April Art Haul: Dot Cards, Watercolor Paper, Pencils, Sharpeners, and More
Just like makeup and fashion bloggers share their shopping hauls, I thought it’d be fun to share an art supply haul for all you art supply lovers out there.
Here’s a list of all the new supplies that I picked up last month. Enjoy, and let me know if you have any questions!
Paint + Paper:
I mentioned in a previous blog post that dot cards are a great way to try out new colors without having to invest in a full tube, so when I found out that Jackson’s Art Supplies sold these Schmincke dot cards, I got super excited and placed an order. I’ll be swatching these out and sharing them with you in a future blog post, so stay tuned!
I’ve been seeing many international watercolor artists using this Khadi sketchbook, and I was curious to try it out. I purchased the 13 x 16cm size (about 5 x 6 in inches) with smooth paper, which is supposed to be comparable to a cold press watercolor paper. The deckled edges are really pretty and I love that they’re handmade. I’m excited to try this out!
Saunders Waterford watercolor paper (NOT)
Saunders Waterford watercolor paper is something that I’ve also been meaning to try out, but they are pricey and hard to find here in the States, so I went ahead and purchased this from Jackson’s Arts as well. I got the 7x10in. block in NOT, which is the cold-press paper. I usually like to stitch watercolor papers into my own sketchbook, but I think I might keep these in the block. I’m currently trying out different brands of watercolor paper so I can do a full review at some point, and I hope to include these in the review as well.
Just as a side note: If you click the above links, you’ll notice that all three of these supplies were purchased online from Jackson’s Art Supplies, an art supply store based in London. Their online prices are great and the international shipping costs aren’t bad at all. I only paid $4.71 in shipping for these three supplies!
Pencils + Sharpeners
Caran d’Ache Natura Pencil and Tajima Pencil (2H)
Last weekend, I stopped by CW Pencil Enterprise here in NYC and I picked up these beautiful 2H pencils. I like hard lead pencils that don’t smudge and leave as light of a mark as possible, so when I told the CW employee my preferences, she recommended these pencils to me. I tried them at the store and loved them, so I purchased two each. I’m excited to sketch with these and I’ll be sure to report back once I do.
Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener (Firehouse Red)
When I tried the pencils at the CW shop, I loved how long and sharp the point of the pencil was. When I asked what was used to sharpen them, the employee told me it was this Classroom Friendly Supplies sharpener. I’ve been looking for a larger manual pencil sharpener, so I went ahead and purchased this as well. I love the bright red color and the vintage design of this sharpener. I’m excited to use it!
If you’ve checked out my list of favorite art supplies, you’ll see that the Staedtler Mars Technical Pencil is one of my favorites. It uses a 2mm lead, which I’ve had a hard time sharpening, so when I found these Kum lead pointers at Goods for the Study (another stationery in NYC), I picked one up for about a dollar. I love how tiny and travel-friendly this sharpener is. Hopefully it works well too!
Books:
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain
I’ve heard so many good things about this book and it’s known to be one of the most widely used drawing instruction books in the world, so I bit the bullet this week and decided to pick up a copy for myself. I’ve noticed that I sometimes have a hard time perceiving space and perspective when I sketch, so I thought it would help to go back and review some of these basics. It looks like this book is going to teach me a lot!
I think I’m most excited about this purchase and I’m really looking forward to going through the exercises in the book. I’ll be posting some of my explorations on Instagram stories, so keep your eyes peeled if you’re interested in seeing those!
Hope you enjoyed taking a peek into my art supply haul! Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried any of the above supplies and how you like them! Would love to hear your thoughts!