Here you’ll find 35 Art supplies that start with R, organized from “Rag” to “Rust Activator”. They include common studio basics and specialized additives used in drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, and mixed media.
Art supplies that start with R are tangible materials and tools artists use to make visual work. For example, rags have long served painters for blending and cleaning brushes since classical ateliers.
Below you’ll find the table with Item, Usage, Popular brands.
Item: Names of physical supplies and tools starting with R, so you can quickly spot specific materials.
Usage: Short, practical notes on how you or other artists commonly use each supply in studio workflows.
Popular brands: One to three widely available brands to help you compare products when buying or researching options.
Art supplies that start with R
| Name | Type | Typical Use | Popular Brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rag | Tool/Consumable | Wiping brushes, blending charcoal, or cleaning surfaces. | N/A (generic) |
| Rapidograph Pen | Technical Pen | Creating precise, consistent ink lines for drafting or drawing. | Rotring; Koh-I-Noor; Staedtler |
| Rasp | Sculpting Tool | Coarsely shaping wood, stone, plaster, or other materials. | Nicholson; Auriou; Dasco Pro |
| Raw Pigment | Paintmaking Material | Grinding with a binder to create custom paints. | Kremer Pigmente; Gamblin; Schmincke |
| Raw Sienna | Pigment/Paint | A natural earth color for painting, glazing, and underpainting. | Winsor & Newton; Daniel Smith; Golden |
| Raw Umber | Pigment/Paint | A cool, dark earth tone for shadows and mixing neutrals. | Winsor & Newton; Liquitex; Old Holland |
| Razor Blade | Cutting Tool | Sharpening pencils, sgraffito techniques, or precise cutting. | X-Acto; Stanley; generic |
| Red Ochre | Pigment/Paint | A classic reddish-brown earth color in painting. | Natural Pigments; Daniel Smith; Gamblin |
| Red Sable Brush | Brush | Painting with watercolor, oil, or acrylic paints. | Winsor & Newton; Princeton; Escoda |
| Reducer | Medium/Solvent | Thinning screen printing or other inks to a lower viscosity. | Speedball; Jacquard; Permaset |
| Reed Pen | Drawing Tool | Creating expressive, variable-width ink lines. | N/A (often handmade); Speedball |
| Registration Pins | Printmaking Tool | Aligning paper perfectly for multi-color print editions. | Ternes Burton; McClain’s |
| Release Agent | Mold Making Supply | Preventing casting materials from sticking to molds. | Smooth-On; Mann; Stoner |
| Relief Ink | Ink | Applying to a raised surface for printmaking (woodcut, linocut). | Speedball; Gamblin; Caligo |
| Resin | Casting Material/Medium | Casting objects, creating glossy coatings, or mixed media art. | ArtResin; EnviroTex Lite; Alumilite |
| Resist | Masking Material | Blocking paint or dye from absorbing into a surface. | Jacquard; Deka; Fineline |
| Retarder | Paint Medium | Slowing the drying time of acrylic paints. | Golden; Liquitex; Winsor & Newton |
| Rice Paper | Paper | Sumi-e painting, calligraphy, printmaking, and collage. | Yasutomo; Aitoh; Black Ink |
| Rigger Brush | Brush | Painting long, fine, continuous lines, like ship rigging. | Princeton; Da Vinci; Escoda |
| Rocking Knife | Printmaking Tool | Preparing a metal plate for mezzotint by creating a rough texture. | E.C. Lyons; McClain’s |
| Roller | Tool | Applying ink for printmaking or paint to large surfaces. | Speedball; Inovart; Essdee |
| Rolling Pin | Tool | Flattening clay slabs or pressing down linocuts for printing. | N/A (generic); Amaco |
| Rope | Mixed Media Material | Sculpture, installation art, collage, and macrame. | N/A (generic) |
| Rose Madder | Pigment/Paint | A transparent, deep pinkish-red color in painting. | Winsor & Newton; Daniel Smith; Schmincke |
| Rosin | Printmaking Material | Creating tonal areas in aquatint etching. | N/A (generic); McClain’s |
| Rotary Cutter | Cutting Tool | Making clean, straight cuts through paper, fabric, or vinyl. | Olfa; Fiskars; Cricut |
| Round Brush | Brush | A versatile brush for lines, details, and filling areas. | Princeton; Silver Brush; Robert Simmons |
| Roundel | Support/Surface | A circular canvas, panel, or surface for painting. | Masterpiece; Ampersand; Fredrix |
| Roving | Fiber Material | Needle felting, wet felting, spinning yarn, and textile art. | Ashford; Living Dreams; Paradise Fibers |
| Rubber Cement | Adhesive | Mounting artwork and creating temporary, removable bonds. | Elmer’s; Best-Test |
| Rubber Stamps | Printing Tool | Imprinting designs with ink onto paper or other surfaces. | Hero Arts; Ranger; Stampin’ Up! |
| Rubbing Alcohol | Solvent/Medium | Creating special effects with alcohol inks or for cleaning. | N/A (generic isopropyl alcohol) |
| Rubbing Plate | Drawing Tool | Creating textures by placing paper over the plate and rubbing. | Roylco; Crayon |
| Ruler | Drawing Tool | Measuring and drawing straight lines. | Staedtler; Westcott; Alvin |
| Rust Activator | Finishing Supply | Creating an authentic rust patina on iron-based paint. | Modern Masters; Sophisticated Finishes |
Descriptions
Rag
An essential, absorbent cloth, often from old t-shirts or sold in bags, used for various cleanup and blending tasks in painting and drawing.
Rapidograph Pen
A refillable technical pen with a needle-point nib, valued by architects and illustrators for its uniform, controlled line width and precision.
Rasp
A long, steel tool with sharp, raised teeth for aggressively removing material from sculptures, especially in initial shaping stages.
Raw Pigment
Pure, dry, powdered colorant from natural or synthetic sources, giving artists ultimate control over their paint’s consistency, texture, and hue.
Raw Sienna
A yellowish-brown earth pigment, valued for its transparency and warm, golden undertones. Available as dry pigment, watercolor, oil, or acrylic paint.
Raw Umber
A dark brown earth pigment containing manganese, creating a cool, greenish-brown hue. A staple on many artists’ palettes for its mixing properties.
Razor Blade
A single-edge blade used for detailed cutting, scraping back layers of paint (sgraffito), or creating sharp points on drawing tools.
Red Ochre
One of the oldest pigments used by humans, this natural iron oxide provides an opaque, lightfast, and permanent reddish-brown color.
Red Sable Brush
A natural hair brush made from weasel tail. It’s a more affordable alternative to Kolinsky sable, offering good paint-holding capacity and spring.
Reducer
A type of solvent or transparent base added to inks, primarily in screen printing, to make them flow more easily through the screen mesh.
Reed Pen
A historic drawing instrument made from a single piece of reed or bamboo, cut to a point. It produces a bold, gestural line.
Registration Pins
Small metal tabs or buttons attached to a printing surface that hold paper in the exact same position for each successive print layer.
Release Agent
A chemical, often a spray or wax, applied to the inside of a mold to ensure that the cast object can be removed cleanly without damage.
Relief Ink
A thick, tacky ink, either oil-based or water-soluble, specifically formulated to roll out smoothly and adhere to the raised surface of a printing block.
Resin
A two-part liquid compound that cures into a hard, clear, plastic-like substance. Popular for “river tables,” jewelry, and poured art.
Resist
A substance, like wax or liquid frisket, applied to a surface to prevent color from penetrating that area, as in watercolor painting or batik.
Retarder
An additive mixed into acrylic paint to increase its open time, allowing for longer blending and manipulation, similar to oil paints.
Rice Paper
A lightweight, translucent, and absorbent paper traditionally made from plant fibers. Prized for its delicate texture and bleeding effects with ink.
Rigger Brush
A paintbrush with very long, thin bristles that can hold a lot of fluid paint, enabling the artist to create elegant, unbroken lines.
Rocking Knife
Also known as a “rocker,” this is a wide, curved blade with fine teeth that is rocked across a copper plate to create thousands of tiny pits.
Roller
A tool with a handle and a rotating cylinder (often rubber), used to apply a thin, even layer of ink or paint. Also known as a brayer.
Rolling Pin
A cylindrical tool, often made of wood or acrylic, used in ceramics to create even slabs of clay or in printmaking as a low-tech press.
Rope
A thick cord made from twisted natural or synthetic fibers, used as a structural or textural element in a wide range of three-dimensional art.
Rose Madder
A historically significant pigment, originally from the madder plant root. Modern versions are synthetic but replicate its beautiful, transparent rose color.
Rosin
A fine, powdered tree resin that is dusted onto a metal plate and heated. Acid then bites the plate around the melted dots of rosin.
Rotary Cutter
A handheld tool with a sharp, rolling circular blade. It’s used with a ruler and cutting mat for quick, precise cuts, especially in textiles and crafts.
Round Brush
A paintbrush with a round ferrule and bristles that come to a sharp point. It is a fundamental and versatile shape for nearly any painting medium.
Roundel
A circular painting surface, also known as a tondo. This non-rectangular format offers a unique compositional challenge and historical resonance.
Roving
A long, narrow bundle of carded fibers, usually wool, that has not yet been spun into yarn. It’s the primary material for creating felted sculptures.
Rubber Cement
A latex-based adhesive that is popular for temporarily positioning photos or paper because it can be rubbed away without damaging the surface.
Rubber Stamps
A tool with a raised design made of rubber, mounted on a block. When inked, it transfers the design, making it popular in printmaking and mixed media.
Rubbing Alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol used by artists, especially with alcohol inks, to blend colors, create textures, and lift ink from non-porous surfaces.
Rubbing Plate
A thin, flexible plastic plate with a raised, repeating texture. Paper is placed over it, and a crayon or pencil is rubbed on top to transfer the pattern.
Ruler
A fundamental tool for measurement and creating straight edges in drawing, drafting, and design. Can be made of plastic, wood, or metal.
Rust Activator
A chemical solution that is applied over a paint containing iron particles, which rapidly oxidizes the metal to create a real rust finish.