Art Made Simple: The Starter Kit I Recommend
I'm kicking off a new series on my blog—Art Made Simple —and I can’t wait to share some of my favourite budget-friendly finds, techniques and tips. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting easy ideas for affordable (and sometimes free!) materials—how I use them, where to find them, and why they’re great.
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know I love a bargain. I’m always on the lookout in charity shops and on Facebook Marketplace. Art shouldn’t be expensive or exclusive. Every child deserves the chance to be creative, no matter the family budget. That’s a big part of what I believe in—and it’s something I build into my Arts Instruct membership too. I always give alternative suggestions so materials never become a barrier.
But today, let’s start with the basics.
A Simple Starter Kit for Drawing
If your child is just getting started with drawing, here are the five things I recommend:
A 2B Pencil
Soft enough for shading, dark or light depending on how hard you press. Great for beginners.An A3 Sketchbook
Look for thick paper that works for both pencil and paint. A3 might seem big, but you can always cut the pages smaller.A Soft Eraser
One that won’t tear the page or leave smudges.Blending Stumps
Used to smooth out shading. You can even make your own! (There’s a video tutorial in the membership.)A Pencil Eraser
Looks like a pencil but it erases—perfect for highlights and fine details.
No fancy tools. No expensive kits. Just the essentials to help young artists get started and build their skills and confidence. You’ll find most of these at high street shops like The Works, The Range, Wilko, or Home Bargains. (In France, I love shopping at Action—it's my French Home Bargains equivalent!) And of course, they’re all available on Amazon too.
Inside the membership, we do explore lots of other tools and materials, but you don’t need anything extra to get started. In fact, the image in this post was made with nothing more than a pencil, a pencil eraser, and a blending stump!
If you’d like to give my membership a go, you can try it for free for 7 days.
I hope this gives you a simple starting point—whether your child is just beginning or ready to get back into making art.
Keep an eye out for the next post in this series—and if you’ve got a favourite art material or budget tip, I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below or send me a message.
Jo x
Arts Instruct is registered in France under the business name of
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