To show student artwork somewhere outside of class.
Wall-Mounted Corkboard
Paper Shelf/Cabinet
To hold the variety of colored paper and drawing papers
Mirror
Not-Furniture
Papers/Drawing Surfaces
Printer Paper: A4 A3
Light Drawing Paper ~80 gsm: A4 A3
Matte Plastic Drawing Film: A4 A3
Transparent Drawing Film: A4 A3
Colored Construction Paper: A4 A3
Vietnamese Do Paper (Giấy Dó)
Plastic transparency paper
For giving feedback on drawings and paintings.
Watercolor Paper
Baohong
Happy
Mixed Media Paper
Takeyo
Painting Tools
Brushes
Painting Palettes
Spray Bottles
Squeeze Bottles (Nozzle-tip)
Cups
Wet Media
Ink
Calligraphy ink is much cheaper than waterproof comic ink
Watercolors
Tray/pan watercolors
Good for elementary and middle school.
Colomate/Thien Long are good for cheap colors in VN.
Tube watercolors
Consider it for high school. Best used with plastic palette boxes.
Maries is an economical choice for VN.
Acrylic Paint
I’ve been wanting to avoid using acrylic paints in the art classroom. Too many brushes get destroyed. Sinks end up looking gross. Paint gets stuck on the floor and furniture everywhere. Clothes gets ruined. However, if we must buy it, I suggest keeping it for painting sculptural pieces.
Sunway/Maries Tubes for making pictures
“3D” brand for making stuff
Poster Color / Gouache / Tempera
Poster colors are my current idea for an alternative to acrylic for most classroom painting assignments. Oil is too hazardous for a school environment and too expensive.
Sakura: High end
Pentel: High end
Sunday: Budget
Maries: Budget
Deli: Budget
Mont Marte has big bottles and wide range, but seems like it has plastic resin
Colokit Coloremate: I’m pretty sure they use plastic too
Dry Media
Graphite Pencils
Is it worth it to buy a whole range of graphite pencils? When is the last time I’ve seen any fully-shaded pencil drawing and thought, “Wow, that looks great!” Never. Either you are doing great stuff with line, and thus, a standard pencil is fine, or you are drafting for a larger piece and noone is going to see it. I am not a big fan of presenting student pencil drawings. If you want to train shading and form, use charcoal instead.
Charcoal
Vine
Pencils
Colored Pencils (budget-tier)
Crayons (budget-tier)
Oil Pastels
Dry Pastels
Fineliner Pigment Pens (Waterproof)
Colored Gel Pens
Markers
The choice for markers likely boils down to acrylic or water-based markers. I wouldn’t order both types, as students will not appreciate the difference. And then whiteboard markers too.
Acrylic
Dries to a permanent finish.
Water-based Dye
Washable.
Alcohol
Requires hard-to-find, special paper to bring out its full potential.
Pigment
Overkill and expensive for classroom.
White board markers
Correction/Blending Tools
Rubber Erasers
Q-tips
Kneaded Erasers
Paper Tortillions
Adhesives and Binding Tools
Glue Bottles
Glue Sticks
Glue Gun
Glue Gun Sticks
Painter’s Tape
Paperclips
Thumbtacks
Whiteboard magnets
Rubber Bands
Clays
My thoughts on clay is that, unless you are buying ceramic clay, it is incredibly expensive for the amount of volume you are buying. However, each type of clay presents their own challenges.
Ceramic Clay
It is the most economical and rewarding. However, you should only consider it if your school has a dedicated kiln and classroom just for ceramic. You could ship out your works to be fired elsewhere, but working with ceramic will create dust everywhere in your room.
Air-dry Clay
Expensive. Hardens by evaporation. Forces you to work on small projects because of the cost. You can paint over it.
Polymer Clay
Expensive. Hardens by curing (in an oven). Forces you to work on small projects because of the cost. You can paint over it.
Oil Clay
Expensive. Infinitely reusable (theoretically). However, practically, it gets kind of gross after awhile.
You’ll be using a lot of soap to wash off the oil residue on your hands.
The hardness of the clay depends on the formula, and on temperature. Typically, a microwave or a hot water bath is used to soften up the clay. But both of those methods are impractical in a school setting. Hard clays hold detail better, but softer grades are better for students’ hands.
Doesn’t readily lend itself to a presentable finished product, unless you are casting plastic figurines. But that is a whole elaborate process involving lots of plastic resins.
Printmaking
fill meeeeeeeeeeee out!
Linoleum Blocks
Brayers
Printmaking Ink
Wire
fill meeee out!!!
String and Fabric
Fill me out!!
Cleaning and Mess Management
Dishwashing soap
Hand Soap
Plastic Food Wrap
Paper hand towels
Old books (for wiping paint)
Big water buckets
Deep trays (for filling up with water and laying paper in)
Plastic Cups (for holding water, paintbrushes, or other tools)
Other Items
Crank pencil sharpeners
Big paper cutter
Hole puncher
Scissors
Cutting Mat
Paper Knife
Rulers
Compass
Photography Lighting
Tripod
Model skeleton (Life size)
Poseable mannequins
Popsicle Sticks
Paper Plates
Stencils
Stamps
Probably Not Suitable
Oil Painting
Oil Paints
Maries or Pebeo are economic choices in Vietnam.
Odorless Mineral Spirit
Oils
Alkyds are preferred but impossible to get in Vietnam.
Linseed and Walnut oils are available but expensive.
