His Art Materials
by thisnorthernboy
I get asked a lot about what art materials I use for my drawings and illustrations. So here’s a blog post showing exactly what I have laying around on my desk right now. If you aren’t familiar with the kind of stuff I draw, have a browse though the blog, or have a look at my work on Instagram or Facebook.
But first…
A good pencil won’t make you any better at drawing than that rubbish one you have in your pocket from a recent trip to Ikea. An expensive brush won’t instantly turn you in to the worlds best watercolourist. That watercolour pad you splashed out on, you know the one – hand made, 100% cotton, acid-free, cold pressed – isn’t going to make your drawings and paintings any better than if you were drawing on a Post-It note – unless you practice, unless you draw and draw and draw. New art materials are great, but they aren’t a short cut to being great at art, because there isn’t a short cut to being great at art. You just have to draw. Draw the stuff you love, draw the things you find difficult, set yourself some challenges, but most importantly just bloody well draw.
Now to the inky, graphitey stuff…
Pencils (from top to bottom)
Staedtler Tradition, from 3H to 3B
Staedtler Mars Lumograph, 3H and 3B
Palomino Blackwing 602, not sure of the hardness – maybe a B?
Faber-Castell 9000, HB and 2B
Technical Pens
Copic Multiliner SP, 0.03 to 0.7 thickness nibs (my favourite technical pens)
Rotring Tikky Graphic, 0.3 to 0.7
Staedtler Pigment Liner, 0.05 to 0.8
Brush Pens
Pentel Pocket Brush (my favourite brush pen)
Calligraphy / Nib Pens
Kuretake Nib Holder and Kuretake G Pen nib
Coloured Pens
Copic Ciao Markers (lots of them, particularly orange ones)
Miscellaneous Pens
Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze Pen (opaque white)
Lamy Scribble Mechanical Pencil
Bits and Pieces
Swann Morton Scalpel Blades, 10A
Steel Rule, 300mm and 500mm
Cheap brush for clearing loose graphite or eraser bits
Toothbrush (an old one) for splattering paint or masking fluid
Bottled Things
Higgins Black Magic Waterproof Ink
Paper
Goldline A3 Layout Pad (the big yellow one)
Daler Rowney A4 Tracing Pad (the grey one)
Daler Rowney A4 Smooth Heavy Weight Cartridge Pad (the pink one)
Daler Rowney A4 Bristol Board (the green one)
Daler Rowney A4 Fine Grain Heavy Weight Cartridge Pad (the brown one)
Caveat
As I said before, nothing on this blog post will make you draw any better, that’s up to you. Now, stop reading, and draw!
[…] Source : His Art Materials […]
Thanks! Great post! Very informative. Especially appreciate the intro piece.
I’m as guilty as anyone of falling in to the trap of buying new pens in the hope they’ll make me better at drawing. These days I think I’ve learned my lesson though.
I am trying my hand at drawing, and your list of materials was most helpful! Wonderful post!
Most Excellent post, thanks for this!!!
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Thanks a lot for this post! So informative!
Great list of essential art supplies. I personally use the Faber-Castell pens and the edding paint markers almost everyday. I could maybe live without my white edding, but never without my black Pitt pens, lol.