HEY SHAUNA ART THERAPY ART MATERIALS
SUGGESTED MATERIALS LIST
These are some general suggestions for materials that I find especially useful for our sessions & workshops together. Please don’t feel like you need to have ALL of the things listed here …or that you need to limit yourself to just these things! Get creative, look around your kitchen, dig around in your junk drawers, find things on the ground on your next walk.
I’ve also included a smaller list of “basics” for getting started. Most of the links I’ve included are for items on the Opus website but you will be able to find the same or similar items at any art supply shop!
- Oil pastels (I like the brand Mungyo, good quality & affordable)
- Chalk (soft) pastels (again, love Mungyo)
- Graphite sticks (a variety of hard/soft grades), pencil crayons (regular and watercolour), crayons.
- Large paper pad (18″ x 24″ ideally, nothing fancy, white cartridge paper is great).
- Watercolour paper (9″x12″ is a good size).
- Watercolour paints (maybe a small mixed colour palette to start with!)
- Charcoal and/or graphite sticks can be great for working with less colour (black, greys).
- Watercolour (handmade natural pigment) paints: Beam Paints and Caitlin Ffrench!
Things that you may already have on-hand:
- Scissors
- Glue (regular white glue and/or glue stick)
- Masking tape
- Magazines/books that you can cut up.
- Pencils (regular pencils, graphite sticks).
- Pencil crayons
- Pencil sharpener
- Paint brushes (these are some good affordable brush sets)
- Paint (watercolour, tempera, acrylic).
- Palette for paint (here are some simple plastic options). OR you can also just use a piece of cardboard or a white/clear plate (or anything with a smooth surface).
- Palette knife (you can get plastic or metal)… these can be helpful for scooping and mixing paint, but also for painting with.
- Paper (any size, or colour …I tend towards white as you’ll see more saturation of colours that way, but anything can work).
- Clay! (I get some from Dollarama that’s something like $1.50/pkg and it’s great). You just want air-dry clay, nothing fancy …nothing that needs to be fired in a kiln.
- Embroidery thread (assorted colours)
- Embroidery/tapestry needle
- Fabric swatches (for embroidery/patchwork/visible mending)
- Re-usable cardboard weaving loom (DIY instructions here!)
- Yarn (assorted sizes/colours)
ART SUPPLY SHOPS
For purchasing materials locally, or online for curbside/no-contact, delivery and mail order. Some of my favourites!
- Opus Art Supplies (Across BC, and online)
- Rath Art Supplies (Vancouver BC)
- Urban Source (Vancouver BC)
- Thrift/Craft Alternative Art Supply (Victoria BC)
- Beam Paints (Manitoulin Island)
- Caitlin Ffrench (Vancouver)
GETTING STARTED
If I was to suggest a simple starter-pack I think I’d go with this:
- Large paper pad (18″ x 24″ ideally, nothing fancy, white cartridge paper is great).
- Watercolour paper (9″x12″ is a good size).
- Oil and/or chalk pastels (I like the brand Mungyo, good quality & affordable).
- Watercolour paints.
- Paint brushes (these are some good affordable brush sets)
- Masking tape
- Glue (regular white glue and/or glue stick)
- Scissors
- Embroidery thread and embroidery/tapestry needle.
Located on the traditional and ancestral territories of the Lekwungen speaking (Songhees and Esquimalt) peoples. Thankful for their historical and ongoing stewardship of these beautiful lands, and the opportunity to step into collaborative stewardship, community care, learning, and being better.
