The tools I’ve used over the years and the style of my art has continued to change,
but over time, I’ve gotten a really good idea of the supplies that work for me,
enhance my work and make my art a joy to create. So today, I’ll talk you through all the art
supplies I couldn’t live without, plus a word from our sponsor Skillshare, later in the video.
My paint of choice is obviously gouache. It’s versatile, impactful, and- once you get the hang
of it- it can be really receptive to however you want to use it. I tend not to use acrylic gouache,
I prefer to be able to rework my paint even after it’s dried. And as much as I love having all
the colours of the rainbow at my disposal- because how satisfying is that to look at-
I generally stick to a limited palette of 3-4 colours. Usually Ultramarine,
Yellow Ochre, either Magenta, Carmine or Geranium and Black and White.
My favourite brand is Holbein Artist’s Gouache- their range of colours is everything you
could possibly need, the quality and consistency of the paint is perfect,
the tubes hold up well over time- and they just look great, don't they- and you can generally
find a set of 5 mixing colours for about £25, which will last you a very long time. I’ve had
this set for almost 5 years now, they haven’t dried out at all, and I think
the only ones I got through entirely and had to replace are Black, White, a couple of reds,
Ultramarine and Yellow Ochre. A little bit really goes a long way with these.
Another favourite is Schmincke’s Designer’s Gouache. Again,
great quality- both of these brands are great for lightfastness as well- and with Schmincke,
at least for what I have access to, there’s a bit more range in the sizes of tubes you can get.
And finally, the gouache paints I’ve been using for the longest time and
always seem to come back to, if you’re wanting to start taking gouache painting
seriously and want a good quality set without making a huge investment,
the Royal Talens Extra Fine mixing colours set is great to cover you for
all your gouache painting needs. I go between all three of these brands and love them all, so just
go for the one that’s most easily accessible to you and most affordable wherever you are.
A quick note on watercolour because I still use that quite often as well;
I love Daniel Smith watercolours and I buy them in tubes which I then dry into pans.
The Payne’s Grey, Quinacrodone Magenta and Quinacrodone Burnt
Orange are honestly the stuff of dreams. Like they are colours that I would die for.
I’m not particular about brushes at all. Any decent watercolour or mixed media brush
will generally get the job done for me. The brushes I reach for most often are a Round
4- this one by Princeton is my most used brush, hands-down, I like a flat brush,
this one is a chiselled 5 from MozArt and I also love these 2 12’s from PanArt in India.
And for details I use a Round 2- this one again from PanArt in is really pretty but the bristles
are quite well-used, and I have this one from Jackson’s that has also suffered from
overuse. I don’t keep my brushes in water but over time- especially because I don’t tend to
buy pricier brushes- it’s normal for me to have to replace them every few years. And for the
finest details I use this 0 brush that I got in a set off Amazon.I only wanted a cheap one as I
replace these quite often but I had a look and I actually bought this way back in 2017 so… not bad!
Now a quick word from our sponsor. I mentioned in my latest vlog that I have a couple of big
projects on at the moment and I’ve honestly found myself getting a bit lost in them and not being
able to focus on my own passion projects, so I was really happy to find designer and letterer Lauren
Hom’s Skillshare class Creative Productivity: Build a Brief to Boost Your Passion Project. It
was such a breath of fresh air to delve into her ways of finding ideas and almost setting herself
personal commissions and projects, taking you from the concept stage from brief to getting
your work out into the world and, with her help, I now feel so inspired and empowered to take on
one of the many ideas that I’ve not felt ‘ready’ for. Sometimes all you need is a framework to get
you there. If you think it’ll help you, you can check that class out below, I’ll have it linked,
and the first 1,000 people to use my link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare. If you’re new
to Skillshare, it's an online learning community with thousands of online classes on topics from
Illustration, Writing and Photography to Business, Lifestyle and Productivity too. It’s the perfect
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German. So again, don’t forget to check out my link below, now back to the art supplies.
My all time favourite pens are this set from Faber Castell. In it, you get XS,
S, F, M nibs ranging from 0.1 mm - 0.7 mm, you also get a 1.5mm brush tip, 1.5mm bullet nib,
a soft brush tip, and soft chisel tip and, I kid you not, I use at least one of these-
usually the XS- every single day. Literally every day. If not for drawing, I also do all
my writing with these as well. The blacks are rich and pigmented, the ink is water-resistant
so you can watercolour right over these, they last ages, even the finest nibs hold up well
and the variety of nib sizes is just spot on for anything I ever need to use them for. And they
have a high lightfastness as well. Honestly, I don’t need anything else. With everything else
in this video, I’ll have different options and brands but these pens are just it.
However, sometimes I do like to draw with biro or ballpoint pen, I like that you can shade them
a bit more like pencil, so for that I will use a Bic Crysal Fine. Just a basic Bic like this.
The nib size on this is perfect for my style of drawing, just enough detail but not too sharp. And
the OG white gel pen for highlights and details is of course, the Sakura Gelly Roll.
For sketching- sketching that I plan on painting over- I usually use a Prismacolor ColErase pencil
in Light Peach or Terracotta. For actual pencil sketches- there’s always one tiny
pencil in these videos- I’m leaning a lot towards a B graphite pencil at the moment- sometimes HB,
but I’m only really using the HB at the moment because my B
looks like this. But B-HB …it’s just that perfect middle ground isn’t it. Lovely deep
blacks, but also not tooooo soft, you’re still able to get some sharp linework out of it.
And if I want the sharpest linework, the Uniball Kuru Toga mechanical pencil in
0.5 with a HB lead is the way to go.
If I’m using colouring pencils- which I have done with mixed results- I have the full set
of Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils which I love. They, again, have that good middle
ground for me where I can do sharpish outlines without the pencil immediately going blunt,
you can shade very lightly or really build on colour. Blending- hit or miss for me but that's
more down to my lack of practice with coloured pencils. I also have this smaller set of Caran
D’ache Luminance pencils which I completely forgot about until the absolute legend and total
babe Temi Danso told me that while Polychromos pencils aren’t the best for blending, I can at
least use the white Luminance pencil with the Polychromos to help with that. And otherwise I do
tend to use this white pencil whenever I want to add highlights or something to a graphite sketch.
The paper brand I use the most is Strathmore. They just seem to have everything I need,
in every kind of way, different colours, weights, textures and for different media, acid-free
of course. I’m sorted. I also have received a lot of paper from Hahnemuhle which is again,
lovely quality and they have a lot of different options as well. My favourite of theirs is their
Harmony line of papers. But whatever brand I’m using,
I’ve learned that I prefer a smooth or smooth-ish, hot-pressed paper.
I feel like I’ve found my happy place with sketchbooks. I have
so many of them and I have used so many of them- and
half-used so many of them- and I’m finally settling into what I think works best for me.
Stillman and Birn, softcover sketchbooks. This one is an Alpha Series, I’ve also tried their
Beta and Zeta Series papers as well, but this one I think works best for me and how I use
my sketchbooks. I can get away with wet media in here, especially gouache. They’re not the *best*
surface for perfect watercolour paintings, but they definitely do the job. And I’m sure
Stillman and Birn have a watercolour-specific sketchbook for that. My favourite thing though
is that they open completely flat, no matter where you are in the sketchbook. That’s a really
underrated quality for me in a sketchbook that I didn’t realise I was missing until I found it.
When I do want a sketchbook with paper that is just a joy to work with watercolours in,
Sketchbook Co.’s handmade sketchbooks are such beautiful quality. And they’re just
so special. I always need at least one beautiful, handmade sketchbook on the go because they're just
such a treat to work in. And I also love a smaller sketchbook for days when a whole blank page is a
little bit daunting, so for that at the moment I’m using this one- another handmade sketchbook-
from PebblePeoplePaper on Etsy. Both of these handmade sketchbooks were sent to
me by their talented makers, but I would purchase these in a heartbeat and when I
finish these I will be purchasing from both of these amazing independent businesses.
Sketchbooks are my thing. I’m very particular about sketchbooks. I wrote a whole book
that will be coming out in a few months, all about sketchbooks
and the things you can do in them, so to have finally found my home,
my perfect sketchbook set-up, is a huge part of the reason I wanted to make this video today.
Alright and finally, the little extra bits that deserve a shout-out.
Washi tape. I don’t care what brand, people are always asking how I mask off my paintings
and don’t tear the paper. Washi tape. Any washi tape. Usually, the cheaper the better because
it peels up so easily. And it’s great for decorating sketchbook pages as well.
This pencil sharpener. This is the M&R Professional Solid Brass Bullet Pencil Sharpener
and it’s just the best one I’ve ever used. You don't realise
the difference a good sharpener can make until you’ve tried one.
And the only other thing I can think to mention is this little spray bottle. I never start a painting
without this by my side. I don’t always use it, but having the option to spritz my watercolours
or gouache - especially with gouache- takes away the fear of issues with paint
consistency cropping up as you go along and paint starts to dry on your palette.
But that’s it. An extensive list of the art supplies I use and love the most. Links to
everything will be listed below and I hope you’ve found this video useful.
Thanks for watching and I’ll see you soon for the next one. Bye!