Alright you lot, how's it going?
I get asked about this quite a bit so I thought, today I would go through my most commonly
used art supplies.
So my go-to drawing and painting bits and bobs; pens, paper, the lot.
And it's actually not that many things.
You know my style is quite simple and I don't really need that many different supplies.
So, let's crack on.
Uh, to start off with, let's take a look at paper.
I do most of my work in sketchbooks cos I struggle to keep a handle on lots of loose
bits of paper all over the place and, as I mainly use paint and ink in my artwork, I
like to use either watercolour or mixed-media paper.
I personally don't mind textured paper but you can also find watercolour paper that's
a lot smoother.
So at the moment I'm using this Daler Rowney mixed-media sketchbook as well as this smaller
Strathmore sketchbook.
And info on everything featured in this video will be in the description.
They're both pretty similar in quality.
The Strathmore feels maybe a little bit sturdier.
You'll have seen me recently also using my Leuchtturm1917 sketchbook.
This isn't a mixed-media sketchbook but it deals well enough with wet application.
As I've said before, ink from my brush pens does feather slightly into the paper but it's
not something that you notice when you're looking at the finished drawing, it's more
just how it feels when you're drawing, like less control over line thickness.
In the past I've also really enjoyed using moleskine sketchbooks, especially their watercolour
ones.
Then, I always have at least one really rough, cheaper sketchbook on the go to encourage
me to draw things without worrying about getting it wrong and wasting paper.
So, for everyday practice I use this A3 sketchbook from Muji and then for doodles and just as
a sort of train of thought art journal, I use this SeaWhite Eco sketchbook which was
super-cheap!
And deals surprisingly well with ink.
Feathering a little bit but never bleeding through to the other side.
Speaking or ink, let's more on to pens and pencils.
I really only use one pencil.
It's this Staedtler mechanical pencil with 0.5 millimeter graphite I think HB refills.
Uh, I just prefer the convenience of not having to sharpen it and always having a really precise
line.
If I'm ever doing a proper pencil sketch like maybe a life drawing study that needs better
shading and all that, I use this set that I've had for absolutely forever, and you can
see for the most part it's barely been used, and I'm pretty sure it's from the 99p store!
I'd say the main focus of my art is in the inking and linework so the pens I use are
really important.
I have this white gel pen that I use for details that I've seen quite a lot among artists.
Um, it's very basic and it's very affordable.
Now you know I love my Pentel Pocket Brush pen.
I've tried a few brush pens over the years and this one has always been the one that
I go back to.
I love that it's water resistant and that it's refillable.
I've also been using this Zig Clean Color brush pen which is not water resistant or
refillable.
I've already been through two of them in a few months while I've had the same pentel
brush pen for at least a couple of years now.
But, something about the brush tip of this pen gives me a lot better control over my
line thickness.
If I really wanna vary my lines or fill in big spaces, I will also use india ink which
IS water resistant and a lovely and deep black and can sometimes have a bit of a glossy finish.
And I've just decanted this into a little jar and then, with it, I'll use whatever paintbrush
I see fit.
Which leads us nicely into paint and brushes.
My paintbrush collection is nothing special.
I've never been good at taking care of brushes, so I've always just had this system of buying
cheap brushes and then replacing them whenever I need to.
Which is a bit wasteful I know but I also know that I'm too lazy to give proper brushes
the care that they need.
You'll have noticed that I use flat brushes a lot.
These ones are definitely due to be replaced but I like That you can cover large spaces
with them but also use the pointed edge to get into tight spots.
I also have a set of very small precision brushes that I use for line-work and detailing
that you'll have seen in my last video.
Again, these are quite cheap but I do take slightly better care of them, not leaving
them in water and trying to keep these little plastic covers on them as well.
My current favourite paint will be no surprise to you.
I mainly use gouache for my paintings, sometimes adding in watercolour if I'm in the mood for
that too.
So that brand of gouache I use is Winsor and Newton.
I also use Reeves, mainly to mix with the Winsor and Newton as the quality of the Reeves
paint can be a bit hit and miss.
And I have this big tube of white Pebeo gouache paint because I found my smaller tubes of
white paint were running out really quickly and I wanted something that would last.
I mix my paint in this plastic palette I got from amazon and I wash my brushes in this
cute, glass jar I got in a set from Sainsbury's.
And that's kind of it for my basic supplies.
As I said, it's all stuff that you've seen before.
But now for a couple of quick extras, I thought I'd show you some of the sort of behind the
scenes stuff starting with a tiny bit of tech that I use.
So when I first started uploading my artwork online, I spent a whole heap of money on a
big snazzy scanner but I found that it really washed out the details of my art so after
a bit of research I ended up with what I was looking for which is this Canon canoscan scanner.
Yeah.
Now this is more of a beginners scanner I think.
It isn't necessarily the best scanner out there for quality art and obviously the size
of it is quite limiting but it gives me a much truer digital copy of my art than any
other scanner I've used so far.
Once my art is in the computer, I don't do too much digital reworking but whenever I
do, I use Gimp which is a free software that's quite similar to photoshop just obviously
not as extensive.
But it does everything I need and there are a million tutorials here on youtube of how
to use it.
But if like me you don't need some heavy duty digital editing I'd really recommend checking
it out.
For my camera and lighting which I use to photography my art, you can see al that in
my 'how I film my videos' video.
So for inspiration when I need a bit of a visual prompt, I always keep comics and art
books at hand.
At the moment I have this vintage Avengers comic on m desk which is great to flip through,
sometimes just for a bit of a laugh.
I 'borrowed' this from my sister but I usually get a couple of new books a month for like
50p from the charity shop or car boot sales.
And just to throw in one more thing, when I'm cutting my art down to size, I use this
mat and a knife or, uh, this trimmer thing.
Now if you're looking for a more extensive look at the art supplies I own including markers
and things that I don't use so often, plus a few ways that I store my art and how I store
my art supplies, then you can check out a blog post that I wrote to accompany this video
that features everything I've mentioned here plus all that extra stuff and that'll be linked
on screen now and in the description of the video.
And one last, last thing.
I did say to a few people that have asked over the last few months that I would do a
Q&A video if and when I got to 10,000 subscribers so since we actually made I thought it would
be nice to answer any questions you all might have whether they be art related or about
me or whatever.
So I'll be recording and posting that in two weeks time in the meantime you can ask me
your questions in the comments of this video, and at some point I'll post a picture on instagram
asking you to comment on that with your questions.
And I'll be accepting anonymous questions on tumblr as well, um, but I can;t guarantee
that they'll all be featured and, if you're leaving an anonymous question on tumblr, let
me know in that question that it's for the Q&A video.
And all the links to my social media pages will be in the description of this video as
usual.
So, thank you so much for watching, don't forget to check out the video description
for all the items mentioned in this video and I will see you next time!
Bye!