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Art Materials Are Expensive Aren't They?

© Jo Murphy

Is that the title of an article or a question? It is a question I intend to answer in two ways. Art materials can be very expensive - like the brushes my friend Ken bought me recently for my birthday. Kolinski sable brushes are as about expensive as brushes get. They were bought with a specific purpose in mind. Ken and I are writing a book and it will be illustrated with children's pictures and they need to be professionally painted. And so I will be buying expensive paper too. Materials do bear a direct relationship to the quality of work produced it is true - but - don't let this kind of talk daunt you when you are considering fostering a regular art activity time for your child. Art Materials certainly don't need to be expensive and you can get away with doing the Action Kids Art Activities Course (coming soon) with very small outlay indeed. I designed it that way. Because I want you and your child to be able to enjoy all of the courses coming to the SuiteU in the near future and I want the kids to do all the activities that are published monthly as an accompaniment to the course. Subscribe.

So here is a list of the materials that I think are essential for you to get started.

1. Paper. Now if you are really broke any old paper will do. You can even use the wrapping off the fish and chips so long as it isn't greasy. Even toilet paper can work if you are doing something blotty. However a ream of photocopy paper is adequate and exactly the right size for most scanners. Acid Free Drawing paper is best. And if you can possibly afford it a visual journal is ideal because of the storage solutions it represents. BUT any paper will do if cost is prohibitive.
2. Pencils. Good quality pencils are a bonus. I recommend B2, B4, B6 - HB will do if that is all you have. If I get stuck without my materials I even use biro!

   Big

   You won't be able to tell I used biro for this simple pic until you click on Big and then it becomes quite clear that it was drawn with a biro on a scrap of photocopy paper. (Colour converted in Photoshop)

Now quite frankly that is all you need. You can get away with this - but clearly as you develop in taste, sensitivity and skill you and your children will want to experiment with a more diverse and exciting array of materials.

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