Museum of Forgotten Art Supply

At least half of this stuff is still used pretty regularly

For real ancient artifacts, consider the architect's rule and slide rule.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds

i have inherited all of my mom's art supplies and i totally have those. they were great for arts & crafts when i was growing up, and definitely helped with my creativity today!

Seriously we use pantone swatch books all the time! And there's still room for burnishers and whatnot in our office. Neat collection nonetheless.

I'm 30 years old - a relative newbie in the illustration/design field and I still use a lot of these tools along with the computer.

Just try and draw shapes like that in Illustrator...
Oh, and why are old photographs so much sharper than our 8+ Megapixel modern snaps?

I sew, and I use french curves all the time when drafting or altering patterns. Of course, the one I usually use is 2 feet long, but the smaller ones are invaluable for creating curved darts and other interesting details.

Ah the old French curves. Much racier than our staid English curves.

My father was a classically trained graphic artist (RISD '65) and ran a commercial art studio in Boston for more than 20 years. In his world, if you wanted a different font you either had to pick it out of a book and pay a company to "set" the type for you - or you had to draw the font yourself. Tools like those above were the regular playthings of my youth.

I wouldn´t say they are forgotten.

God there's a blast from the past.

French Curves.

Well that's what we uised to call them.

But as has been stated, a lot of that stuff is still in use...I look to my left and see ISOGRAPHS and Rapidographs of mine some which were new whn my Dad bought them in the early 50's and they still work fine.

I have two full sets of Isographs, one that has only ever known white ink.

But i now use the computer so much than when I find my slef makign a mistake with a pen I keep mutterign "undo".

French curves, still used. Neatorama gettin' a lotta flack fer this.

I bought my ten year old son a set of French Curves earlier this year - he wanted them for drawing sinuous dragons.

I'm currently a sophomore architect student and we still use a lot of these tools for the first two years. Its hand drafting until junior year.

Those Rapidographs are fun stuff. Don't mess up

Beside the fact that a lot of these tools are still in regular use, many of them have become indispensable to digital artists using the Wacom Cintiq tablets. A standard tablet doesn't let you maintain a consistent orientation of the pen tool on the work, but the Cintiq does, which lets you to use rulers and curves right on the screen. Very nifty, and the reason I bought one.

As an aside, I was an ID major in the mid 80s (ACCD), and we had to make our own set of ship's curves in the shop. Ship's curves are kind of like French curves, but larger and straighter, and were traditionally used for drawing the section curves on ship blueprints. Making one's own drawing tools is a sweet memory I'm afraid few students get to experience today.

@Kyle - that's awesome they start you on traditional tools. I was a draftsman, then and industrial designer for years while using only traditional tools. I LOVED Rapidographs and did much of my early personal artworks with them. Sure, there were disadvantages to those "ancient" tools sometimes, but the deep understanding you gain from using these will forever serve you better than any "here's what button to press" sort of "education".

>>>end of rambling post....

oh sweet coloraid sheet. I don't miss those things at all. I just remember screwing up. drawing letterforms by hand taught me a fine appreciation of letterforms but sweet jesus, that was torture. Let's add, the aforementioned coloraid, guache, and amberlith to the list. bleck. nostalgia is nice but I'll take my imac any old day!

I had a class where we weren't allowed to use a computer to so various projects and it was one of the best experiences ever. It makes you really appreciate a well done job and it sparked my interest on typography :)

Here is a set of French curves on ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-French-Curve-Set-of-8-Drafting-Drawing-Curves_W0QQitemZ160259457761QQihZ006QQcategoryZ11784QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
They are not mine, I just saw them and thought someone might be interested. :)

Lol behold the internet! Where ancient people used ancient devices called the "computer" to access now-obsolete "information"!

Finding art supplies that are the exact fit for every artist can be a tall order, but at Trekell we are committed to the quality of our products and have been offering our customers the very best in fine art supplies and art brushes for decades.

A wide variety of products that cater to all price ranges, ages, and styles of art.

I still have stuff like these :D I use them along with my graphic tablet. Fun :)

Yep, I remember the day of drafting by hand in the 80's. There was quite a sense of accomplishment with it, but the artistic expression was slow. CAD and photo shop seam to have done away with the old school style, but there's a quality to the old way that just can't be matched with a computer.

They are not yet forgotten. They are great collection nonetheless.

Never knew this site existed. I have Zipatone by the carload. Also
Press type and loads of mechanical pens. Don't know what to do with them. I'd welcome suggestions