The best art supplies in 2022, from sketchbooks to pastels

Hand dipping paintbrush into a watercolor palette

These are the best sketchbooks, pencils, erasers, pastels, watercolors, acrylics, oils, brushes, and canvas to buy in 2022.
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  • The best art supplies can exist expensive, but you lot don't have to spend a lot to become great materials.
  • We've rounded up the best essential and beginner art supplies you can buy online.
  • Our list includes pencils, pastels, watercolors, paint sets, sketchbooks, canvases, and more.

As someone who'south been drawing since I could hold a crayon, I've been through my fair share of graphite pencils, sketchbooks, and paint sets. I've tried dozens of different brands over the years, and some are still my favorites.

Whether y'all've been painting for years, are going off to fine art school soon, or just desire to get into drawing for the first time, you need quality art supplies. And while professional artists may employ pricey supplies to create their masterpieces, you don't necessarily have to vanquish out on the fanciest pastels or canvas.

In fact, there are plenty of. more affordable options that can serve y'all only besides, if you know how to use them to your reward. To help, we rounded up many of the basic art supplies you need in your studio in one handy guide.

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Here are the best art supplies y'all tin buy:

The all-time sketchbook:Strathmore Sketchbooks, $12.76 from Amazon
Strathmore makes first-class sketchbooks with all kinds of paper, including cartoon, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and more.

Best graphite pencils: Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Piece Gear up, $12.82 from Amazon
Staedtler comes with all the graphite pencils yous demand to depict like a pro.

All-time charcoal: Cretacolor Charcoal Drawing Set, $29.41 from Blick
The Cretacolor Charcoal Drawing Set has every kind of charcoal y'all need to create beautiful work.

All-time colored pencils: Prismacolor Quality Fine art Fix, $46.99 from Amazon
Prismacolor Quality Art Set up includes 48 colored pencils that are rich in color.

Best erasers:Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers, $2.48 from Blick
Premier will erase any fault you make.

All-time pastels: Sennelier, $45.17 from Amazon
Sennelier makes the absolute best oil and soft pastels, but Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor are fine alternatives.

Best watercolors:Winsor & Newton, $36.88 from Amazon
Winsor & Newton makes wonderful watercolor paints and sets, while Derwent makes fantabulous watercolor pencils.

Best acrylic paints:Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Pigment Tube 12-Piece Ready, $23.79 from Amazon
The Winsor & Newton 2190517 Galeria Acrylic Paint x Tube Set are nifty starter kits for painting.

Best oil paints:Winsor & Newton, $19.99 from Blick, Gamblin, $88.50 from Blick, and Williamsburg Handmade, $10.28 from Blick
Oil paints represent very different price points to satisfy whatsoever upkeep.

Best paintbrushes:Da Vinci, $12.95 from Blick
Da Vinci makes great brushes for watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.

Best canvas:Fredrix, $120.57 from Blick
Fredrix makes proficient sail, and it'southward almost ever cheaper to stretch your own canvas than to buy pre-made ones.

All-time sketchbook

Amazon

Strathmore makes excellent sketchbooks with all kinds of paper, including cartoon, watercolor, pastel, charcoal, and more.

Pros: Sturdy sketchbooks, great newspaper quality, paper types for different media, affordable

Cons: Larger sizes toll more, specialty papers accept fewer pages

I've used Strathmore sketchbooks for years. I typically purchase the ones with recycled newspaper, simply I've likewise used the pastel, charcoal, and watercolor pads for when I need a different texture. No affair which media you lot choose, these sketchbooks tin handle information technology.

The standard paper will warp if you lot utilize watercolors on information technology, but for any kind of pen, pencil, marking, or some other cartoon implement, it will do the job — it's a skillful thickness and weight.

When information technology comes to Strathmore's watercolor paper, it'south sturdy and strong enough to stand up to lots of h2o. The charcoal and pastel paper notebooks both have a wonderful texture to them that really works for the softer media and good blending. Strathmore'south prices are fairly reasonable, besides, so yous can sketch away.

Here are other Strathmore products we recommend:

This versatile felt-finished newspaper is ideal for mastering watercolor techniques or finished pieces.

The Strathmore charcoal pad is the ideal foundation for charcoal and pastel, and it's free of acid.

For graphite pencil, colored pencil, charcoal, sketching stick, marker, soft pastel, mixed media, oil pastel.

Best graphite pencils

Amazon

The Staedtler Pencil Mars Lumograph 12-Piece Prepare comes with all the graphite pencils you demand to draw like a pro.

Pros: Bold graphite pencils, 8B to 6H range, affordable, long-lasting

Cons: None

If you draw with graphite pencils, you know that not all graphite is the same. This Staedtler fix comes with 12 pencils in dissimilar hardnesses from 8B to 6H. For the uninitiated, the higher the number in front of the B, the softer the lead. Conversely, the higher the number in front end of the H, the harder the atomic number 82.

Nigh people will use 2B, HB, and B the nearly, but if y'all demand deep dark blacks that blend well, you'll need 4B and up. For hard, low-cal lines, H pencils are perfect.

The pencils come up in a tin for safekeeping, and they're easy to sharpen and comfortable to hold — even when you describe for hours on end. I've used dozens of graphite pencils, but Staedtler's are the best for the cost.

Best charcoal drawing prepare

Amazon

The Cretacolor Charcoal Drawing Prepare has every kind of charcoal you need to create beautiful piece of work.

Pros: Big set with many pieces, includes charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal; comes with an eraser, charcoal sticks, and a charcoal cake; affordable

Cons: None

If you lot're just getting started with charcoal or you want to endeavor a new medium, this charcoal ready has everything you need, including pencils and compressed charcoal.

Each pencil is labeled with its hardness level, and the kneaded eraser is a great blending tool, just it tin can besides erase any mistakes fairly well.

All-time colored pencils

Amazon

The Prismacolor Quality Art Ready includes 48 colored pencils that are rich in color.

Pros: Bold colors, lots of diverseness, long-lasting, eraser and sharpener included, affordable

Cons: None

The Prismacolor Quality Art Gear up comes with 48 colored pencils in beautiful, bright shades. You'll also get a sharpener and a Latex-Free Scholar Eraser in the set.

These colored pencils aren't similar the basic Crayola ones yous used in elementary school. — they're high-quality, soft lead pencils with rich colors. You tin create extraordinary drawings with these Prismacolor pencils or color in an adult coloring book to brand a black and white design come to life.

Best erasers

Amazon

The Prismacolor Premier Kneaded, ArtGum, and Plastic Erasers will erase any error you make.

Pros: Iii types of erasers, affordable

Cons: None

To err is human, and here to fix your mistakes are Prismacolor'south erasers. This three-pack gives you a kneaded safety eraser, an artist mucilage eraser, and a latex-gratis plastic eraser.

I personally merely use kneaded erasers, because they work with all media and don't shed eraser bits everywhere, but the ArtGum eraser is slap-up for stubborn graphite and the plastic eraser doesn't shed, either.

Since this gear up gives you all 3, you lot can pick and cull which one you lot need based on the medium you lot're working with.

All-time pastels

Amazon

Sennelier makes the accented best oil and soft pastels, but Van Gogh, Koh-i-noor, and Prismacolor are fine alternatives.

Pros: Beautiful oil and soft pastels, practiced variety of colors, strong pigments

Cons: Sennelier's pastels are expensive

1 of my favorite mediums is pastel. The rich, assuming colors and easy blending make for the perfect drawing experience. Of all the pastels I've used, Sennelier's are the best. Its oil pastels, in particular, are stunning. The richness of the colors is unparalleled and y'all tin can feel the oiliness of the pastel. I lust over them every time I got to the art shop.

However, Sennelier pastels are very expensive, considering they are among the highest quality ones y'all can purchase. Since not anybody can spend hundreds on them — myself included, alas — Van Gogh makes great oil pastels for much less, Koh-i-noor sells wonderful soft pastel pencils, and Prismacolor makes not bad soft pastels for an affordable cost.

I generally use soft pastel pencils, considering the fine tip gives you more control over your cartoon and fine detail. However, when you lot're working big and y'all need to blend, Prismacolor's pastels are perfect. Van Gogh'due south oil pastels are nearly as pigmented and rich every bit Sennelier's and they alloy very well. Y'all tin can even thin them with linseed oil, just similar yous would for oil paint if yous desire a painterly look.

Here are the best pastels we recommend:

Use on a variety of surfaces including sail, paper, metallic, woods, stone, even drinking glass.

Sennelier Soft Pastels are extra soft pastels made with pigments chosen for colorfastness and luminescence mixed but with natural binders.

Made with pure pigments, mineral oils, and wax binders for a remarkably soft and smooth laydown with no dust.

Made from high-quality, pure, micro-pulverized pastel pigments, encased in California cedar, thus creating less mess and dust particles than traditional soft pastels.

Composed of rich, creamy pigment that'due south the creative person'southward pick for blending and shading.

Best watercolors

Amazon

Winsor & Newton makes wonderful watercolor paints and sets, while Derwent makes fantabulous watercolor pencils.

Pros: Brilliant colors, good variety in the sets, sturdy pencils

Cons: High-end tubes are pricey

While you may think near those plastic sets from elementary school, the best watercolors come in tubes similar acrylic and oil paint. You tin become good sets in plastic, of course, and there are wonderful watercolor pencils, too. Nosotros've got picks for all 3.

The Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Color 12-Tube Set is best for the serious watercolor artist who wants a nice set of colors, while the Sketcher's Pocket Box is great for anyone on the get who want a travel-friendly plastic ready. Both provide rich, lovely color.

My favorite watercolor pencils are Derwent'due south considering you tin get a dainty multifariousness of colors without paying too much. The watercolor pencils requite you more command over fine details in your paintings, so they may be a fun addition to your supplies.

Here are the all-time watercolor art supplies we recommend:

Winsor & Newton Cotman H2o Colours are a range of water colours that are made to our loftier quality standards but costs are kept to an economic level past replacing some of the more costly pigments with less expensive alternatives.

Cotman Water Colours possess practiced transparency, excellent tinting forcefulness, and good working backdrop.

Derwent Watercolour Pencils can exist mixed with water to create unique colour flows and stunning watercolour furnishings.

All-time acrylic paints

Amazon

Liquitex Nuts Acrylic Pigment Tube 12-Piece Prepare and the Winsor & Newton 2190517 Galeria Acrylic Paint ten Tube Gear up are not bad starter kits for painting.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, high-quality options, sets offering skilful value

Cons: Minor tubes, can get expensive

My first set of acrylic paints was the BASICS set by Liquitex. The set comes with 12 colors that you tin mix to your heart's content to create more shades. You really only need these bones colors to create every shade of the rainbow.

Of form, this upkeep set up isn't that high-end, so if y'all're looking for something a bit better, the Winsor & Newton 10-tube fix is a great option. Yous'll pay more for higher-quality paint and strong pigments. You lot can't become wrong with either one, really.

Here are the best acrylic paint sets we recommend:

Each color is uniquely formulated to bring out the maximum brilliance and clarity of the individual paint.

Galleria acrylic colour is a loftier quality acrylic which delivers professional results and is platonic for artists who want good quality color at an affordable price.

Best oil paints

Amazon

Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, and Williamsburg Handmade oil paints represent very unlike toll points to satisfy any budget.

Pros: Strong colors, affordable options, high-quality options, sets offering practiced value

Cons: Small-scale tubes, can get expensive if y'all become with the high-terminate paint

The most expensive art form you can become into is oil painting, but it's also ane of the most flexible. Oil paint is richer than acrylic and information technology stays wet longer for ameliorate mixing, blending, and use over the course of long-term projects.

Winsor & Newton make a skilful oil paint that's suitable for beginners or artists on a budget. Gamblin falls in the middle, while Williamsburg'due south handmade oils are considered amongst the all-time. They're sold by tubes and not by sets, so you lot tin pick the colors you demand.

The differences are in the richness of the pigments, the oils used to brand the paints, and the procedure past which the paint is made. Y'all can spend hundreds on small tubes of the best oils, but these three options will serve yous well until you lot become as famous as Picasso.

Here are the best oil paints we recommend:

The Winton range has a uniform consistency offer excellent retention of brush and palette knife strokes.

The Gamblin oil color set creates colors that are luscious, intense, and pigment-rich.

These concentrated oils are handmade in small batches with each color treated differently to bring out its unique property.

Best brushes

Amazon

Da Vinci makes not bad brushes for watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting.

Pros: Brushes for all media, relatively affordable, no shedding, sets offer skilful value

Cons: Real hair and bristle toll more than

The principal communication we take on brushes is don't go cheap terrible ones that shed all over your canvass.

No affair what medium y'all pigment in, da Vinci Brushes has the brush you demand. There are more brushes out there than can exist put in a simple guide like this, but da Vinci's wares are relatively affordable and long-lasting, and so we've included them here.

Some of the brushes are synthetic, only others are made from existent animal hair and bristle. There's a lot of statement over what materials are all-time, simply we've included a mix at different toll points.

Here are the best da Vinci brushes we recommend:

Universal brushes are a great starter set for beginners, young artists or teachers.

First-class for watercolor, gouache, illustration, animation, restoration and rendering.

Maestro ii interlocked hog bristle shapes are deeply set in their ferrules and hold their shape after vigorous use.

Best canvas

Blick

Fredrix makes good canvas, and information technology's nearly ever cheaper to stretch your own canvas than to purchase pre-made ones.

Pros: Sheet is cheaper when yous brand your own; good quality canvas material, available in primed or unprimed

Cons: Canvas is expensive and time-consuming to make

If you're working in oil or acrylic, it's tempting to purchase pre-stretched canvases and accept it done. However, yous can save loads of money — especially if you paint on huge canvases — if yous make your own canvases.

To do it yourself, you'll need wood for the frame, canvas, a staple gun, and canvas pliers to stretch information technology properly. I've made canvases before, and information technology may be hard work, but it'southward worth information technology.

Fredrix sells sheet in many forms and sizes. You lot can get it primed or unprimed if you prefer to exercise information technology yourself with a behemothic bucket of gesso or if y'all just want a raw canvas.

Here are the canvases and accessories we recommend:

A medium weight all Polyflax with substantially greater forcefulness than cotton fibers. Medium texture with virtually perfect uniformity.

Unprimed cotton fiber canvass great for all artists. Includes 6-yards unprimed cotton canvass.

The Fredrix Canvas Pliers fabricated from heavy-duty chromium plated metal with a spring return handle.

This framing kit allows yous to create your ain solid forest frame for your canvas from scratch, even if you take zero experience!

Art supplies FAQ:

What are the near essential art supplies?

While our list covers a range of art supplies, one of the virtually versatile is the Strathmore sketchbook, which works with a broad range of mediums — from pencils to pastels.

Equally for what you actually draw with, pencils are not bad considering you can apply them to create stand-lone art or outline a piece before you lot employ paint or pastels.

What art supplies should I get as a beginner?

According to our guide on cartoon for beginners, all yous need to really get started is a sketchbook, eraser, and some pencils — you lot don't even necessarily need a whole set up or even colored pencils.