Drawing & Pastel: Sets

We have a nice selection of pre-packaged drawing kits. They are good quality while still remaining affordable. We can also customize more comprehensive kits of quality materials. Tell us about yourself or the artist you are buying for and we can tailor a gift to suit. We have inexpensive to high quality sets of pastels, soft and oil. Sennelier, Schmincke, and Holbein pastels are all available in sets as well as singly.

Charcoal

Basic black charcoal is available in pencils, vine or compressed stick, and powdered. Choose a "toothy" paper surface to hold the charcoal. Use stomps, tortillions and chamois for blending and use a fixative for further protection against smudging.

Conte

Conté is the name of a French firm that has been producing sketching sticks, pastels and pencils for many years, but when one says "Conté", they are usually referring to the square-ended sketching sticks produced in the 10 traditional shades of 5 browns, grey, and 3 grades of black or white. These sticks are available as singles or in sets . Coloured Conte is also available (in sets), for a fuller palette of colour in this medium.

Graphite

Graphite comes in many forms (pencil, stick, bar, chunk, and powder) and many hardnesses (9B, 8B, 7B, 6B, 5B, 4B, 3B, 2B, B, HB, F, H, 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H). "H" means hard. Choose hard graphite when you desire fine light lines: the higher the number 'H' the harder and lighter the graphite. "B" means black; the higher the number the darker the tone. The hardness of a graphite also effects its smudging properies. H's smudge lighter and less than B's, which are softer and darker. H pencils are hard enough to indent the paper surface and leave little white impressions after erasing. To avoid this, use a lighter touch or switch to softer pencils.

Pan Pastel

For pastel painting and mixed media work use PanPastel Colors to: • Quickly block in large areas of color in seconds, e.g. for backgrounds and underpainting • Achieve a more painterly effect in pastels • Apply controlled marks – from intense strokes to delicate marks • Build up multiple layers while controlling the surface “tooth” fill • Apply ultra thin “glazing” layers & veils of color The colors can be mixed and blended together, eliminating the need to invest in hundreds of colors for a complete pastel painting palette.

Silver Point

Silverpoint is a drawing instrument composed of a small, pointed metal tip, usually of silver, encased in a holder. Most commonly practiced during the Renaissance by such artists as Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer and Raphael and is the ancestor of the modern graphite pencil.

Soft Pastel: Schmincke

Schmincke soft pastels are made from pure pigments and a gum arabic binder, and are thought of as the purest form of colour for painting and drawing because, unlike other forms of paint, they contain such a high ratio of pigment to binder. Schmincke pastels are known to be the most consistantly uniform in softness when compared to all other pastel brands on the market. The colour range includes 299 tones - that means 54 full tones,one mixture with black, and three with white respectivley, 11 mixtures with white and neutral grey, gold and silver, as well as 13 extra colour-strength dark tones. Sometimes referred to as 'dry' or 'chalk' pastels, soft pastels depend on the tooth of the paper to help keep colours in place, so the right choice of substrate is important. See our paper section for pastel surfaces available.

Soft Pastel: Holbein

Using a new technology and unique manufacturing process, Holbein offers 144 colours with greater covering and blending ability. The manufacturing process is entirely computerized and mechanized to guarantee even distribution of soft pigment. The square shape similar to Conte sticks, offers more working versatility than a larger round shaped pastel. Sets are available with up to 144 colours, wooden box sets of 72 and 144. Holbein also makes a water-soluble soft pastel line, offering a newdimension to the pastellist. They may be used in the traditional manner as well as blended using water and brush to provide the character of watercolour painting. These sticks are 5/8x3" - 52 quality colours formulated to ensure uniform softness regardless of the conditions, and optimum permanence with the same quality controls used for their watercolours. Two products in one stick.

Soft Pastel: Carbothello Pencils

60 colours available in Carbothello's soft pastel thick core pencils. Easy to sharpen and non-crumbling, they are perfect for adding details and fine lines to a pastel drawing. They can be used with any pastels. Metal box sets come in 12, 24, 36 and 60 colours.

Oil Pastel: Sennelier

Collaboration between Pablo Picasso and Henri Sennelier lead to the creation of the oil pastel - pure and intense drawing sticks, easy to apply that can be used on any unprepared surface. Apply colours directly and blend with rag or finger, if desired or dilute with turpentine or other thinners and blend with brushes. Colours can be sculpted with preheated palette knife or materials inlaid into the moist colour. These are the softest oil pastels out there. If using a paper support, it is recommended using a minimum 80lb. paper. Can be used on a wide variety of surfaces such as glass, wood, cardboard, ceramic, metal, plastic, and more. Sennelier uses the highest concentration of top quality, pure organic and mineral pigments on the market. There are 120 colours of acid-free, non-yellowing, non-siccative oil pastels with superior strength, adhesion, and suppleness to all other oil pastels. Iridescent and metallic colours available too.

Oil Pastel: Holbein

Oil Pastels resemble crayons in appearance but are very different in quality of softness, smoothness and colour density. Oil pastels are made with pigments and an oil binder with the addition of some waxes to make a stick that can be creamy smooth and brilliant in colour. Oil pastels dry (partially) over a very long period of time and thus have to be treated with care. They do not require a toothy surface for their use as do soft pastels, as the oil binder binds the colour to any paper. Holbein Oil Pastels are firm square sticks of solid colour. Available in 120 colours.

Pastel Boxes: Empty

It is easy to keep your soft pastels clean, safe and organized with one of our pastel boxes. Check out our selection. The case featured is called the Roz Box. It is lined with foam compartments to keep your colours clean and secure.

Coloured Pencil

Coloured "lead" is made of more than just wax and pigment. It takes a chemist to combine the materials necessary to produce a durable lead with the properties that make it usable and desirable. Coloured pencils are very clean to draw with, which means that you can sketch and render with them without fear of smugding or making a mess. They can be built up in layers to create very finished looking fine art work. The Verithin pencils By Prismacolor have a slightly harder and thinner lead than regular pencils for even finer work.

Erasers, Fixative, Stomps, Sharpeners, etc

There are a variety of tools for erasing, smudging, blending, highlighting and drawing. Sure, fingers are handy (pardon the pun) but stomps, tortillions and erasers keep your fingers clean and your paper fingerprint-free. Fixatives will help keep drawing materials from smudging and aid in keeping your drawing stable and fresh looking. If you are concerned about keeping subtle colours, use a high-quality fixative. This will help preserve your careful tonalities from smudging or errant water drops.

Water Soluble: Pencils, Crayons & Pastels

We offer a complete assortment of water-soluble drawing materials for artists who love to combine direct drawing marks with the soft washes of watercolour. Caran D'Ache NEOCOLOUR II crayons, Derwent Watercolour Pencils and Holbein Jumbo Water-Soluble Soft Pastels are the most popular brands on the market offering a variety of mark size and softness.

Calligraphy

Our selection of calligraphy supplies also features unique drawing pens for sketching and graphic design. We have many suitable papers and several brands of calligraphy inks, as well as oriental materials. Walnut ink, available in crystal form, is wonderful for sketching or calligraphy.

Ink

Ink labels can be confusing. Does "permanent" mean won't fade or waterproof? (Answer: waterproof). We try to provide entire descriptions for each of our inks to help make selecting the right one easier. Caution: do not use India inks for fountain pens. India ink is shellac-based and is not removable when it dries in the pen. Many inks are dye-based and fugitive (not lightfast), so read the labels carefully. Be sure to choose "pigmented ink", not dye-based ink, for fine art work. Ink is available dry as well. We carry walnut ink, which comes in a jar of small peices of ink and ink sticks, both allowing to make ink as needed in the chosen intensity.

Drawing: Pens & Markers

Pens suitable for sketching are available in a variety of forms, ranging from the old fashioned dip pen to be dipped into ink, fountain pens that contain the ink, to sharpened bamboo stick pens. The pen might also be a fibre-tipped disposable, like the respected Micron pigment pen which has lightfast and waterproof ink. Although not often seen, glass pens(made entirely of glass), can be a delight to use for both writing and drawing. Currently in stock!