About t-bar ranch

The mission of T-Bar Ranch is to supply affordable and reliable lithography drawing materials to artists. 

I have been drawing and printing lithographs for over ten years and have used most of the litho materials on the market. Despite finding success over the years, the quality and formulas of these materials continue to change over time, making it difficult to achieve reliable results. In addition to the troubles with quality, the prices of the crayons and pencils on the market have made it prohibitively expensive for artists, especially students, to draw lithographs. 

In the spring of 2022, I began formulating my own litho crayons. The recipes reference the historic recipes of Senefelder and Bolton Brown, and are improved by the addition of more modern ingredients. Each recipe went through many formulations to achieve these optimal drawing qualities:

• to deposit greasy material on the stone
• to have proper pigmentation to accurately depict the drawing
• to provide a comfortable feel for the artist
• to stick without being too sticky
• to be smooth without being slippery
• to be durable without being brittle

The final formulations have excellent qualities for sharpening and holding a point. They give a comfortable and smooth feel when drawing. All crayons are waterproof and very durable to etches.