NCEA Art Supplies Checklist (NZ): Everything for Your Folio & Workbook

Starting NCEA Visual Arts and not sure what to actually buy? This is the practical, Kiwi-priced supply checklist for building your folio — from Level 1 through to your Level 2 and 3 external portfolio. We've grouped everything by what it's for, so you can tick it off in one go.

Quick note before you shop: your NCEA external submission is a three-panel folio board (or a moving-image portfolio), developed alongside a workbook. Exact board sizes, media and any school-supplied materials vary by school and by your chosen field — painting, design, printmaking, photography or sculpture. Always confirm the specifics with your art teacher first. This checklist covers the art materials you'll use to make the work.

The quick NCEA art supply checklist

• Painting surfaces — canvas and canvas panels
• Paint — acrylics (the all-rounder), plus oils or watercolour if that's your field
• A set of brushes
• Drawing media — pencils and charcoal
• A visual diary / workbook and paper pads
• Gesso for priming your surfaces

Prefer to grab it all in one go? Skip to the folio kits below.

Surfaces: canvas, board & paper

Most painting and design folios are built on stretched canvas or lighter canvas panels — panels are great for early studies and mock-ups where you don't want to spend big. For drawing, design and preparatory work you'll want a range of art pads and paper in different weights. Buy a few more sheets than you think you need; you'll iterate more than you expect.

Paint & colour

Acrylics are the workhorse of most NCEA painting folios: fast-drying, forgiving, and they sit well on canvas and board. Build a core palette — the primaries plus white, black and an earth tone — and add colours as your work needs them. If your field is oil painting, our oil range gives you longer blending time; for a lighter, layered look, watercolour is the pick.

Brushes & tools

A small, well-chosen brush set beats a big cheap one. Aim for a couple of flats, a round and a fine detail brush to start — enough to cover broad areas and tidy your edges. Look after them and they'll last the whole year.

Drawing & your workbook

Your workbook does a lot of the heavy lifting in NCEA — it's where you show your thinking, your artist models and your development. Keep a visual diary going in parallel with your folio from day one. Stock up on graphite pencils across a range of grades and some charcoal for tonal and gestural work. Browse the full drawing range for fineliners, markers and more.

Primers & mediums

A coat or two of gesso preps raw canvas or board so your paint goes further and grips better — a small step that noticeably lifts the finish of a folio panel.

The easy option: NCEA folio kits

If you'd rather not build a list from scratch, we've put together ready-made bundles for exactly this:

• NCEA Art Folio Starter Kit — Year 12 & 13: canvas, acrylics and brushes for Level 2 and 3 portfolio work.
• NCEA Art Student Kit: a complete Year 11–13 supplies bundle.

See all our art sets and kits for more options.

A quick word on authenticity

Your folio must be your own original work. NZQA does not permit generative-AI imagery in Visual Arts portfolios, and appropriated imagery isn't allowed either — so keep your process visible in your workbook with photos of works in progress, studies and artist models. It protects your grade, and it's genuinely how the strongest folios come together.

Three tips that make the year easier

• Start early and buy consumables in bulk. You'll get through more paint, paper and canvas than you expect — buying ahead saves money and mid-project panic.
• Work in your workbook in parallel, not at the end. Development evidence is where a lot of the marks live.
• Kiwi pricing, fast dispatch. We ship NZ-wide from our Auckland store, usually same or next business day — handy when a deadline sneaks up.

Not sure what suits your field or level? Email us — we're a Kiwi-owned craft store and we're happy to help students and teachers put a list together.