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Supply list for Realistic Figure Drawing

Philip Howe Studio – 425 328 5835

One pad of News Print. 14x17 or 18x24

Brands can vary quite a bit. Try to purchase the smoothest you can get.

Check inside the pad to make sure there are no wadded sheets and the pad is not buckled but straight.

We’ll start with the newsprint for sketches and value studies.

One pad of Drawing Paper 18x24

After many years of life drawing, I settled on Strathmore Drawing/Smooth.

It might also be labeled as Strathmore Alexis. Any smooth, high-quality drawing paper will work.

This is for more finished drawings, which we will build up to.

1 Box or several pieces of soft vine charcoal

These are simple charcoal sticks, get the thin ones, not compressed charcoal, although if you have some, bring them in. I’ll show you how to lay in a nice gray to work into.

1 White soft pastel stick. This is for highlights only. This, too, can be shared.

One kneaded eraser. This is a small gummy eraser, usually wrapped in clear plastic, used to pull out highlights from charcoal and pencil. I’ll show you several techniques with this tool.

One can of Workable Spray Fixative (Krylon is the best) Students can share the cost of this.

A few Conte sticks. You can ask someone at the store to help you here. Buy one black conte, preferably with a little wax in it (not the dry kind) and one sepia (dark brown). You don’t need to buy a whole box. These small sticks work great for shading. You can also get them in pencil form, if you like to do more detailed work.

The other items are simple bond paper (typing paper) Standard number 2 pencils, or any medium-value pencils (2B – H) B is the softer grade, the higher number being softer. H= harder grade, which leaves a thinner, lighter line. Any of these are fine, but the standard pencil is just as good for sketching.

One black or blue ball point pen. Surprisingly, this is one of the best tools to sketch with.

Charcoal can be messy, so you might want to bring in a smock or small towel to protect your clothes.

Any other materials you want to bring in, like colored charcoal paper or colored pencils, a clip board for you drawing pad, standard erasers, all these would be fine.

Questions- feel free to email me at the address above.