This list includes 40 Art supplies that start with C, from “Calipers” to “Cyanotype Kit”. It covers tools, media, and materials used across drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and mixed media.
Art supplies that start with C are tangible tools and materials artists use to create visual work. Many, like the cyanotype kit, carry historical weight as early photographic processes influenced 19th-century experimentation.
Below you’ll find the table with Item, Usage, and Popular brands.
Item: The specific supply name, including common variants, helps you quickly find the exact material or tool you need.
Usage: A concise description of typical uses in one or two short sentences, so you know when to choose it.
Popular brands: A short list of one to three well-known brands or makers helps you compare quality and find reliable sources.
Art supplies that start with C
| Name | Type | Common format/size | Popular brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canvas, Stretched | Painting | 16×20 in, various sizes | Blick, Liquitex, Fredrix |
| Canvas Panel | Painting, Mixed Media | 8×10 in, 9×12 in | Fredrix, Arteza, Ampersand |
| Charcoal, Vine | Drawing | Soft, medium, hard sticks | Winsor & Newton, General’s, Grumbacher |
| Charcoal, Compressed | Drawing | Square sticks, pencils | General’s, Cretacolor, Prismacolor |
| Charcoal Pencils | Drawing | 2B, 4B, 6B grades | General’s, Derwent, Faber-Castell |
| Chalk Pastels | Drawing, Mixed Media | Sets of 12, 24, 48 sticks | Rembrandt, Sennelier, Schmincke |
| Clay, Polymer | Sculpture, Craft | 2 oz, 1 lb blocks | Sculpey, Fimo, Cernit |
| Clay, Air-Dry | Sculpture, Craft | 1 lb, 5 lb tubs | Crayola, Das, Jovi |
| Colored Pencils | Drawing | Sets of 12, 24, 72 | Prismacolor, Faber-Castell, Derwent |
| Conte Crayon | Drawing | Square sticks, pencils | Conté à Paris |
| Craft Knife | Mixed Media, Printmaking | Pen-style handle with blades | X-Acto, Fiskars, Olfa |
| Cutting Mat, Self-Healing | General | 12×18 in, 18×24 in | Olfa, Fiskars, Alvin |
| Calipers | Sculpture, Drawing | 6 in, 8 in | General Tools, Starrett, Mitutoyo |
| Carving Tools | Sculpture, Printmaking | Sets of 5-12 tools | Flexcut, Ramelson, Pfeil |
| Chisels | Sculpture, Printmaking | 1/4 in, 1/2 in widths | Narex, Pfeil, Flexcut |
| Canvas Pliers | Painting | Metal pliers with wide jaws | Fredrix, Speedball, Richeson |
| Cradled Wood Panel | Painting, Mixed Media | 8×10 in, 12×12 in | Ampersand, Trekell, Blick |
| Collage Paper | Mixed Media | Assorted paper packs | Various, often unbranded |
| China Marker | Drawing, Mixed Media | Wax pencil with paper wrap | Sharpie (Peel-Off), Dixon |
| Carbon Transfer Paper | Drawing, Mixed Media | 9×12 in sheets | Saral, Royal & Langnickel |
| Compass | Drawing | Metal or plastic drawing tool | Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Rotring |
| Circle Template | Drawing, Drafting | Plastic or metal stencil | Staedtler, Westcott, Alvin |
| Casein Paint | Painting | 37 ml, 150 ml tubes | Shiva, Richeson |
| Color Wheel | General | 5 in, 9.25 in diameter | The Color Wheel Company, C&T |
| Color Shaper | Painting, Mixed Media | Silicone-tipped tools | Royal Sovereign, Liquitex, Catalyst |
| Cold Press Watercolor Paper | Painting | 140 lb, 300 lb sheets/blocks | Arches, Fabriano, Canson |
| Cotton Rag Paper | Drawing, Printmaking | Sheets, pads | Stonehenge, Arches, Rives BFK |
| Cyanotype Kit | Printmaking, Photography | Pre-coated paper or chemicals | Jacquard, Sun-Creations |
| Copper Plate | Printmaking | 4×6 in, 8×10 in plates | Grafix, Z*Acryl, McClain’s |
| Calligraphy Pen | Drawing, Lettering | Dip pens, fountain pens | Speedball, Pilot, Lamy |
| Calligraphy Ink | Drawing, Lettering | 1 oz, 2.5 oz bottles | Higgins, Winsor & Newton, Speedball |
| Clutch Pencil | Drawing | 2 mm, 5.6 mm lead | Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Kaweco |
| Casting Plaster | Sculpture | 2 lb, 10 lb bags | DAP, Perfect Cast, USG |
| Cheesecloth | Sculpture, Mixed Media | 1, 5 yard packages | Various |
| Clamps | Sculpture, General | C-clamps, spring clamps | Bessey, Irwin, Jorgensen |
| Clear Gesso | Painting | 8 oz, 16 oz jars | Liquitex, Golden, Winsor & Newton |
| Cotton Swabs | Drawing, Mixed Media | Box of 100, 500 | Q-tips, various |
| Canvas Carrier Clips | Painting | Set of 2 or 4 clips | Richeson, RayMar |
| Collograph Plate | Printmaking | Cardboard, matboard | Self-made |
| Crayons, Wax | Drawing, Mixed Media | Box of 24, 64 | Crayola, Prang, Staedtler |
Descriptions
Canvas, Stretched
A classic surface for acrylic or oil painting. It’s cotton or linen fabric stretched over a wooden frame, usually primed with gesso and ready to use.
Canvas Panel
A rigid, affordable alternative to stretched canvas. It’s a thin panel, often cardboard, with primed canvas glued to one side. Great for studies and practice.
Charcoal, Vine
Made from burning willow twigs. It’s lightweight, soft, and creates beautiful, erasable light-to-mid-tone grey marks. Perfect for expressive sketching.
Charcoal, Compressed
A mix of charcoal powder and a binder, creating a much darker, denser, and less smudgy mark than vine charcoal. Ideal for bold lines and deep shadows.
Charcoal Pencils
Compressed charcoal encased in wood, like a standard pencil. Offers the richness of charcoal with the control of a pencil, keeping your hands relatively clean.
Chalk Pastels
Often just called “chalks” or “soft pastels.” These sticks of pure pigment and binder create vibrant, blendable, and velvety marks. Can be messy but beautiful.
Clay, Polymer
A versatile, oven-bake clay that comes in many colors. It holds fine detail and becomes hard and durable after baking. Perfect for jewelry and small sculptures.
Clay, Air-Dry
A moist, pliable clay that hardens at room temperature over 24-72 hours, no kiln needed. Great for simple projects, kids’ crafts, and modeling.
Colored Pencils
Wax or oil-based pigments encased in wood. They allow for precise control and can be layered and blended to create rich, detailed, and colorful artwork.
Conte Crayon
A hard drawing crayon made from pigment and a binder (graphite or charcoal). It’s less smudgy than charcoal and great for sketching, especially on toned paper.
Craft Knife
A precision cutting tool with a sharp, replaceable blade. Essential for cutting paper, stencils, cardboard, and other lightweight materials with accuracy.
Cutting Mat, Self-Healing
A special mat that protects your work surface when using a craft knife. The surface “heals” after being cut, providing a smooth cutting area for a long time.
Calipers
A measuring tool used in sculpture to accurately transfer proportions from a model or reference. Also used in drafting and technical drawing for precise measurements.
Carving Tools
A general term for gouges, chisels, and knives used to shape materials like wood, linoleum, or stone. The shape of the tip determines the mark it makes.
Chisels
A specific type of carving tool with a straight cutting edge. Used in wood and linoleum block printing to clear away large areas or create clean, sharp lines.
Canvas Pliers
A specialty tool used to tightly grip and stretch canvas over a wooden frame (stretcher bars). The wide, padded jaws prevent tearing the fabric.
Cradled Wood Panel
A smooth wood painting surface with a built-in frame or “cradle” on the back. Provides a rigid, archival support that won’t warp. Great for encaustic or resin.
Collage Paper
A broad category for any decorative or interesting paper used in collage, from tissue paper and magazines to handmade and specialty sheets.
China Marker
Also called a grease pencil. It can write on non-porous surfaces like glass, metal, and plastic. The “lead” is a waxy crayon, often wrapped in paper you peel away.
Carbon Transfer Paper
A sheet coated with a loose, carbon-based pigment. Place it between your sketch and your final surface to easily transfer your drawing outline with a stylus.
Compass
A simple V-shaped tool used for drawing perfect circles or arcs. One leg has a point to anchor it, and the other holds a pencil or lead.
Circle Template
A flat stencil with various sizes of circular holes cut out. It allows you to quickly and accurately draw perfect circles without a compass.
Casein Paint
A fast-drying, water-soluble paint made with milk protein as the binder. It dries to a durable, matte, velvety finish and can be buffed to a sheen.
Color Wheel
A circular tool that illustrates color theory relationships. It helps artists understand complementary, analogous, and triadic color schemes for mixing and composition.
Color Shaper
A tool that looks like a paintbrush but has a flexible silicone tip instead of bristles. Used for applying, blending, and carving thick paint, gels, or clay.
Cold Press Watercolor Paper
A popular type of watercolor paper with a medium texture or “tooth.” This slightly rough surface is great for grabbing pigment and allows for a variety of techniques.
Cotton Rag Paper
High-quality, archival paper made from cotton fibers instead of wood pulp. It’s strong, durable, and acid-free, making it a favorite for fine art drawing and printmaking.
Cyanotype Kit
A kit for a historical photographic printing process that produces a beautiful cyan-blue print. Simply place objects on the sensitized surface and expose to sunlight.
Copper Plate
A traditional metal plate used for intaglio printmaking techniques like etching and engraving. The artist incises a design into the plate, which then holds ink.
Calligraphy Pen
A pen designed for the art of decorative handwriting. Dip pens use a nib and separate ink, while fountain pens have an internal reservoir for a smoother flow.
Calligraphy Ink
Specially formulated ink for use in calligraphy pens. It typically has good flow, rich color, and permanence, suitable for both dip and fountain pens.
Clutch Pencil
A type of mechanical pencil that holds thick leads (2 mm or more). Instead of advancing incrementally, a clutch mechanism releases the lead to be adjusted manually.
Casting Plaster
A fine gypsum powder that, when mixed with water, can be poured into a mold. It hardens into a dense, smooth, and paintable solid form.
Cheesecloth
A loosely woven, gauze-like cotton fabric. In art, it’s often used to create texture in plaster, papier-mâché, or on painting surfaces.
Clamps
A fastening device used to hold objects tightly together, such as securing a carving block to a table or holding parts of a sculpture while glue dries.
Clear Gesso
A transparent primer that prepares a surface for painting while allowing the underlying material (like wood grain or canvas texture) to show through.
Cotton Swabs
Simple cotton-tipped sticks that are surprisingly useful in the studio. Perfect for blending graphite or charcoal, lifting color, or for precise application of solvents.
Canvas Carrier Clips
Small metal clips that allow you to carry two wet, same-sized canvases face-to-face without them touching. A simple but brilliant tool for plein air painters.
Collograph Plate
A printmaking plate created by collaging various materials onto a rigid substrate like cardboard. When inked and printed, the different textures create a unique image.
Crayons, Wax
A classic art supply made of pigmented wax. While often associated with children, artists use them for their unique texture and for wax-resist techniques with watercolor.