Hi, I’m Maren.
For six years I worked the register at an art supply shop in Asheville. Most days, somebody would come in holding a list from a YouTube video and a look of mild panic. They wanted to start drawing, or painting, and they’d been told they needed forty dollars of pencils, a special eraser, three kinds of paper and a set of brushes made from an animal they’d never heard of.
Usually they didn’t. What they needed was a decent pencil, paper that wouldn’t fight them, and permission to start.
Art Supply Shelf is the conversation I used to have at that counter, written down. I buy the student-grade and budget materials, use them, and tell you plainly which ones hold up, which ones are fine for practice, and which ones will make you think you’re bad at art when the problem is really the paper.
I don’t take free samples, and nothing here is sponsored. When I point you to a course or a class, it’s one I’d send a friend to.
If you’re just getting started: welcome. Buy less than you think you need, and draw every day.