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CHAPTER ELEVEN 
 

Establishing the basic Art Making  
Tools and Materials  

Chidi Uzoh, & Valentine Ani 

 
Introduction 

rt materials generally are the various media of 
expression which artists employ to express their 
ideas in creative processes. Some of these 

materials are paper, stone, linoleum, wood, marble, fabrics, 
canvas, dye, paints, inks, wax, cement, fibre, clay, etc. 
(Ngumah, Et Al (2013). Art tools can be described as any 
hand-operated machine or any operated device that is 
employed by artists to create artwork. There are numerous 
tools an artist can recon with, and they vary according to 
one’s specialised area. For instance, a painter is expected 
to use a mounted canvas as his support for visual 
expression, a sculptor uses a chisel and mallet to chip out 
parts of a stone or wood to form an image, a printmaker 
cuts out the negative spaces on linoleum or plywood, roll 
colours on the matrixes, and make multiple prints on 
paper or other surfaces, and so on.  Various tools for the 
production of art shall be enunciated in various sub-
categories.  
 
 
 

A 



Establishing the basic Art Making Tools and Materials 

182 
 

Drawing 
Drawing entails delineation or markings on two-
dimensional surfaces, using materials, or drawing media 
such as pencils, with soft lead (B grades), charcoal, pen, 
and ink, markers, chalk, drawing papers, drawing pins, 
crayons, brushes, pastels, drawing boards and donkeys.  
  

 
 

Plate 1: assorted drawing materials, including paper 
Source: google.com 

 
Graphic Design 
The narrative of graphic design had changed long ago, 
with the invention of the personal computer in the 1970s. 
The era of using mechanical tools to produce camera-
ready artwork is gone. Today, the designer deploys some 
tools, including software to work for his clients. Before 
the 1970s, various mechanical or technical tools were used 
for the production of graphic design jobs such as 



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183 
 

almanacs, adverts, brochures, and so on. These tools were 
needed to enhance the sharpness and accuracy of work, 
among them, are; a ruler, T-square, set of brushes, drawing 
board, mathematical set, or drawing set, paper and 
cardboard sheets, pencil, eraser, poster colour, 
watercolour, markers pen and ink, scissors, cutter knife, 
palette, the personal computer, and printers. It is not that 
these mechanical tools are no longer useful for art making 
today, but more sophisticated workstations have taken 
over the scene.  

 
 

Plate 2: The designer’s workstation 
Source: google.com 

Currently, graphic design has been shifted from traditional 
hand-drawing to computer-aided design comprehensively, 



Establishing the basic Art Making Tools and Materials 

184 
 

which allows the design concept to be effectively 
transformed into gorgeous realistic graphics (Kumar and  
Kumar, 2017) 
 
When using the workstation, the tools are the personal 
computer, the artist’s android phone, an iPad, a high-
definition camera, a flatbed scanner, a graphic tablet, 
printer, a mouse, sketch pads, pencils, ink, and so on. 
 
Clay Modelling 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Plate 3: Pottery, Ladi Kwali creating her designs. Photograph: W.A. 
Ismay/Image courtesy of York Museums Trust (York Art Gallery) 

 

Clay modelling is an additive creative process on 3-
dimensional space, using clay. Some modelling materials 
include clay plasticine, paper mache, paper pulp, pestle 



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185 
 

and mortar, broken pots, modelling tools, modelling 
sticks, broken calabash, wire, knife, and a bunch of 
brooms. A piece of plyboard or a wooden plank can serve 
as a base on which the work is to stand.  
 
Tie Dye 
Tie-and-dye is a hand method of producing patterns in 
textiles by tying portions of the fabric or yarn so that 
they will not absorb the dye. The process involves 
folding, twisting, pleating, or crumpling fabric or a 
garment and binding it with string or rubber bands, 
followed by the application of dye (Popoola, 2018). The 
required materials are 100% cotton material fabrics, raffia 
or cotton thread,  hand gloves, buckets, dye chemicals- 
sodium hydrosulphite, caustic soda, salt, water, store, pits, 
stick for stirring the dye, washing soap, scissors and some 
others.  
 
When beginning the tie-dye process, it’s best to start with 
a freshly laundered garment to remove any oils and 
adhesive residue… Using a 100% cotton material is best, 
but other natural fabrics (wool, silk, linen) and rayon, will 
work as well. Any material containing polyester will not 
yield desired results. Before any tying can occur, the shirt 
must be damp. This can be done by simply filling up a 
sink with water and submerging the shirts. Ring out the 
shirt before tying (Schukei, 2016) 
 



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Assemblage  
An "assemblage," extending the method initiated by the 
cubist painters, is a work of art made by fastening together 
cut or torn pieces of paper, clippings from newspapers, 
photographs, bits of cloth, fragments of wood, metal, or 
other such materials, shells or stones, or even objects such 
as knives and forks, chairs and tables, parts of dolls and 
mannequins, automobile fenders, steel boilers, and stuffed 
birds and animals (Seitz, 1961: 8). A good example of 
assemblage is collage, mosaic, some crafts, and metal 
sculpture. Metal assemblage involves the welding or fixing 
up of various metal parts to form an entirely new image. 
The same process applies to the building of bridges, and 
skyscrapers. 
 
 
References 
Ngumah, H. C, Ayoola, O.,  Dalhatu, S., and Samkay, A. 

(2013) Cultural and Creative Arts for Junior 
Secondary Schools. Ibadan: Evans Brothers Nigeria 
Ltd. 

Popoola, F. (2018). How to start, and sustain a tie-and-dye 
business. https://punchng.com/how-to-start-
sustain-a-tie-and-dye-business/ 

Raj Kumar, S. M. & Naveen Kumar, C. (2017). Design of 
Workstations for Computer Users: A Review.  IRE 
Journals Volume 1 Issue 4 | ISSN: 2456-8880. 



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https://www.researchgate.net/ 
publication/320611770_ 
Design_of_Workstations_for_Computer_Users_A_Rev
iew  

Schukei, Abby. (2016).  A Step-by-Step Guide to Tie-Dye in 
the Classroom. https://theartofeducation.edu/ 2 
016/06/13/step-step-guide-tie-dye-classroom/ 

Seitz, W. (1961). The art of assemblage. New York: The Museum 
of Modern Art. 

 


