#i love my new colored graphite for my mechanical pencils <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[kirbsofthestars]

[oh-cosmia]

hey! what tools (pens colored pencils markers etc) do you use for your traditional work? the way the colors look on your pieces is so satisfying to look at as well as your lineart so im curious 👀

oh! thank you!! and also thank you for asking i love talking about my brushes

for sketching, i use multicolored .05mm lead— UNI NaNoDia is my go-to because unlike a lot of other colored graphite i’ve used, it doesn’t have that waxy feel and it erases more cleanly. these are kinda hard to find in store (i order mine online) but michaels carries red-lead and blue-lead architectural sketch pencils and those work too. tbh any colored pencil will do but i’d recommend sketching very lightly because they tend not to erase well

for the mechanical pencils themselves, any model is fine, but lately i’ve been using more pentel, uni and tombow brand models— office depot or staples usually carries at least some kind of these? you don’t have to get the fanciest stuff tho, a 3$ pencil body works fine

for inking, i use fine-tip/pointed felt tip markers (usually kuretake, tombow, pentel, but faber-castell works too, and most of these are at michael’s) as well as brush pens/synthetic bristle-tip brushes. for those, kuretake, akashiya sai, and pentel are my favorites, and it’s fun to experiment with different brands, brush tip sizes and ink colors to get better effects.

for coloring i use faber castell and mildliner markers! and sometimes posca paint markers.

i hope that helps?? most of these brands can be found at your nearest office supply/stationery/art supply store. i also like to order from jetpens dot com when there’s a specific item i want that’s not in stock near me.

oh and i know mildliners/faber castell marker packs can rack up the prices— for what it’s worth i rarely buy those in bulk, the collection i currently have is stuff i gradually accumulated… if you’re not certain about trying a new model of marker, i’d suggest just buying one or two colors you really like and experimenting basic shading with those for a bit, and buy more colors when you feel you need them

ok yea!! ty for letting me ramble and i hope this isn’t too much at once

[nabs-draws]

A lot have been on my mind lately and I thought I gonna share it today. Alongside this little page from my new Sketchbook. I freshly started it two days ago after for it patiently waiting in my shelf for 3 month, ready to be filled with good and bad drawings. And notes. Because I also write a lot.

Anyways. One thing that came into my mind was a quote a while ago. It came from a person on Youtube talking about AI Art. He said something along the lines of : "Artists don't like to draw but they like to see the end product"

Of course I can't talk for all artists on the world. But I am very certain that this statement is not true for most artists. What I'm going to describe now is more "my" experience. Maybe some artists here on Tumblr find themselves in these statement. Some might not. Both are valid and both are okay.

This might be shocking to you (or not) but if I'm being honest, I do not really care much for the end product. I never did. I maybe do, if a client is involved in the process but my core creativity stems from just doing something with my Hands. Grabbing my mechanical pencil and listening to the scratching noises on the paper while I slowly put Graphite on it. How some simple shapes slowly transforms itself into a drawing. An eye…the other eye… F*** I ruined the other eye. Doesn't matter. Lets continue from here. Taking a piece of my kneadable eraser , forming it into a convinient form and picking up some graphite areas in order to put on some highlights. At this point it's literally sculpting on Paper.

My digital approach is quite similar. Yet, instead of a Graphite pencil, or colored pencils I now have a overwhelmingly limitless palette. All the colors in the world (or within my RGB range) that I can throw together. The outcome is still not me carrying much for the result, but the process that leads me to the result The thinking process, the learning on the way. The test phase , in order to see if the process made sense in the end or not. Researching, learning again. And always with a brink of challenging myself to do better while also being in a almost meditative state. And every new piece of art I do is like a journey into the unknown. Sometimes I run into uncomfortable territories but it feels great to overcome them and literally feel the growth afterwards. Even with client work. And the best part of it is when my clients feel the same energy from the design I made for them.

Heck, I just love drawing and designing and the design thinking process. More than anything else in the world. And even the words I wrote are a simple understatement of how I truely feel about creating. Even when I got vulnerable at some parts.

And this feelings for the drafts of art is not unique to me. It's a universal artist experience. Go ask other artistic professionals. James Jean, Ian Mcque, or Bobby Chiu. Just watch all the dozens of Sketchbook tours that Proko has uploaded on his channel. Or the THU Sketchbook Tours where you not only see beautiful and inspiring sketches, but also get a glimpse into the minds of other artists. Or the Schoolism Interviews where Artists all over the world talk about their craft and the love to it. (just to reveal some places that made me fall in love with art all over again.)

And now let me ask you again: Do Artists really hate the process?

And for the transparacy: Some portraits where referenced from following fashion photographers: Keta Tamamura (Nezu 2019) Victor Demarchelier (photographing Katie Moore)

[fandima-moved-read-pinned]

Would it be awesome to see you do all 100 asks? Yes. Will you do them? We shall see.

Wanna bet 

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk? - More cereal than milk! 

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?- No, actually. I hate the cold ^^' And if there's cold air on my cheeks then it's on my nose and that's no good 

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books? - Usually a post it note! Not very random, but it's normally what I have on hand. 

4: how do you take your coffee/tea? - Depends on my mood! Sometimes I'll take my coffee black, other times ill add a fricc ton of creamer, whipped cream, and sugar. Also sometimes I mix coffee with hot chocolate and it's amazing. 

5: are you self-conscious of your smile? - Very. 

6: do you keep plants? - Always. I still have the carnations from Valentines Day (which surprisingly haven't died yet) 

7: do you name your plants? - Nope. 

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings? - just a mechanical pencil or a graphite pencil. They usually end up being sketches. But if I like how it looks I'll go over them in pen. 

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself? - Yes and no? I'd do it more often but I don't want anyone to hear me. Especially my mom. 

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach? - Side, always facing the wall. 

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends? - The only one I can think of off the top of my head is *slap slap slap* *jumps out window*. No I will not explain. 

12: what’s your favorite planet? - Pluto! Or Make Make. Make Make used to be my favorite because me and my brother would pronounce it wrong on purpose. But Pluto is ver pretty. 

13: what’s something that made you smile today? - seeing my brother's reaction to his birthday present from me! I made a little felt monkey with bushy eyebrows (I needle felted it) 

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like? - Probably very messy. But also it would constantly smell like food! 

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is! - Mars is shrinking. It is Smol. 

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish? - Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp! It's what I usually ordered at Olive Garden until I found out that it was expensive and was probably stressing out my parents. 

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair? - Don't laugh okay but pink! I want to dye the bottom half of my hair bright freaking pink. Like hot pink. 

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up. - That time I slapped a guy twice for picking me up. That guy was my best friend. He picked me up from behind and I sorta whipped around and slapped him. The first time he didn't put me down, he just laughed. So I slapped him again. He got the hint. 

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?- I don't. I tried a while back, but I figured it would be easier just to talk to people about my issues instead of writing them down. 

20: what’s your favorite eye color? - Green. Or dark brown. 

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces. - Not sure what this means, sorry. I've got this pencil pouch that has a tree print on it that I've used for a few years now even though it has a hole it it. Does that count? 

22: are you a morning person? - No. I wake up at 5:30 am on weekdays and usually don't get out of bed until I have ten minutes to get ready and leave. 

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations? - Stay in my room and draw! Although I don't have lazy days. Every time my mom comes upstairs I immediately start cleaning because if I don't she'll yell at me for being lazy. 

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets? - Yes. Take a look at who sent this ask. Also my other two online friends! One of them I spam with worms on a string and the other I just know I can trust and I don't know why. 

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into? - the only place I've broken into is my own house. I had to climb the backyard fence to go through the back door because me and my brother forgot our keys. 

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit? - My plain black tennis shoes. I need to get new ones because these ones are old and barely fit but every time I mention it, it's like I never said a word. 

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor? - Candy Cane! 

28: sunrise or sunset? - Sunset! I get to see the sun setting behind the Rocky Mountains and it's really pretty. 

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing? - exist 

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared? - Yes. I'd rather not talk about it. 

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks. - socks can burn in hell for all I care. I hate socks. I only wear them if I have to (like while wearing shoes) 

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends. - I remember being at a sleepover a few days before I moved (this was in South Korea) and I woke up at 3:34 am (yes I remember the time don't ask why) because one of my friends was playing Megalovania on the keyboard. Then she turned around and asked who the hell took her pretzels. They were under her pillow. 

33: what’s your fave pastry? - c w a s o a n t (with jelly inside!) 

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it? - I still have this stuffed animal now (I have all of my stuffed animals. I haven't brought myself to get rid of them). It's a little pink blanket with a bunny head named Squeek. Not Squeak. I didn't know how to spell that. 

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often? - No. I don't have any. 

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now? - https://youtu.be/7TqLXIBG-6g   not a band but still

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean? - Messy! It may sound strange, but I can't find anything when it's clean. It also feels empty unless I've got stuff all over the floor. 

38: tell us about your pet peeves! - When I tell remind someone of the rules and they say "okay" and continue breaking them. Like we aren't supposed to put pans in the dishwasher because it ruins the pans. Yet my brother always puts them in there. I remind him and take it out, and he says "okay" and puts it back. I also hate it when I ask someone to stop doing something (usually when it's making me nervous or upset) and they ask "WhY?" in a really annoying tone and keep doing it. I ALSO hate it when I'm in charge and yet no one listens to me. 

I also don't like it when no one says thank you. It makes it seem like they don't appreciate me. 

39: what color do you wear the most? - Grey. I want to wear colorful clothes but the last time we went clothes shopping and I asked for pastel colors, I walked out of the store with grey, light grey, brown, and dark blue clothes. 

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you? - I have a locket that I made for my seventh birthday. It has little charms in it (a rose, my first initial, a heart key, and a birthday cake) and it's gold. I love it and I don't know why. 

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving? - There's a book series that I don't remember the name of but it's about a girl who is forcibly turned into a siren by three other sirens. She has to eat human hearts to live. It's kinda gorey, kinda romantic, lots of action. I love it. 

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it! - Unfortunately no, I usually get coffee at a gas station ^^' 

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with? - My dog Freyja! Whenever I take out trash, she comes with, and when the sky is clear I like to point out the starts with her before we go back inside. She's very sweet. But I can't stargaze for more than a minute. 

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything? - Last year I went on a trip to Florida to stay with my grandparents for a week. I remember waking up one morning with a beautiful view of the ocean and the sound of waves crashing onto the shore. My grandparents have an apartment of sorts that faces the Atlantic and you can literally go down the stairs and go swim in the ocean if you want to, it's like a two minute walk, not even. I love the ocean and the sound of waves and seagulls is always calming to me. But my house is very loud and there's no peace here. 

45: do you trust your instincts a lot? - Yes. When I have a bad feeling about something, I address it. It's not always true, but I don't want to risk anything. 

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of. - Sorry, I don't know many puns. I guess I'm just not a pun-ny person. 

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe? - fucking macaroni with bread crumsb that shit is nasty af 

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today? - Storms, especially tornados. Now my biggest fear is death. Whether I'm the one dying or its someone I care about. 

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought? - Not really, I don't have money to buy anything ^^' Even when I do have money, I spend it on art stuff. That reminds me that I need to fix my radio. 

50: what’s an odd thing you collect? - Fabric. I have so much and I don't even use it. But when I see a nice fabric, I get it (if I have money). 

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them? - 'Old Timer Rock and Roll' (probably not the name of it) always reminds me of my dad. One day we were driving in his Jeep, just us two, and I mentioned that I wasn't a fan of the music on the radio. We ended up compromising and that song was the first one on the radio station that we switched to. 

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far? - I am unfortunately not up to date with the memes. Although the ones where it's like "you've mc-ed your last Donald" or "you've ratted your last tatouille" always make me exhale aggressively. 

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them? - None of the above! I've been wanting to watch Heather's though. I just never get around to doing it. 

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face? - My brother. Not the same one from before. 

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point? - nothing, sorry. I'm not very dramatic. 

56: what are some things you find endearing in people? - when they pour their heart out about a certain subject that they love. I know a lot of people tend to bottle up their opinions but when someone trusts me aniugh to tell me all about it, it's just sorta nice. 

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics? - I just sorta spaced out for the first have then did a little dance for the rest of it. I love the line "I see a little silhouetto of a man" and it's more upbeat and the music just makes me dance a little 

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why? - bold of you to assume I have a group of friends 

59: what’s your favorite myth? - There's this one I heard as a kid that involves a faceless girl on the side of a highway who tries to steal faces. 

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves? - I can't think of any off the top of my head, but poetry is nice! 

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received? - I don't really remember. I try to only give gifts that are meaningful. 

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind? - nope! I usually drink milk! 

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be? - I usually leave my music to its own devices, but all the books are organized by series and genre. 

64: what color is the sky where you are right now? - Blue! Just any other afternoon sky. 

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with? - My older brother. We don't get to talk much. 

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like? - Colorful, with a few white flowers! 

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel? - Those are usually the days that I don't feel anything. 

68: what’s winter like where you live? - The weather is all over the place. A little snow, then the next day, it's like 60°F. Not even joking. It snowed Friday and Saturday was warm. 

69: what are your favorite board games? - Monopoly and Battleship! 

70: have you ever used a ouija board? - No, but I really want to. But my dad won't let me. 

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea? - I don't really drink tea, sorry! 

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it? - Nope. I'll forget it anyway. I usually set alarms for certain things but then I don't do it. 

73: what are some of your worst habits? - Biting the inside of my cheek and scratching/pinching my arm when I'm nervous. 

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns. - kind, a good listener, talented, and understanding 

75: tell us about your pets! - We have four dogs. There's Emrys (the dog I've posted pictures of before), Cirilla (a husky German Shepard mix, very sweet), Cayde-6 (a Rottweiler mix I think, super energetic, loud, and steals food off the counter even when someone is watching), and Freyja (a German Shepard mix, puppy, also very sweet! She knows the phrase 'give hugs' and she always comes with me to take out the trash for whatever reason). I also have a Guinea Pig (who I want to get a friend for because she's lonely, but my parents keep saying no) names Neo. 

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t? - Working on my Someconsious series, cleaning, and probably checking in with some friends. 

77: pink or yellow lemonade? - Pink 

78: are you in the minion hateclub or Fan club? - Hate club. I don't like them. They're just annoying and bright and their language is stupid to me. 

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you? - One of my exes surprised me with a cars and roses out of nowhere. It wasn't Valentines Day, it wasn't my birthday, he just went out of his way to do something nice for me when I was having a rough week. 

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why? - They're a sort of off white. I want to paint them light lavender or pale blue but my parents have only painted the living room and refuse to paint anywhere else for whatever reason. I know we can afford paint, I know we have time. They just stopped caring. 

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of. - Not sure what it means by abstract, but I'll try. Her eyes are similar to the bottom of a small river. The brown in the middle with green rings on the edges remind me of a river I used to go fishing in back in Oklahoma. 

82: are/were you good in school? - I'm okay. I have all A's and B's, but I have easy subjects that aren't very hard. 

83: what’s some of your favorite album art? - I don't really listen to albums, my music taste is mostly individual songs. Even then I don't really pay attention to the art. 

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones? - I want to get a quote of sort on my ankle. Something in another language so I can tell them it means something mysterious and deep when in reality it's the description of a toaster oven that hasn't been cleaned since 1995.

85: do you read comics? what are your faves? - I read a few webcomics if that counts! I like Castle Swimmer a lot! Gay fish bapeys are best fish bapeys. 

86: do you like concept albums? which ones? - I don't know what those are, sorry 

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives? - The Princess Bride and the Last Unicorn. But I'm biased because they're both a part of my childhood. 

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy? - not in particular! 

89: are you close to your parents? - I'm only close with my dad. My stepmom can go fuck herself. She just told us that's she'll be making a schedule for the next two weeks because there won't be school. One of the weeks was spring break anyway! We aren't missing much! 

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities. - I like Palm Beach in Florida! It's fairly quiet, right next to the ocean, and filled with retired people who are all really nice. 

91: where do you plan on traveling this year? - Nowhere, we don't travel much. I really want to go to Florida again though. 

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch? - I don't add cheese at all! It sort of ruins the texture for me. Especially the grated sprinkle cheese stuff l. I hate now it feels. 

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most? - I just keep my hair down. I don't like it in any other way. 

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday? - My brother. His birthday is today! 

95: what are your plans for this weekend? - cry a lot cry some more lose feelings for a few hours draw watch YouTube art videos then try not to yell at my mom like I did last week

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot? - I just get it over with so I can do whatever needs to be done. Or I schedule it for when I'm not going to be using it. 

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house? - INFP-T/Mediator, Scorpio, and Hufflepuff 

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?- A few weeks ago. And no, I did not enjoy it considering I was supposed to be working on an important project that day. 

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them. - Where We Started, If You're Going Through Hell, and We Like to Numb (a mix of We Like to Party and Numb) 

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why? - Future. In five years I plan on being in college and I want to see what I should be prepared for and if my interests have changed. 

This took me at least an hour and a half. Thank you though! I 

[kichimiangra]

For poor artists...

Okay so weeks ago I came across a post (That I can’t seem to find now...) that roughly went like this: “All you tumblrites with depression need some hobbies to help with depression because hobbies help.”

“Not everyone has the privilege of being able to afford hobbies!  Hobbies cost money!”

“You don’t need expensive stuff to draw!!!  Draw on scrap paper!  Napkins!  Go to the dollar store!”

Now for weeks since seeing that post it keeps coming back to me... almost hauntingly.  It’s not that I can’t comprehend that people can’t afford expensive art supplies, on the contrary I very much remember being like that!  But today you poor artists have access to something wonderful that I didn’t growing up:

Under the cut let me tell you a tale about a wonderful place that could have granted my wish for art supplies growing up!

And that place is called Wish.com!

(Disclaimer #1: Almost everything I’m talking about here are supplies that I myself have personally purchased and tried using AND STILL DO!)

(Disclaimer #2:  I don’t believe that good supplies make a good artist, but good supplies can help make a good artist better/ make their life easier!)

Now growing up I did not come from a wealthy family.  I had 3 siblings, all of us close in age so we were kids/ teens together.  My father worked in a warehouse and my mother was a stay at home mom because it was impossible to find an affordable babysitter considering that My older sister had trouble in school with bullies and a reading disorder, I was an un-diagnosed autistic devil-child, my younger sister had severe asthma and was always sick, and my younger brother was deaf.  We all kinda needed special attention.  As you can imagine we didn’t have a lot of money, and as I got older and more Artish meant I had to make due with what I could get.  That didn’t mean I went without, just often had to save and wait for what I could use, which followed me to adulthood.  Had Wish.com been around in my teens it would have been a godsend and I’m patient enough to wait a few weeks to get my order!

God I love these things!  These ball point pens with 10 colors are what I use for story boarding comics and note taking!  I used something like these when I was in college because notes were much easier to organize and read when color coded!

“But KC!  I like to sketch with blue/red pencil first!” Lookie here!  Colored pencil lead refills in all sorts of colors!  Cyan works great and so does the red!

Now I didn’t know they came this small until recently but I LOVE this 0.3mm Mechanical pencil!!!  The lines are so thin and small!!!  I have literally never seen anything smaller than a 0.5mm in a store!

Now I like mechanical pencils for their consistent lead size as you draw! They’re just a click away from being back to sharpness!  But you may want a 0.5mm and a 0.7mm and this 3pc set is soo sleek looking!  It’s good to have a 0.9mm too! I used to have a spongebob .16mm pencil I stole from my brother but it went missing!  I have never found another one that HUGE again! T_T

Speaking of pencils this nice little set comes with a mechanical pencil+lead+a white plastic eraser.  They work great though the eraser is not my personal fav...

THESE are my favorite erasers to use!!!  Not only are they cute colors but they’re a good consistency!  They’re softer than a plastic eraser but a bit harder than a gum eraser so they feel really good to erase with and do a good job!!!

If you really like working with Pencil you can prolly just get a cheap #2 pencil at a dollar store or a box of them at Walmart, but I Really like the feel of a 2B pencil!  This lead holder comes with some replacement lead too so you don’t have to worry about sharpening it to nothing!!

This set of Graphite sticks are a little messy but it comes with all kinds of lead hardness and you can use an x-acto blade to sharpen them to different size points!!!

This is a pretty basic but nice sketch set and has a lot of size options to pick and buy from!!  I’ve used the small 32 set and it has everything you need if you love pencil art!

FINE LINERS!!!  I have a story about Fine liners! Internet shopping hadn’t quite taken off yet for my family and the only store I knew that sold Microns/Fabercastelle fine liners was a local store.  They didn’t sell them in singles so the cheapest set you could buy was a $15 Faber Castelle set with 5 pens (Sm/Med/Lrg/Brush/Chisel).  Now $15 doesn’t sound too bad until you remember my family was poor.  How poor?  Poor enough where my sister and I would each get one of these sets for Christmas and store one away while sharing the other set in hopes of getting them both to last until June where I could get another for my birthday that will hopefully last BOTH of us until next Christmas.  I noticed when you buy Microns off of Wish.com you have a 50/50 chance of getting a knock off brand but these ones here worked pretty good for their price!

“But KC!  Not only am I a poor artist... I’m a poor HIPSTER artist! I wanna kick it OLD SCHOOL!” WELL This is a nice cheap little set of dip pen nib holders and nibs!  The pink one is cute but I have the black one.  I personally love my Cork nib holder more but for plastic this one is decently comfortable to hold and a good price!  I find Nibs are a bit of “You get what you pay for” but if I was displaced into an apartment somewhere without any of my stuff and I wanted some dip pens this set would do just fine!  Dip pens take some skill to get used to so even if you want to just cheaply try some this is a good set to start with!  And if you want better nibs later on they fit right in these holders!

I also have a very decorative (but functional) glass dip pen!  Unlike the metal nib dip pens above the glass one doesn’t really allow for a lot of variation in line weight, but if you want the line work to stay a consistent size then this one is pretty good for that, though depending on your paper it can bleed a bit... once again takes some practice to get used to it.

Now you’re gonna need some ink for those dip pens!  I haven’t really gotten to try any black ink from Wish.com because I have a few bottles of black ink that I keep getting for birthdays and Christmas and such, so I haven’t run out and gotten to try a new brand.  COLOR ink on the other hand...  These little 5oz bottles have gold sparkles in it!! And they look nice to boot!  They can get a little expensive because on THIS particular order you can only order them one at a time (And pay shipping for each bottle) but you really don’t need all 24 bottles as a lot of the colors look similar to each other.

Here’s a sketch of Keira Hagai from Jak and Daxter along with the supplies used to draw it (Notice the ink, glass and black nib pens and the 0.3mm pencil.  The only thing used not from Wish.com is the feather sweeper I made from sculpey and chicken feathers.)

The ink doesn’t work great as paint though but you know what does?

PAINTS!  I didn’t buy this one but it’s a nice little affordable starter set with pallet and brushes!

Now I’m a bit snooty, I prefer to buy watercolor paints in tubes and an empty paint pallet.  The paint pallet I have isn’t THIS one specifically but this one is a bit nicer than the one I DO have and a bit cheaper as well!  (Mine doesn’t have a lid the folds out into a paint mixing area)(Now I wish I had this one!)(Maybe when my current pallet runs out of paint...)

If you use watercolor paints you’re gonna need some brushes!  This is a pretty good deal!  You get 12 brushes and get to pick either flat or round tip brushes!  They’re also not too shabby!

I use a set like this though!  They has a water reservoir in the handle so you squeeze the water out and onto the paint!  The reason I prefer these is I have a lot of pets and they like to get into mischief, so having a pallet that can be closed if I get up for a bathroom break or water that can’t be knocked over is a must for me!!

“But KC I like more... dry mediums...” Lucky for you colored pencils are all over the place on Wish.com!  You can get all kinds of different sets and sizes and some even have nice carrying cases too!  I haven’t bought any because I own a LOT of colored pencil sets already and don’t use them frequently...  I’ve also tried some chalk pastels from Wish that worked well enough on their own but the way I use them is grinding them into a fine powder and brushing them onto paper and that didn’t grind well...

And What’s art without PAPER!?!?  Wish.com is tripping paper!  Whatever is in your price range look around!  I can promise you you’ll find a sketch book or two within your budget!  Some even name brand sketch pads!

And now some miscellaneous stuff:

I LOVE binder clips!  Great way to keep all my paper together and in some places hang stuff up so I can stare at it a bit before continuing working on it!

I like art markers and not many truly can fill in the shoes left by Copic brand markers.  I have tried a handful of copic alternatives (And watched even MORE comparison videos by other people who own said markers.)  I feel like there is no such thing as a GOOD CHEAP QUALITY art marker.  There are lots of sets on Wish.com that (For their prices) are what I consider “Cheap enough to tinker with”  When I was in highschool back in 2007-9 I really really really wanted Copics and was resentful that I was poor and couldn’t get any.  I would get so angry when I saw 14 year olds on deviantart who drew like ‘14 year olds on devintart’ but had no less that two 72 sets of copics. I know, it was rather petty of me to be resentful of younger more fortunate artists... The trade off with my parents was that I would settle for Prismacolor markers, bought 1 per week with a 40% off coupon provided I did all my chores and kept my grades above failing.  That was the closest I ever had to an allowance.  Throughout the years I’ve settled with ‘Tinker Markers’ (Cheapish alternative markers) and Ohuhu, Prismacolor, and Touch New seem to be the better alternatives.  Just don’t go looking for a brush nib >.<!

MASKING TAPE!  Always good for taping things to other things!!  Unfortunately I feel like Walmart gives you bigger rolls for better deals so if it’s going cheap I’d say you don’t need tape from Wish...

Aaaah!  A light board!  And another long trip down memory lane!  Last October going into Inktober I noticed there were people throwing little fits about Inktober itself and if it’s okay to do it with a digital medium.  One persons comment stuck out (And echo’d in my brain) where they said (And I’m paraphrasing): “How am I supposed to focus on my ‘self improvement’ with traditional art if I just can’t draw from the anxiety of knowing that every pen stroke is permanent and I could completely ruin my drawing at any second without the CTRL+Z and layers!?!?!?!” To which my first knee-jerk reaction was: “Wow kid... I think you have waaaay more problems than inktober if your anxiety levels are THAT high that you can’t just accept an oopsie doodle and try again...” But then I do remember a time when I was like that.  In college I scheduled a really bad semester with too many classes, mostly art classes.  One was a classic Pen and Ink class which I did fear screwing up, not because of anxiety of failure but because I would have to start over on my homework, and that would take time from all my other homework.  Time I didn’t have.  I found a large sum of money on the ground ($100.00) one day, waited a month (Nobody claimed it), donated half to my local animal shelter (As is a karma thing in my family with ‘found money’) and used the other half to buy a light board (With a 40% off coupon.)  It was the size of a shoe box, thick and clunky, and didn’t get very bright, but it did what I needed it to.  If I screwed up on ink homework I’d throw a new paper over it and start again.  You can be cheap and use a window on a sunny day, but light boxes (or light boards now) are so affordable and sleek and thin and wish has a lot of them!  I have a cheapish but large A-Line tracing board that sits on my drawing table and fits well and honestly saves 40% of what anxiety I would have putting pen to paper (If I hadn’t been drawing freehand so long that I just don’t get that kind of anxiety over it)

If Wish.com was around when I was a teenager art supplies would have never been THAT big of a deal and I wouldn’t have had to ‘Carpool’ 3 fine liner sets per year with my sister!

Really, I know there will still be people out there who still can’t afford some of the things listed above, but if you have an inclination to try art whether it’s with pencils, paints, markers, pastels, ink, dip pens, fine liners, whatever you lean towards, Wish.com has a cheap affordable version that may not be the best quality out there on the market, but thinking back 15 years ago little KC would have loved to save up some money, order some new supplies, and wait a month for them to arrive so she could use them.

Once again most of the supplies listed above have been bought and used by myself.  There are some great materials at mostly affordable prices on Wish.com so if you are poor like Little KC was you probably know the patience of putting aside a dollar here and there and having to wait, or if you are well off but don’t want to spend too much on a hobby you haven’t tried yet and don’t know if you’d like Wish.com has you covered!

And if you’d like to, Reblog this for other poor artists so they know they don’t have to share their fine liners!

[purple-fury]

2, 15, 18, 29!

2. How long have you been drawing?

I’ve been drawing since elementary school, but I’ve been more intentional with my art for the past few years. By that, I mean that I’m mindful in what I’m practicing (poses, facial expressions, etc.) vs. churning out art so I can see what works and what I can improve. I do take breaks from art, but I write or make gifs/graphics to stay creative.

15. How long does an average piece take you to complete?

Probably 2-3 hours for more polished, small-scale pieces and less for sketches and drawing studies. I like to finish pieces within a short time frame due to wanting to move on but also wanting to follow through with what I start. It’s also why I like using smaller paper, even post-it notes! (I used to do photo-realistic graphite drawings but my hand was dead by the end...)

18. What are you currently trying to improve on?

Definitely working with new products and techniques! Somehow I managed to finish my first inktober like an absolute madwoman, and now I’m working more with ink and watercolors to produce new effects! Drawing with pencils strain my hands, especially when I have to shade a lot), so I want to work with things that make cool effects while resting my hands. So far, the favorite technique I discovered was making flames with watercolors - hoping to use that for future wu-related art because wu needs lots of love

29. For traditional artists: How do you usually start on a big piece? (Light sketch, colored lead, sketchpaper, etc)

In most cases, I draw a light sketch with a standard mechanical pencils. If I’m unsure about the composition, I doodle a small version of what I’m imagining in a sketchbook before moving on to the more Professional™  paper. What I like about using the wet-on-wet technique with ink & watercolor is that I don’t plan my ideas (the colors flow by themselves), and the end result looks pretty cool O:

[direksamjosh]

Okay, so, this would be my first actual post, and I am not sure if you can/will relate, but I love my writing/marking supplies.

I mean come on. Yes, we are in the digital age. But who does not love the feel of the ink/graphite on paper? As a writer and director, most of the time I still prefer to actually write on paper than just go digital. There is something surreal when you just look back on what you have written with a pen or pencil.

And so, I have taken the liberty to post some of my favourite writing/marking supplies, and they are as follows (Note: this is not a promotion/sponsored post. I just love these supplies lol):

Photo 1: Pilot Poplol pens (in New Zealand they are called poplol) and Pilot Frixion Pens. All of them, except for one of the Frixions, are 0.7. The other one is 0.5

Photo 2: Zebra Mechanical Pencil, 0.5, Faber-Castell Grip 1347 Mechanical pencil 0.7, Faber-Castell HB, Faber-Castell No. 2, Staedtler Norica No.2, and Palomino Blackwing

Photo 3: Mitsubishi Uni chalk marker, Artline Supreme Permanent Marker, Pilot Super Color Marker (I got the Pilot markers from the Philippines), Sharpie markers and Warwick markers

Photo 4: Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel Pencil, Color No. 1121-225

So, what are your fave writing and marking supplies? Also, do you prefer handwritten, or digital?

[doodlewash]

Hello friends, I am Saswati Chakraborty, currently living in Detroit, Michigan. I was born in a Bengali family in Kolkata, India and grew up in an environment where education and art are of paramount importance. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest to see more of my watercolour painting and art tutorials at the links found below.

Background and Inspiration

From my childhood, I always felt an irresistible attraction towards brushes and, with time, I realized my love of watercolour painting. I mainly work in pure watercolours. I focus primarily on photorealistic, detailed, nature paintings.

Figure 1. Lost In Dark Woods. (Photo Reference: Jacobs ATV)

In my childhood days, I was introduced to the world of colors in terms of school projects where I had opportunity to paint with pastel colors and learn a few basics about primary and secondary colors.

Figure 2. Title: The Colourful Poppy (Photo Reference Wendy Sinclair)

In high school, I had explored sketching, lino, acrylics and, of course, watercolour painting. However, for my career, I followed the traditional path of education and pursued a Masters in Microbiology and Business Administration. The desire of chasing my dream to become an artist somehow took a back seat, and I got lost in academics and my career. It took a few more years for me to fully dedicate myself to following my destiny.

When I started painting after 15 years, I found that the basic process is still the same. However, the means of painting and medium have expanded a lot. For the first year, I struggled a lot to find my genre, hopping from one subject to another, not being able to find my own style. Eventually, I started focusing on the process and learning afresh.

Alwin Toffler rightly remarked; “To educate yourself you have to learn, unlearn, and relearn”.

Why Watercolour Painting?

Watercolour is the most simple and spontaneous medium to work with. I found it is a versatile and magical medium. There are many disheartening myths regarding watercolour painting and its challenges. However, once mastered with proper knowledge, techniques, planning and research, combined with patience, it can produce surprising results!

Why Photorealistic Paintings?

Figure 3. Zinnia Detailing with Winsor and Newton Kolinsky Sable Minitaure Brushes (Photo Reference: Morgue File)

In photorealistic paintings, the artist strives to paint the intricate details observed in a photograph in his paintings. He also tries to give the light and shadow effects exactly as shown in the photo. I love taking up challenges and paint intricate subjects like macro details of a flower or the detailed foliage in a landscape. I have seen excellent photorealistic paintings in watercolours, which highly inspired me to focus on the same.

My Approach

Talent is God-gifted, but it’s the perseverance that makes one stand out. Talent, aided with relevant knowledge, creative thinking and a systematic approach – that’s all it takes to create magic. It’s not so difficult after all, as long as you have hunger to learn and improve. When it is accompanied with a knack for perfection, anybody can create a masterpiece!

Figure 4. Title: Wild Flowers of Farmington (Photo Reference-Own Photo)

Over the years, I learnt, one needs to have a right plan to bring the image in mind onto a canvas. Generally, I follow a three-phase approach for my projects.

Planning – It is often essential to create good compositions and plan the color schemes.

Research At Each Stage – This enriches me with the knowledge of the right techniques and tricks to handle difficult stages of my painting.

Execution – The above two stages being conducted appropriately, gives me enough confidence to enjoy the watercolour painting process.

Learning Stages

I am self-taught and I am constantly learning new methods of improvement. To make photorealistic paintings, one needs to have the right knowledge of light and shadow, colour theories, basic knowledge of sketching, and techniques to produce the detailing on paper or canvas. I discovered the huge realm of You Tube online instructional videos and demonstrations.

Figure 5. Title: Sunkissed Irises (Photo Reference: Self)

Gradually, I learnt new processes, brush strokes, and was more attracted to realistic paintings with detailing. I will be happy to share with you a few significant factors, which helped me to increase my knowledge base and improve my watercolour painting style.

Watercolor Painting Tips

Understanding of Color Theories and their Properties

Use of Good Art Supplies (For e.g. Light-Fast Pigments, Good Brushes, professional quality watercolours)

Use of Good Watercolour Paper (Professional Grade)

Finding the right subject or Genre for painting

Using the right photo reference (if painting from a reference photo)

Knowledge of techniques like Glazing, Wet on Wet, Wet on Dry, Lifting.

Concept of Light and Shadow

Open to feedback or criticisms

Figure 6. Title: Pink Plumerias (Photo Reference: Wendy Sinclair)

At First, I was shy in sharing my art as I thought it was amateurish. Then I realized that in order to progress further, feedback (positive or negative) is mandatory. The feedback essentially helped me to develop my skills and to produce professional quality paintings.

Figure 7. Title: Dahlia Painting (Challenge Entry)(Photo Reference: LiveDan330.com)

The final breakthrough came when I joined social media groups and actively started taking part in the monthly art challenges. I was not sure whether I was prepared for it, but I started planning for them right from the beginning. They gave me the momentum and confidence, which I needed at that moment. After this, I did not have to look back and started my own official page on Facebook. I am grateful to the master artists, who endowed me with the skills and knowledge of watercolour painting techniques and for whom, today, I am capable of offering my own tutorials and demos.

Materials Used

I love to experiment with materials but my favorite professional brand of pigments are Daniel Smith Professional Watercolours, Winsor & Newton Professional Watercolours and Kokuyu Camlin Watercolours. I tend to use a limited palette technique.

Figure 8. Title: Blooming Holly Hocks in Watercolours and Watercolour Brush Pens (Photo Refernce: Self)

My palette ranges from warm to cool shades with a few earth colors, which I use very rarely (mostly for landscapes). I love to derive my colors and mix my colors mostly on paper rather than on a palette.

Watercolour Paper

I prefer St. Cuthbert’s Mill (Cold Pressed/Not) 140lbs mold-free papers when I am painting some photo-realistic works, which involve multiple washes and use of masking fluid. For Botanical works, I prefer Arches (Hot Pressed) 140 lbs papers. I also love Fabriano Artistico (Rough) 140lbs paper for landscapes.

Figure 9. A Botanical Study of Grape Leaf in Arches Hot Pressed Paper (140 lbs)Photo Reference (Self)

Brushes & Palettes

I love to continuously experiment with new watercolour brushes. I mostly do my Botanical works with pure kolinsky sable brushes for their flexibility and water holding capacity. For large washes, I love the hake brush and squirrel mop brush. I also use the Black Silver brushes or Grumbacher semi-synthetic brushes for practice washes.

Figure 10. Begonia Painting in Detail. Reference: Self Study

I use a ceramic palette with a large mixing well, and also love the Winsor & Newton travel size half–pan set which are good for a few botanical works. I’m a huge fan of masking fluid and masking tapes. As I do photorealistic paintings, I apply these in quantitative amounts to my paintings. I use a 0.5 mechanical pencil for my initial sketch in most of my works, and a kneaded putty rubber eraser, which helps to remove the extra graphite marks efficiently.

Figure 11. Light Initial Sketch of Protea Flower

Figure 12. Title: The Green and The Wood (Photo Reference: Self)

My Watercolour Painting Techniques

People often complain that their “Painting look Amateurish”! The right knowledge and the right technique can transform a painting from an ordinary one to an extraordinary one.

As I often demonstrate in my tutorials, I follow a few basic, simple techniques: (As shown through the steps of a Sunflower Painting)

1. Stretching of Paper

I always stretch my paper prior to painting, when I am working with 140lbs papers, and where the painting involves multiple washes and layering.

2. Sketching

I often draw from reference photos, where I take my reference image from groups like Photos for Artists on Facebook, or Paint my Photos, or my own Photos. If I am taking reference from photos of other artists, I never forget to give due attributions. I make a light sketch in the main watercolour paper initially

3. Finding Value Ranges

I often find it very helpful to study the value ranges (value sketch) of the elements in my painting. This helps me to decide the darkest darks and the lightest lights and decide the light and shadow sources properly.

Figure 14. Layering and Painting the Darkest Darks and Lightest Lights according to Value Ranges

4. Using the Colour Wheel and Shadows

This helps me to decide the shades for the shadows and the complementary colors. This is particularly helpful in cases, where I am making up a composition. I try to compare the values of each shade to get the reference color range for each subject, thus choosing my colors for them. I use a rough strip of paper where I make swatches and test my colors before I finally paint with them.

Figure 15. Colour Swatch of Green for Foliage

5. Painting in Layers (Wet on Wet Washes) and , Dry Brushing, and Stippling

I paint in layers and allow each layer to dry properly before painting the next layer. This is essential for wet on wet techniques. For botanical works, I tend to use the dry brushing technique a lot with stippling and hatching too.

Figure 16. The Final Layering of the Painting

6. Lifting and Glazing

I do not use white and black colour in my paintings and tend to derive my black colors, if required. For whites or highlights, I prefer saving the whites of the paper and for that, I use masking fluid for my highlights. I also use tissue papers for lifting out certain areas as needed. Sometimes in order to give a smooth feel, I do glazing at the final stage after the initial layers has completely dried out.

Figure 17. Finished Painting after Glazing (Photo Reference: Myoho Dane from Indulgy.com)

In this Sunflower watercolour painting, I used very basic colors from Daniel Smith professional watercolours. I used the Primatek set and the Basic Set colors where my greens have been mostly derived by mixing blues and yellows. I like to use transparent and light fast pigments and avoid fugitive colors like Alizarin Crimson. In this example, I did not use black color but for the dark center, I mixed French Ultramarine blue with Raw Umber mixed with dash of neutral tint to get the dark tone. To see more about my watercolour painting process, follow me on my official Facebook page.

My Final Words

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away. “ – David Viscott

Figure 18. (Photo Reference: Self)

Life is fun, when we do things that we are good at. To create good art, patience is the most important factor. The next most significant contributors are perseverance, dedication, and sincerity. As explained above, if properly planned, no painting is a difficult task.

6 Steps Towards A Great Watercolour Painting

Planning the work ahead and doing proper research for the painting.

Making a thumbnail painting and creating your own composition.

Finding the value ranges and making the colour swatches.

Mixing the colours according to the colour wheel.

Paint every day. Analyze it by standing at a distance, which helps to locate the flaws. Correct your mistakes with a fresh eye.

Complete the painting by adding the final touches.

Six years ago, I never imagined that I would reach this stage finally. However, I had the passion of creativity and reaching out to people through my work. Maybe that has pushed me to pursue my career in my favorite subject. I would like to say that if you have a dream or passion, live it, because you have just one life and life is short!!

In the end, I would like to thank Charlie O’Shields, who is kind enough to give me the opportunity to share my works and my processes with all of you out there!! I would also like to thank the photographers, especially Wendy Sinclair, for providing such beautiful reference images for my paintings.

Cheers! Happy Painting!

Saswati Chakraborty Misra Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Doodlewash

#Doodlewash GUEST ARTIST: "The Dynamic World of Watercolours..." by Saswati Chakraborty Hello friends, I am Saswati Chakraborty, currently living in Detroit, Michigan. I was born in a Bengali family in Kolkata, India and grew up in an environment where education and art are of paramount importance.

[fefetorquato]

August 1st - Magic Girls

I missed it! I missed a place where I could write more than 140 characters AND post photos AND videos AND gifs if I wanted.

Sometimes I just want to show a drawing I did and talk a bit about the process, or the art supplies that I used, but on Instagram almost NO ONE reads the captions, and I just can't use Twitter for other things besides complaining about life and my love for Star Wars. And then we have Youtube, where the most simple video I make takes me at least 2 days! And none of those places let me link stuff like this!

So I'm back here, blogging.

I took this weekend to update up my portfolio, shop and blog pages, and I think they got so cute!! (I know, I'm gonna stop linking stuff now...) There's still some things I couldn't figure out yet, like how to put a comment section on the blog posts, but I'm very happy so far.

But that's enough ramble for today, I wanted to open this new blog with a post about a new series of drawing I started called "Magic Girls".

I did this one above a while ago, at the time I wasn't thinking of making it a series, or neither though of her as a little witch, actually she's supposed to be Little Red Ridding Hood, but I like the result, and the process so much I decided to make another one yesterday:

And then I got the idea of turning this into a series of little creepy witch girls with their spirit animals (maybe they're part human part animal, I don't know yet).

I used the watercolor I used Carmine (P.R.170:1) and for the second one I used Blue Lake (P.B.1), both from my St. Petersburg White Nights 36 colors set.

A 2mm Koh-i-Noor mechanical pencil, with a 6b and 8b graphite lead of the same brand. And I also used graphite powder, which I keep in a little container every time I sharp those leads.

I love working with graphite powder so much!! I LOVE the texture, the gloomy mood it gives to any simple drawing.

And the last super awesome supplies I used were a kneaded eraser, the Mono 2,3mm Zero eraser pen and the Posca 0,7mm white pen for the highlights, a thin smudge stick and a silicone tip brush for shading details where I couldn't use my fingers.

The first drawing I did on my sketchbook, I didn't know better, on a 120gsm offset paper, and the second one is on one of my favorite papers, Arches hot pressed satiné.

My plan is to draw at least 3 more, using the same graphite technique but with different bold colors. Let's see what happens.

Maybe next time I'll show you all the process it takes.

Well, that's it for today! I hope any of you who came all this way to read my nonsense, have an awesome day/night!

I'll see you next time!