha), what stories swept you away? Which books still live inside you? Tell me your favourites, I’m always hunting for the next world to disappear into. 💫

This is day 19 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

PS: I painted this before certain things came to light about J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman, which is why their books feature here.

Open
Bookworm Girl - In late 2014, I created a painting that became one of my favourites of all time. Not only for its cute quirky bookish girl and delicious textures in the background but because I felt it captured the pure magic of getting utterly lost in a good book really well. 

As a kid, I was a ‘bookworm girl’, I read and read and read to the point my parents felt I was ‘too secluded’ and ‘should go out more’! But! I had books and friends in books and stories and excitement and adventures and wisdom and joy and humour and laughter and intrigue and mystery. Books provided so much solace for me, especially as someone who felt like an outsider who didn’t belong anywhere. 

I belonged in the books with the weirdos, the heroes, the vampires & witches (hello Anne Rice!), the artists, the outcasts, the lonely ones hiding in secret gardens, the wise and wild old crones that lived in the forests with deer and cats, the seekers, the fighters, and the fierce souls who wore their hearts on their sleeves and never gave up.

I continued reading pretty much throughout my life though when smartphones entered the scene; I too became entranced by apps, games and social media and reading books got interrupted by the wave of technology. Until about 2 years ago I decided that I was no longer allowed my phone in my bedroom at night (my god the endless doom scrolling on TikTok did me no good) and so I ended up back on kindle and now I read again and I’m so so happy about it. I love disappearing into fantasy and letting the stories carry me away from the stresses of every day life for a while! 

If you’re also a book lover (or recovering bookworm -haha), what stories swept you away? Which books still live inside you? Tell me your favourites, I’m always hunting for the next world to disappear into. 💫

This is day 19 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

PS: I painted this before certain things came to light about J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman, which is why their books feature here.

I sold the previous version of this painting already but filmed a lesson for creating cuties for it so I have another version of this cute doggo visited by a butterfly. It’s for sale too. Original painting by me! 😊 Email me on hello@willowing.org if interested xxx ♥️♥️♥️ 🐶

Open
I sold the previous version of this painting already but filmed a lesson for creating cuties for it so I have another version of this cute doggo visited by a butterfly. It’s for sale too. Original painting by me! 😊 Email me on hello@willowing.org if interested xxx ♥️♥️♥️ 🐶

Great glittering goblins! The first 1000 places have already sold out! Thank you for all your love, enthusiasm and excitement in response to this magical new course!! I’m befuddled with joy and thrilled to have such an amazing response!
Now, if you had hoped to join for the lowest price ever, then don’t worry; we have opened up another 500 spaces at the super low price of £109 GBP. So please get in there quickly if you want to grab A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales at this hugely discounted price, as spaces are selling fast!

Do not dilly dally, my dear, adventure favours the nimble-footed!
A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales
is waiting for you!
🧚✨🦄
JOIN ‘A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales ’ NOW!:
https://bit.ly/AYOM-Tam

Open
Great glittering goblins! The first 1000 places have already sold out!  Thank you for all your love, enthusiasm and excitement in response to this magical new course!! I’m befuddled with joy and thrilled to have such an amazing response! 
Now, if you had hoped to join for the lowest price ever, then don’t worry; we have opened up another 500 spaces at the super low price of £109 GBP. So please get in there quickly if you want to grab A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales at this hugely discounted price, as spaces are selling fast!

Do not dilly dally, my dear, adventure favours the nimble-footed!
A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales
is waiting for you!
🧚✨🦄 
JOIN ‘A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales ’ NOW!: 
https://bit.ly/AYOM-Tam

✨ The Magic Begins! ✨

Friends, I am SO THRILLED! We’re finally opening the enchanted gates to a new amazing creative experience! ✨🙌✨

A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales is here! For a limited time, the first 1000 magical souls can join for just £109 (normally £179). Crazy good deal!! ♥️♥️♥️ Hurry though, these spaces usually go fast!!

Explore over 65+ mixed media art lessons, dive into fairy tales, myth, folklore and every day magic! Paint dragons, castles, and everyday enchantment; all with the support of 30+ beloved artists and a kind-hearted community.

Secure your spot and let’s create a year of magic & wonder together!

See you there!!

(Link in comments)

#AYearOfMagic #MixedMediaArt #ArtClass #EarlyBird

Open
✨ The Magic Begins! ✨ 

Friends, I am SO THRILLED! We’re finally opening the enchanted gates to a new amazing creative experience! ✨🙌✨ 

A Year of Magic & Fairy Tales is here! For a limited time, the first 1000 magical souls can join for just £109 (normally £179). Crazy good deal!! ♥️♥️♥️ Hurry though, these spaces usually go fast!! 

Explore over 65+ mixed media art lessons, dive into fairy tales, myth, folklore and every day magic! Paint dragons, castles, and everyday enchantment; all with the support of 30+ beloved artists and a kind-hearted community.

Secure your spot and let’s create a year of magic & wonder together!

See you there!! 

(Link in comments) 

#AYearOfMagic #MixedMediaArt #ArtClass #EarlyBird
Load More… Follow on Instagram
©WILLOWING ARTS   |  Terms & Conditions   |   PRIVACY POLICY
DESIGN COLLABORATION BY WILLOWING ARTS & IRENE SOLER   |