A Level Art advice

[Snog]

My dd is about to start A level art and wants to create a career in art. Her fave thing is painting and drawing.

She has a birthday coming up and I'm looking for help as to what I could get her in terms of art materials or books. Any ideas from those who have taken this path or have children who have done A level Art and beyond?

Dsd did GCSE art, it was her favourite subject, she went on to do BTEC art and game design. We got her private art lessons, not to help with her course but to do as an activity. It added another dimension to the art she was studying at school and really loved it.

My grandchildren both did A level art. They used acrylic and oils, as well as pens and pencils. They used acrylic first and then oils. I went to my favourite art shop which is Cass Art in London. Saved no end of money. They also do online. They sell good makes at really good prices. It depends what she has already. They usually get a list before starting the courses. Brushes are expensive so if you can get discounts which are often available at Cass Art it all helps. Has she got a table or standing easel? They do decent ones.

Lakeland/Dewent pencils. The shop at the factory in Keswick has good bargains. You can buy pencil rolls so it makes them easy to carry. Ink intense are good and you can use water with some to make watercolours too.
Sketch pencils of different sizes eg. 2B, 4B, 6B
Good quality sketch book, watercolour book.
Acrylic paints chose three colours red, blue and yellow x hot and cold then she can mix everything else she needs. Plus black and white for mixing tones.
A book would be good to show techniques.
My daughter has a Degree in Art and I went to A level. I have since gained some C&G in design and craft.

Are you near London? If so I
Know some good free courses for her age. I have a son doing fine art :)

Cass Art is brilliant, I think they've had 20% off over this weekend?

Has she got easel or a lamp with natural light bulb? Both worth having and around £40 price mark

Both my daughters love art. ED doing a degree in animation and YD is just starting alevel art. Both love lots of different mediums.
Acrylics are a good start in painting, and both have branches off to do water colour as well. YD also wants to try oils.
If your dd likes to paint, maybe an expensive set of water colour pans. Ones with a really high pigment content and made with honey. We bought our yd some St Petersburg paints for Christmas last year and she loves them. We bought ED some Japanese paints pans in a palette for her birthday this year and again a much appreciated and loved gift.
Im sure your dd has searched the web for whats about, as mine have done, and know what she would love to try. Why not ask her if there are any special paints she would like to try?
Another thing mine like to do are ink drawings and have dip pens to do this with. They also have fallen in love with lots of inks for this purpose, and there are some amazing ones out there. There are some gorgous colours and some have gold flecks in them. Just stunning.
Cult Pens are a really good place to order from, with super fast delivery, and send out a freebie with their orders. We have always had superb service from them.
Hope this is of some help.

For A level, she'll probably find the Phaidon books on art very useful: there's one helpfully called The Art Book, and another on 20th century art. They have one work per page and a brisk description of why it's important and who else you could link it to -- very handy for the written part of the A level.

20th Century art book
and
The Art Book

These mini versions are portable so she can haul them to college.