Supplies students should bring if working in charcoal:
- Medium or soft vine charcoal sticks (4– 12 sticks)
- General’s charcoal pencils: HB, 2B (1 or 2 of each)
- If you work on toned paper: General’s white charcoal pencil or white pastel pencil (not a white colored pencil which is too waxy to work with charcoal)
- Sanding pad (for sharpening charcoal pencils and vine charcoal):
- I highly recommend the Nitram sanding block over the regular small “tear off” sandpaper block. Fine sandpaper can also be used (http://www.dickblick.com/products/nitram-sharpening-bloc/)
- Straight razor blade (for sharpening charcoal pencils):
- Can be purchased at a hardware store. Sold in packs of 5 or more, usually used for paint scrapers. A box cutter can work as well but I recommend a straight razor blade.)
- Long pose paper for charcoal:
- Canson Mi-Teinte pastel paper (It comes in a variety of colors of 25.5″ x 19.5″ sheets. Get 2–3 sheets of light grey, tan or medium blue; charcoal papers have a tooth to them that catches and holds the charcoal) or other brands of charcoal/pastel paper.
- Sketch drawing paper:
- Strathmore drawing paper is recommended and newsprint is provided. Sketch drawing paper should be in a pad or individual sheets of 11” x 14” or larger.
- Drawing board:
- CAW does provide drawing boards. However, you might want to bring your own to ensure you have a smooth, clean drawing surface. Your drawing board needs to be larger than your paper size. I recommend a simple piece of masonite, gator board, or 1/2” foam core.
- Two large 2″ black paper clamps or bulldog clips (for clipping paper to board)
- Straight, thin knitting needle or stick (for measuring)
- Kneaded eraser
Recommended Supplies (optional):
- Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating or similar (for fixing charcoal drawings at home)
- Glasseine (for covering drawings in storage, especially charcoal – glasseine is like tracing paper and can be bought in rolls. You can also buy a pad of tracing paper and use that as long as it’s acid-free.)
- Portfolio for storing and transporting paper and drawings (do not roll your drawings)
- Sketchbook – for your own sketches and for taking notes