Attention parents and fellow instructors: If shopping for some pads of art paper for sketching, drawing, and watercolor in larger sizes (11 X 14, 11 X 15, and 12 X 18 inches), you might want to check your local
Office Depot. I found the pads above for $2 each in their clearance boxes on a table near the door. I have not tried them yet, but the assorted papers feel reasonably smooth and should provide plenty of room for experimentation for your budding artists and students. The packs of Daler Rowney Artist Trading cards (ATC) were on clearance for a buck each at a
WalMart Supercenter. Also interesting to note that some Walmart stores seem to be discontinuing their Daler Rowney Simply paper pads and have began stocking
Canson XL pads and
Strathmore pads in their art supplies section (not the younger kids art supplies section that feature most of the Crayola products). Thus it might be a good time to stock up on any deals that you might find in the clearance aisles. Quick update:
Sakura Pigma Sensei 10 pen tests on 12" X 18" Office Depot Drawing Paper
Assorted Markers and Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Aquarelle Sticks color tests on 12" X 18" Office Depot Drawing Paper
Faber Castell Big Brush Pitt Artist Pen, Utrecht Design Marker and Faber Castell Albrecht Durer Aquarelle Sticks color tests on 11" X 15" Office Depot Drawing Paper
As you shop for "Back to School Supplies" might be a good idea to take a gander at the Clearance bins that you might come across. Found this Foray Battery Operated Sharpener for 56 cents in the marked down rack at the entrance of a local Office Depot store.
Did this little video review for it.
The white sharpener could be used for regular graphite pencils, and the gray sharpener could be used for colored pencils to keep the individual colors from getting soiled with graphite dust. The dial on top allow for clockwise adjustments of the barrel opening to accommodate different diameter pencils: 8, 9, 10, and 11 mm. The unit is powered by 4 AA batteries, and it is a tad loud. Since pencils are held vertically for sharpening, it reduces the chance of breakage due to side stresses.
By adjusting the red knobs on the bottom of the unit, you can control the sharpness of the resulting pencil points from blunt to sharp. The longer taper on the pencils on the left is meant for regular writing pencils while the shorter taper pencil style would be suitable for colored pencils.
I suppose it is nice to have the option of sharpening pencil tips in different styles, though I tend to prefer working with sharp ones. Still this Foray Sharpener was a pretty good pencil accessory buy for under a buck.
While I do get quite a few art supplies from several online sources, I do love visiting actual brick and mortar stores to check out the full range of offerings if given the option (sadly there is not a single well-stocked art supplies specialty store in the Naples area). Had to drive dad to the Miami Airport earlier today, so I was lucky to fit a couple of interesting stops after dropping him off. Finally was able to check out the enormous and well-stocked Jerry's Artarama Miami store. Got some hard-to-find drawing leads for my 5.6 mm Cretacolor leadholders and my Worther Shorty pencil. As far as I know, this might be the only brick and mortar store that carries the full range of Cretacolor 5.6 mm drawing leads 6-packs. The store is very well-organized, and it is a pleasure to stroll through the aisles loaded with a wide variety of quality art supplies neatly stacked and clearly priced. This was the first time, I was able to appreciate the size and heft of the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II full boxed set of 126 watercolor crayons with extra accessories and the wooden box set of all 72 Derwent Inktense watercolor pencils. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, it is well worth a visit.
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