Art supply catalogues are usually sent out by various national and local art supply stores to art teachers. These art supply stores compete to get the business of the art department of all universities and colleges.

Art supply store catalogues front and back covers are filled with pages of tremendous amounts of art supplies. The featured art supplies range from brushes, pencils, table easels, watercolours, acrylics, and a whole lot more.

What defines art supplies provided by an art supply store?

What’s in store in a good art supply store?

Aisle after aisle of art supplies is the common sight you usually see as soon as you walk in an art supply store. A plethora of paints is the obvious things you see in the paint aisle. Yet, a good art supply store has more to offer than traditional art supplies.

Garden Supplies

Yes, you’ve heard right. But, an art store should not be selling garden supplies, right? Wrong, for there’s no limit when it comes to artistic expression. Consider natural products such as dirt, birdseed, and even fencing. Grass images have become some of the mediums famous artists have incorporated with their artwork.

Construction materials

The use of construction materials in art is an unconventional method successfully used by modern artists. Creativity is taken to unprecedented heights by swapping gesso and screen with joint compound for canvas.

Lumber, concrete, and nails are also great construction materials to create exceptional pieces of artwork. Using construction materials instead of the usual art materials may seem weird, but famous works from artists Ross Bonfanti and Marcela Zacarias say otherwise.

Electrical and plumbing materials

Plumbing and electrical materials are the best stuff to use for sculpture artwork. The wide range of electrical boxes, wires, switches, and cables available in all sorts of colours, lengths, shapes, and thicknesses can create astounding works of sculpture.

An assortment of plumbing materials ranging from tubing, pipes, and fittings are unconventional art materials that can be found in a good art supply store. PVC piping has been used as the medium for extraordinary sculpture artworks such as The Walking Strandbeests of Theo Jansen.

Graphite Drawing Pencils

Highly-detailed and the simplest sketches start and end with the help of graphite drawing pencils. Available in sets or per piece, graphite pencils can draw almost everything, making it the must-have art tool for both beginners and expert artists. The hardness of the graphite pencils corresponds with the varying numbers.

Sketchbooks

Aptly named, sketchbooks provide the perfect medium for practice drawing, shape drawings, honing shading skills, and more. Planning out painting is best done on a sketchbook before doing the final painting.

Erasers

Pencil marks are easily removed by erasers. While there are a plethora of erasers available in a good art supply store, going for the kneaded variety is the best option. Using this type of eraser does not leave behind residues and damage to the paper as well. The mouldable eraser can be moulded into different shapes to erase either small or large areas.

Artworks have evolved over the years. A good art supply store is one that keeps up with the times when it comes to art materials and supplies. While conventional art materials are still popular things to see in art supply stores, the availability of unconventional materials is the thing that provides the edge above the rest.