Studio Art Supplies

These studio art supplies will help you maintain a well-organized studio, which enables a more efficient (and more enjoyable) art-making experience. There are thousands of products for your studio, but you won't need most of them. If you're a beginner, just start off with the basic necessities for making art and as you develop your own working methods, you'll discover which art supplies you actually need.

By "studio" I basically mean any art-making space - which can be your dining room table, a corner of your living room, part of your attic or garage, or - if you're lucky! - a dedicated room just for making art.

Because easels and art projectors are important to my art I've given them their own pages. Other studio art supplies, like palettes, can be found on the relevant media pages in the guide to buying art supplies.

On this page we're going to cover Lighting, Storage, Paintbrush Soap, and Miscellaneous.

Oftentimes you can't paint under natural light. I'm a night owl and enjoy painting in the evenings and sometimes into the wee hours. In these cases I have to rely on artificial light and not all lamps and globes are equal. The wrong light bulb, like regular incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, can cast dark shadows and distort the look of your colors. You might find that the colors of a painting done under incandescent or fluorescent lighting look vastly different than you intended, once you see it in natural daylight!

The best artificial lighting for art comes from daylight simulation bulbs (around 5200k to 5500k). I own several daylight lamps and use them whenever I paint at night. Their blue tinting stimulates natural light and allows for accurate color matching. You can buy them in a range of lamps or buy individual bulbs that can replace other bulbs.

Note: In recent years I’ve learned that exposure to blue light in the evenings can interfere with my sleep. I try to limit blue light in my environment for the last few hours of the day, which helps me get to sleep easier.

 I have one daylight floor lamp that can illuminate a wall when I am working large, and a compact tabletop daylight lamp for when I am working on a smaller scale on a table. The best daylight lamp for you depends on where you create art and how large or small you work.

Storage is integral to a good art studio because it helps you keep your studio art supplies organized (which helps you make art without interruption) and it allows you to protect and preserve your finished artworks.

I always keep my workspace clean and uncluttered. I have over a thousand art products (if you count every individual paint tube, pencil etc.) and I make sure they're always properly organized or my studio would descend into chaos! You can buy a beautifully made workspace organizer or use homemade materials and old containers. I keep most of my art supplies organized on several tall bookshelves.

Finished artworks need to be protected from light, heat and humidity. Unframed pictures should be stored in a portfolio, chest or rack so that they have their own space. It's not a good idea to stack artworks on top of one another because it may damage the surface pigment.

Paintbrushes can be expensive, so it's worth your while to clean them thoroughly after you've finished painting. Your cleaning habits determine if your paintbrushes last for years or mere days. For your best brushes you can buy soap designed specifically for paintbrushes - or for budget or low quality brushes, you can use regular hand soap.

For more information check out my How to Clean Paintbrushes page.

Learn about other art supplies, like easels and art projectors, via the guide to buying art supplies page.