This collection presents 37 Art supplies that start with L, spanning from “Lace” to “Luster”. Many entries are small tools, pigments, or finishing materials used across drawing, painting, printmaking, and mixed media.
Art supplies that start with L are tangible materials and tools beginning with L used to make visual art. For example, linoleum block printing became popular with early 20th-century printmakers for its affordability and bold graphic results.
Below you’ll find the table with Item, Usage, and Popular brands.
Item: The supply name and common variants, so you can quickly identify what you’re looking for.
Usage: Short description of how the supply is used, helping you choose materials for specific techniques or projects.
Popular brands: One to three well-known manufacturers or lines, giving you starting points when shopping for quality supplies.
Art supplies that start with L
| Name | Type | Common variants | Popular brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lace | Material | Fabric lace, paper doilies, decorative netting | n/a |
| Lacquer | Varnish | Spray lacquer, brush-on lacquer, urushi | Krylon, Deft, Rust-Oleum |
| Ladle | Tool | Foundry ladle, pouring ladle, crucible ladle | Vevor, PMC Supplies |
| Lamp Black | Pigment | Carbon black, PBk7, soot black | Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, Schmincke |
| Lap Easel | Tool | Lap desk, tabletop easel, drawing board | US Art Supply, LOKKISON |
| Latex | Medium | Liquid latex, molding latex, rubber cement | Smooth-On, Monster Makers |
| Lath | Material | Wood strips, plaster lath, armature supports | n/a |
| Lathe | Tool | Wood lathe, metal lathe | JET, Grizzly, WEN |
| Layout Paper | Paper | Layout bond, marker paper, tracing paper | Canson, Strathmore, Borden & Riley |
| Lead Holder | Tool | Clutch pencil, technical pencil, drafting pencil | Staedtler, Rotring, Koh-I-Noor |
| Leaf | Material | Gold leaf, silver leaf, copper leaf, metal leaf | Speedball, Sepp Gilding Workshop, L.A. Gold Leaf |
| Leather | Material | Tooling leather, vegetable-tanned leather, leather scraps | Tandy Leather, Weaver Leather Supply |
| Lettering Brush | Brush | Sign painter’s quill, script brush, pinstriping brush | Mack, Princeton, Winsor & Newton |
| Lettering Pen | Pen | Calligraphy pen, brush pen, dip pen | Tombow, Sakura, Pilot |
| Letterpress | Tool | Printing press, platen press, cylinder press | Vandercook, Chandler & Price, Heidelberg |
| Level | Tool | Spirit level, bubble level, laser level | Stanley, Craftsman, Bosch |
| Lifting Preparation | Medium | Watercolor lifting medium, lift-off medium | Winsor & Newton, Schmincke, Daniel Smith |
| Light Box | Tool | Light table, tracing pad, LED light pad | Cricut, Artograph, Huion |
| Lighting | Tool | Studio lights, daylight lamp, task lamp, softbox | OttLite, Neewer, Fovitec |
| Limestone | Surface | Lithographic stone, Bavarian limestone | n/a |
| Linen | Fabric | Belgian linen, Irish linen, raw linen | Claessens, Belle Arti, Artfix |
| Liner Brush | Brush | Rigger brush, script liner, detail brush | Princeton, da Vinci, Raphael |
| Linoleum Block | Surface | Lino block, mounted linoleum, unmounted linoleum | Speedball, Essdee |
| Linoleum Cutter | Tool | Lino cutter, carving tool, V-gouge, U-gouge | Speedball, Flexcut, Power Grip |
| Linseed Oil | Medium | Refined linseed oil, cold-pressed linseed oil, stand oil | Gamblin, Winsor & Newton, M. Graham & Co. |
| Liquid Charcoal | Paint | Water-soluble charcoal | Schmincke, Nitram, Derwent |
| Liquid Graphite | Paint | Water-soluble graphite, graphite paint | Viarco, Derwent, Schmincke |
| Liquid Medium | Medium | Painting medium, glazing medium, alkyd medium | Liquitex, Golden, Winsor & Newton |
| Liquid Watercolors | Paint | Concentrated watercolors, watercolor inks | Dr. Ph. Martin’s, Ecoline, Schmincke |
| Lithographic Crayon | Drawing | Litho crayon, grease crayon, tusche stick | Korn’s, Stones |
| Lithographic Press | Tool | Litho press, scraper bar press | Takach, Charles Brand |
| Loom | Tool | Weaving loom, tapestry loom, frame loom | Schacht, Ashford, Mirrix |
| Loop Tool | Tool | Ribbon tool, trimming tool, wire loop tool | Kemper, Xiem Tools, Mudtools |
| Loupe | Tool | Jeweler’s loupe, magnifier, eye loupe | Bausch & Lomb, BelOMO, Eschenbach |
| Low-tack Tape | Adhesive | Artist’s tape, drafting tape, delicate surface tape | Scotch, 3M, Pro Tapes |
| Lumber | Material | Wood, timber, planks, boards | n/a |
| Luster | Glaze | Lusterware, metallic glaze, iridescent finish, overglaze | Duncan, Mayco, Amaco |
Descriptions
Lace
Often used in mixed media, collage, or printmaking to add intricate patterns and textures to an artwork’s surface.
Lacquer
A clear or colored coating that dries to form a hard, durable, and often high-gloss finish. Used to protect and seal finished artworks.
Ladle
A large, long-handled spoon-like tool used in sculpture for scooping and pouring molten metal or in ceramics for handling large amounts of slip or glaze.
Lamp Black
A pure carbon pigment, historically made from the soot of oil lamps. It provides a cool, bluish-black and is used in inks, watercolors, and oil paints.
Lap Easel
A portable, compact easel or drawing board designed to rest on your lap, providing a stable surface for creating art while seated without a table.
Latex
A rubber-based liquid used for creating flexible molds in sculpture, or as a resist (masking fluid) in painting to block out areas from paint.
Lath
Thin, flat strips of wood used to build underlying structures (armatures) for sculptures or to construct custom canvas stretchers and supports.
Lathe
A machine tool that rotates a workpiece on its axis to perform operations like cutting, sanding, or shaping. Essential for woodturning and some forms of sculpture.
Layout Paper
A thin, semi-opaque paper with a smooth surface, designed for initial sketches, layouts, and marker drawings, as it resists ink bleeding.
Lead Holder
A drawing instrument that holds thick sticks of graphite or colored lead (typically 2mm+). It functions like a mechanical pencil but offers a more robust, weighty feel.
Leaf
Extremely thin sheets of metal used for gilding. It is applied to surfaces with an adhesive (size) to create a brilliant, metallic finish on paintings or sculptures.
Leather
A durable material made from animal hide, used in bookbinding, mixed-media art, and sculpture. It can be tooled, stamped, carved, and stitched.
Lettering Brush
A specialty brush with long, flat or pointed bristles, designed to hold a good amount of paint and deliver crisp, controlled strokes for calligraphy and lettering.
Lettering Pen
Any pen designed for creating stylized writing and calligraphy. They can have flexible nibs, brush tips, or flat tips to achieve various line widths and styles.
Letterpress
A printmaking machine that creates an impression by pressing an inked, raised surface (type or plates) onto paper. It produces a distinct tactile quality.
Level
A tool used to determine if a surface is perfectly horizontal or vertical. Essential for hanging artwork correctly or setting up large canvases and sculptures.
Lifting Preparation
A fluid applied to watercolor paper before painting. It allows dried watercolor paint to be more easily lifted or removed with a wet brush, enabling corrections.
Light Box
A flat box with a translucent, illuminated surface. It is used by artists to easily trace images from one sheet of paper to another.
Lighting
Artificial light sources used in an artist’s studio to provide consistent, high-quality illumination for creating and viewing artwork, especially for color accuracy.
Limestone
A type of sedimentary rock ground perfectly flat for use in traditional lithography, a printmaking process based on the repulsion of oil and water.
Linen
A strong, durable fabric made from the flax plant. Prized as a premium surface for painting (as canvas) due to its fine, tight weave and longevity.
Liner Brush
A paintbrush with very long, thin bristles that come to a fine point. It’s designed for painting long, continuous, fine lines, details, and calligraphic marks.
Linoleum Block
A block made of a composite material (linseed oil, cork dust) which is carved into for linocut, a relief printmaking technique.
Linoleum Cutter
A handheld tool with a sharp metal nib (gouge) used to carve a design into a linoleum block. Nibs come in various shapes for different line types.
Linseed Oil
A traditional oil painting medium extracted from flax seeds. It’s mixed with oil paints to increase flow, transparency, and gloss, and it slows drying time.
Liquid Charcoal
A fluid art material that allows artists to use charcoal in a painterly way. It can be applied with a brush and thinned with water to create washes and tones.
Liquid Graphite
Powdered graphite in a liquid binder, allowing it to be used like paint. It dries to a metallic, graphite sheen and can be polished after drying.
Liquid Medium
A general term for any fluid additive mixed with paint (acrylic or oil) to alter its properties, such as consistency, drying time, transparency, or finish.
Liquid Watercolors
Highly concentrated, fluid watercolors sold in bottles. Known for their vibrant, brilliant colors, they are popular with illustrators and can be used with brushes or pens.
Lithographic Crayon
A greasy drawing tool used in lithography to draw an image on a limestone block or plate. The greasy material attracts the ink during the printing process.
Lithographic Press
A specialized printmaking press that uses a scraper bar to apply even, heavy pressure across a stone or plate to transfer the inked image to paper.
Loom
A frame or machine used for weaving thread or yarn into fabric or a tapestry. Looms range from small, handheld frames to large, complex floor models.
Loop Tool
A sculpting and ceramics tool featuring a looped piece of flattened wire at the end of a handle. It’s used for trimming, shaping, and hollowing out clay.
Loupe
A small, high-powered magnifying glass used to inspect fine details in artwork, check print registration, or examine the quality of materials up close.
Low-tack Tape
A gentle adhesive tape designed to be easily removable without damaging the paper or surface underneath. It’s used for masking edges or temporarily holding paper.
Lumber
Processed wood in various sizes. Artists use it for sculpture, building frames and supports for canvases, creating wood panels, and in mixed media construction.
Luster
A type of ceramic overglaze containing metallic particles that, when fired, creates a thin, iridescent, or metallic layer on the surface of pottery.