You might think to start painting that you need many expensive items. This is not really so. Actually it is possible to purchase your basic needs fairly cheaply. Obviously not everybody uses the same items, therefore it depends what you choose. So this is a general guide to basic needs which of course you can add to.

Usually it is fairly important where you choose to paint in the first place. It really helps if you place yourself somewhere where, in fact, the light is good. It helps if you have space around you too for your tools. Natural daylight is good, if not, you need fairly good lighting. Then you need something that can be used as a palette. Old china serves well.

Now you need a selection of basic colour shades, your canvas, different brushes, some medium plus of course some place to stand your work on. It certainly is an asset if you have a roomy container for your paints so you can pick them easily.

So what are you now going to use to put your canvas on. Some people would use an old desk, others a cupboard, shelf or window sill. You need to find somewhere to hand. Then you need some good pencils. Go from HB through to 6B.

You also need to have a pencil sharpener to hand, but make sure that it is a serviceable one. Some people use a razor blade, or even a penknife. As for pencils I find a Venus 6B is good for my work as I like a soft pencil as I like to draw soft grey, but also much darker tones.

As for choice of drawing pads it is much easier to buy one with a hard back. Sometimes things go wrong and you do not want to use a rubber. Just take a fresh sheet and begin anew.

Personally I often prefer the small hardback pads which come ready perforated. These I find so handy to carry around in my handbag. Usually the paper is nice and smooth and I like the fact that you can then tear the finished work off the pad.

We all like our own pens to work with. However, I would not recommend using an ordinary biro as it is hard to achieve good thick or thin lines. Therefore this being difficult to obtain light and dark in your drawing.

You may find an ordinary fountain pen works pretty well. However you can obtain pens with nibs that you can use with inks, other pens too, including ones with felt tip.

As landscapes are often drawn in the open air you need to wrap up well. Dig out some thick socks, boots probably, your old comfy clothes, as you not only need to be warm, but comfortable also. A flask of coffee might help.

It is to be advisable too, to have your own portable seat or stool as usually you only have a fence, bank, or wall to sit on leaving you with a frozen derrière! So maybe take a visit to your local camping shop. To get the broad picture you can always make a cardboard frame to put over your painting to give you the overall effect you are obtaining.

This "Guide" has been offered to you by Anna Meenaghan, a contemporary artist [http://annameenaghanart.com], who has been participating in the arts all of her life. As a contemporary painter [http://annameenaghanart.com/index.php?p=1_5_contemporary_painter] she has experienced a lot of "mishaps" herself and is now freely giving advice to newcomers to the world of art by writing articles on various subjects. Comment by Michael Bruckner.