dina1965

I checked the brands. Ricki set squares from last yr are marked "top quality cmr srl" - the ones he had to buy have a sticker "strumento per studenti" which goes on to explain how the edges are made especially for beginners and the article has been "rigorosamente controllato e rettificato". at this point I don't think it's the teacher (architect) who's making money, it's the company that's making them. I don't know how the HB scale works (Testa, you probably do) - he had to buy faber castell HB3 - generic HB/HB2 pencils are the wrong type. but aren't all rubbers just rubbers ??? came home with 1.40 euro out of the 20 I gave him.

Lorna at Vicenza

HB is the standard middle of the grading system writing pencil.
The H pencils get harder and harder lead as they go up 2H 3H 4H etc.
The B pencils get softer and softer lead as they go down 2B 3B 4B 5B etc.

I did art A level and we alway used soft pencils for sketching and even softer ones for shading and smudging etc. Hard pencils make thin, clear lines but are no good for artists as they can leave indentation marks on the soft paper, they don't smudge and are harder to erase.

Any soft rubber should be good enough to cancel a few pencil lines.

dina1965

thanks Lorna - there is some logic then in the teacher's request !

TestaRossa

BUT you are right to think there are erasers and erasers! We had to have a putty rubber - better for soft pencils and charcoal - and a pencil rubber which is for harder hb to h pencils and is the normal White plastic one. Alex has to buy proper art materials thinking about it but I get billed for them every term so it didn't register tbh. He's had to right from the start. We had to buy the proper rough drawing paper for Antonia too at €6/20 sheets!

And yes different companies produce better quality pencils. Faber castell are one of the best, I also like Derwent but for coloured pencils it has to be Caran d'ache!!!

Lorna at Vicenza

Putty rubbers are normally for artist type softer pencils though aren't they so any decent soft rubber should be fine for mathematical graph or architect lines.

37100

At the Media my 2 had to have putty rubbers.

Lorna at Vicenza

I think I'm dreading the media.
I'm saving up for it now.

37100

And I'm sure the reason it's called gomma pane here is because they ate the damn stuff!

TestaRossa

Mmm, a bit like blu-tack but not as tough....

indiebird

I think it's because you can use bits of scrunched up white bread as a putty eraser too. When I did Art GCSE I loved pastels and a piece out of the middle of a slice of bread was perfect for lifting out colour to create highlights....

I've got to go and get H a new flat brush for art as I brought a white bristled one and it should have been black as the white bristles leave lines on your paper apparently peed me right off as it cost €4 and it didn't specify black bristles on the bit of paper... I'd already scraped the top of the handle too so I could write his name on it in sharpie......

Lorna at Vicenza

It must be something to do with the type and quality of the bristle - it can't possibly be just about the colour.

Was the black one more expensive?

indiebird

tbh, I sent Jamie with H so not really sure. H also saw the mum of someone else at the cartaloria and she brought the same stuff as he did so this boy had the wrong one too.... It must be but they asked the lady in the shop cos it had to be 'ox hair' or 'synthetic' and that's what she said was that... all the round brushes were black though....

Lorna at Vicenza

It's quite sickening to think that I went up to art A level and my mum didn't have to buy me one sketch pad, brush, paints, pastels, stick of charcoal or anything.

If we wanted to we could buy our own more expensive brushes or whatever but the school art room was very well equipped with good materials. I loved my art lessons.

Patty

Same here Lorna - we had a great art lab, we had a cookery lab and and a biology lab and a swimming pool and tennis courts......
My son's school looks a bit like an asylum in those old films

TestaRossa

My old school didn't have a pool but they've sold off the tennis courts and playing fields for housing and god knows now about the rest!! That was in Manchester.