#mediums are prismacolors and ink used like watercolor

[the-dye-stained-socialite]

kink/whumptober day 2(?): petplay

smut and nudity under the cut

had the fun thought of marigold's tattoos coming alive in parabola for this one

[md3artjournal]

Ah, Copic markers😅

The more time passes, the more i feel like the rare few who got Copics, then tried digital art, didn't like it, and returned to Copics.😅

I was into other traditional mediums then got into Copics. I tried to get into digital art, only in recent years, and it's not going well. Too much friction in the process. I don't think I'll ever really get comfortable drawing on a screen. I've actually been getting more into traditional materials instead, by getting into fountain pens and dip pens. lol I went from 3 ink bottles to 10+. 😂

Yet my traditional drawings still don't look as good as the few digital drawings i struggled to complete.🪦👻

The funny thing is, when i got into artist's alcohol markers, it DID feel like magic. Before i got into Copics, i was super cheap with all my art supplies: Crayola markers, Crayola watercolors, color pencils (gift), ballpoint pens, hoarded cardboard, scratch paper, fabric scraps, etc. First thing I did out of art school, was buy hardware store paints, and make mini canvases out of old T-shirts and popsicle sticks, just to cleanse myself of all the wasteful guilt i had during classes, required to use high end painting supplies. I felt too uncomfortable trying to make art with expensive supplies. But then, one Comic Con, all the panels i wanted to attend, filled up, so i wandered into the one thing i could get into: a Prismacolor Premier workshop. They gave out a free marker and had us test out their other supplies too. And after years of streak marks with Crayola Super Tips (which if you learn to work with, can incorporate nice strokes into drawings), i was flabbergasted when those Prismacolor Premier marker strokes just melted into each other and disappeared!🤯

After that panel, I immediately went to exhibit hall to buy alcohol markers. And back then, i always attended Anime Expo, which almost always has a booth selling Copic Sketch makers for only $5. Every year, I'd buy Copics at Anime Expo. I tried their Gasenfude and got into brush pens. To this day, i still have my brother who still attends AX, pick up some Copics for me almost every year. And I've finally started buying Copics online, getting to know stores with frequent sales. I thought i might leave Copics for some other mediums (like ink, or learn digital, or return to watercolors), but Copics are still the fastest, best look for my work flow. I actually timed it, and when i use other mediums, a drawing takes me FIVE times longer. So i think I'm sticking with Copics.💕 (I don't have the money for this💸😅)

[rachaelmayo]

Rachael's Art Information

The top illustration is Fields of Gold 2, one of my recent artworks and a personal favorite.

Quick info:

Commissions - closed, mostly. You can always ask, though; I may be able to take on small projects here and there. My policies and prices information is posted in a journal entry on DeviantArt, and I will keep this journal up to date.

Art trades - closed.

Requests - closed, permanently.

Personal info:

I am an art hobbyist. I sell my work at SF/Fantasy conventions in the United States, but I do not make my living through my art. Art is my for-fun-and-relaxation vocation. I make my living as a systems administrator with a mainframe z/OS specialty for SS&C Technologies. I am based in the Kansas City, Missouri metropolitan area in the United States.

I like to draw dragon things, feathery things, buggy things, monstrous things, and other fantasy and SF things. I prefer design-oriented illustration over narrative illustration, and my focus tends to be on pattern and decoration. I am inspired by all kinds of creatures from the natural world, especially fish, insects, reptiles, birds, and flowers.

My artwork is comprised mostly of traditional mediums. I use ink, watercolor, and a variety of colored pencil brands, though I favor Prismacolor pencils over all others. I also use gel pens and acrylics. I like to include elements such as scrapbook paper, fancy rocks (cut/polished cabochons), acrylic rhinestones and Swarovski crystals, metal and glass decorations, and a variety of other 3D objects. Occasionally, I'll get a wild hair and break out the glitter.

I do some work in Photoshop. Usually I use the program for post-processing a hand-drawn artwork, but also I use it to perform color tests and other small projects. I would not consider Photoshop to be one of my primary creative mediums; rather, it is one of my finishing tools.

I share my artwork on a few other platforms, in combination with general short blogging. I know that some people have different platform preferences, so here are the other places I can be found:

Amazon - I have four dragon- and fantasy-themed coloring books available on Amazon. These are all original hand-drawn images that I've reworked in Photoshop to make them colorist-friendly. The current set of books are aimed at advanced colorists. I plan to publish books that are suitable for casual and young colorists soon. Here are links to the individual books:

Dragon Adventure 1 - 2nd edition coming in late 2025.

Dragon Adventure 2 - 2nd edition coming in 2027.

Dragon Adventure 3 - 2nd edition coming in 2028.

Dragon Adventure 4 - no 2nd edition planned.

Coming soon: Kid-friendly Dragon Adventure coloring books.

Cara - I've joined this portfolio/social site recently, and I am still in the process of populating it with my work.

DeviantArt - This is a chronological catalogue of artistic endeavors, moderately well-organized. I consider DA to be my "primary" art sharing website.

Print Information - This DeviantArt journal has information about my prints. I sell them ad hoc and make them with my own equipment, rather than using online print services. My prints are matted, signed, and numbered limited editions. I use archival paper and ink.

Facebook - I reveal new art here in parallel with DeviantArt. I post other information and personal achievements as well. I occasionally share music and performance videos that I like, and also terrible puns and other amusements. The vast majority of what I share is public, and SFW.

FurAffinity - I reveal new art here in parallel with DeviantArt.

Instagram - This usually parallels new work posts that are on my other websites, but the formatting may be different due to Instagram's image ratio restrictions.

Twitter/X - I am not posting artwork here any longer. I'm not as engaged on Twitter as I am elsewhere. I may not respond to DMs very quickly, but I do tend to drop by every couple of days.

Email - If you prefer to communicate via email, you are welcome to send me a DM and I will provide my email address. I do not want to post my address publicly on Tumblr.

[blanchebees]

Hi! I'm not sure if this has been asked before but if you don't mind answering, what sketchbook do you use, and what's the paper like (texture-wise, how strong is it, etc)? And what's your favorite pen and/or pencil to use? Are there any other materials you like to use but maybe don't work with as often? Thank you for answering if you do :D

~ A fellow artist

Hello! Nope! Actually nobody has ever asked and i am happy to answer you :)

I use Talens art creation, currently a5 size (13x21cm), i prefer smooth paper for better inking so there's not too much texture on this one. It has taken me a bit to find the one perfect for me so this may or may not work for you.

I use different mediums and this paper can hold up, it's 140gsm so it's not too thick nor thin, although if you go too heavy with watercolors, it does bend.

My favorite pencil has to be the prismacolor col erase, combined with smooth paper i always get very gentle and flowy strokes.

Favorite pen at the moment might be the stabilo point 88, but just a basic bic does a good job as well.

I have Himi gouache that i haven't touched in forever, maybe in the future I'll mess around with it, who knows.

Hopefully this will be helpful! ☺️

[cynoglav]

what art supplies do u use? i rly like ur doodles ....

first of all, thank you!

this is gonna be a long one. and hey, before I get into this: getting better tools does not make you a better artist. I'm serious. Please don't get things from this list to improve your art, and especially if they're just gonna languish in a drawer because you're afraid of wasting them. I love you and you deserve nice things, but they are not the key to becoming a better artist.

I've also had many, many years to collect and curate stuff. A lot of it I gave away to friends because I didn't use it. If you're new to this, don't worry about getting "all the best things". It's a little silly, and can hold you back.

Especially for sketchbooks, exploration and just messing around, quality stuff isn't necessary. if you're selling commissions or making stuff that will be hung up, yeah, quality matters, but it's mostly about how archival/lightfast stuff is, not price. you won't catch me with caran d'ache or prismacolor stuff, nuh-uh. Only one of these is good and worth the price, and spoiler, it's not the prismacolor.

also, if I catch you hanging up alcohol marker originals, I will personally come into your house and put them into a safe drawer. that shit fades, and fast.

with that out of the way:

digital: clip studio paint + wacom intuos pro medium (circa 2017?). Don't bother with wacom tho, a huion is just fine. I do recommend not getting a small one though, your wrists will thank you. I use whatever brushes i like atm, usually default or custom-made by me.

watercolor: a mix of roman szmal + renesans paints, because they're high quality and extremely local (and thus cheap!!) to me. Currently I'm using arches 185gsm cold press (100% cotton). I chose it over 300gsm because it's cheaper, and thus feels less precious, so I'm not afraid to "waste it", whatever that means. for brushes, I use a #6 kolibri pure red sable round and a really, really old #2 cotman round (111 series). I would recommend synthetics due to environmental and ethical concerns over how sable hair is harvested. I also have a #16 flat somewhere, but I have no f%$#ing clue where it is. Do note that watercolor is rarely a vegan medium, as the sizing in watercolor paper is usually gelatine. I'm sure you can do it, but idk how. for gouache i use the watercolors mentioned above + white gouache because I'm a rebel. I do have a renesans gouache set tho, and will use it up because I hate wasting things.

ink: winsor&newton black and white shellac ink. I discovered G-pen nibs like a week ago and they're my jam, but I used a LS40 nib before (too flexy). FWIW i also use a white sakura gelly roll for white highlights sometimes, and sakura pigma microns in various sizes and colors (usually 003, 01, PN). I also use regular fountain pen ink in a fountain pen because it's fun.

sketchbooks/paper: royal talens art creation. they are the superior affordable sketchbook, no contest. I love the 12x12cm size and A5 bound on the short side. I'm also using a 12x12cm sakura sketchbook with black paper for gouache doodles. for watercolors, I use 100% cotton as mentioned before, as that is the only medium I ever consider selling to people. Everything else I don't bother keeping archival, so it's in my sketchbook or on cheap-ass copy paper. go nuts.

pencils: I prefer a 2H for layouts on watercolor paper and a HB for sketching, usually either a faber castell 9000 (the dark green ones) because idk they make me happy and are nice and smooth. Usually it's "whatever" though. as long as it writes and doesn't scratch I can use it.

colored pencils: a 36 set of faber castell polychromos and i refuse to elaborate

misc. sketching supplies: uni nano dia color mechanical pencil leads. My #1 most used is pink and I plan on getting more colors. for normal mechanical pencil lead i use a HB refill in whatever brand i can find (I'm even less picky than with wooden pencils). All of these are in 0.5mm size. oh, and tons of misc. cheapo colored pencils I have laying around, like most artists. for erasers, usually it's "whatever" but I do carry several with me at all times. current faves are colored kneadable erasers (ooo pretty colors!!), milan tri jet, pentel hi-polymer in green, pentel hi-polymer slim. pencil sharpeners are also a whatever as long as it doesn't break my pencil, but I do really like the derwent long point (i have the mini, its cute) for cute accents of color i use whatever pastel highlighter i have at hand, or a crayola supertip. I sometimes also use alcohol markers, but rarely.

alcohol markers: copic ciao, but don't bother buying them. ohuhu has refills now and copics lost their only advantage.

acrylic paint: renesans flowacryl, but I do plan to switch to golden fluid at some point. this is exclusively for mtg alters, btw. in terms of brushes, I use a #0 milan round (golden taklon i think but idk and I don't have any at hand rn to check) and a #6 oval (it's flat but with rounded off corners) in whatever brand is available.

i think i covered it all! now go grab a pencil and copy paper, and have fun. this is a threat.

[ashsomethingart]

In Which I Properly Introduce Myself

Good Morrning Tumblrverse Updated 4/15/2024: My name is Ash Around the internet I am known pretty much ubiquitously as Ash Something Art  I am currently active on all of the following platforms:

My wordpress website

Facebook

Patreon

Redbubble

Bluesky

Instagram 

DeviantArt

Youtube

TikTok (Backup is here)

Discord (@AshSomethingArt)

Reddit

Creatively

Ello

Fetlife

I am a 35 year old multidisciplinary artist. I’m Genderfluid AMAB, and I live my life as a lifestyle clown.  But I’m here on tumblr to focus on who I am as an artist, so let’s dig into that. There is always some confusion when I say I’m a multidisciplinary artist, as it’s not an incredibly common term, but to clear that up out of the gate, it means I don’t specialize in just a single type of art, but work my absolute ass off to create awesome work in a wide variety of styles and media. There’s a lot of push for artists to have a single recognizable style and to only work in a single medium; But this isn’t for the artist’s benefit. I’ve always looked at that as being the same mindset that people have that makes guys tell their girlfriends they’re “Too much” or to tone themselves down. People want artists to have a single style so that artist’s work can fit inside of an easily digestible and recognizable box, where just a glance can tell them which artist did that work. And I hate that. I hate being limited. I do art because I love art, and if I want to do a realistic charcoal work one day then a digital anime style piece the next I’m going to do that. What styles do I use, you ask? That’s a hard question to answer in-depth because I have practiced a wide range of media (Charcoal, graphite, pastels, acrylic, oil and watercolor paints, photoshop, illustrator, pen and inks, colored pencils, Prismacolor markers, lithographic printing, screen printing, woodcarving, leathercrafting, sculpture, photography and photo-editing), and multiple consistent styles with each medium I use. But to simplify and clarify it, I can at least list the styles I am happily ready to market myself in as a professional at any given time because I have spent over ten years doing each of them, and these styles are my own at this point; -Anime and Manga Style - My own Anime style is a bit more on the realistic side; I grew up referencing a lot of Seinen manga, pulp magazine, Death n=Note and stuff like Air Gear, as well as a bunch of Manhwa like Sun Ken Rock and King of Hell. That said, I’ve also practiced (a lot) replicating the big anime and manga’s styles from when I was growing up; Naruto, Bleach, Dragon Ball, One Piece, Nana/Paradise Kiss, etc. I obviously prefer working in the style I developed myself but I have options with the anime and manga styles. -Western/American Comic Style - When I’m drawing in my own comic style, I would say it most closely resembles Michael Turner, my favorite artist from Image Comics, who created Aspen Comics and later worked with both Marvel and DC. I grew up inspired by his work and that led to my work being similarly inspired by him. I spent a lot of time in the comic convention circuit in LA meeting artists and being exposed to their work, and while I was a bit of a fan of Marvel and DC growing up, those titles didn’t come close to how obsessive I was with Image/Top Cow, Aspen Comics, Dark Horse and Heavy Metal magazine. As an adult I’m very aware of how problematic Heavy Metal is, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of my first major artistic inspirations when I came across it as a kid and didn’t know any better; And themes aside, the art was REALLY good; Between Hajime Sorayama, Frank Frazetta, Luis Royo, and a slew of others who did work for them, the visually artistic quality of the magazine was amazing. -Semirealism/Realism - I don’t want to say that this is where I started as an artist, because I I remember correctly I started drawing with anime characters back when I was like 9. However by the time I was 13 I was already trying to draw realistic portraits in pencil, and by the time I was in high school I was already able to do it. I don’t really have a lot of specific inspirations for this style, as honestly it’s the style that came most naturally to me. I have always done my fastest, best work in straight up graphite or charcoal; And I’ve been able to expand that work to a slew of other media, leaving charcoal as my favorite of them all. Given the time, I can do (and have done) massive 18x24″ charcoal portraits and pinups that look almost like a photo (although I do prefer to make the work obviously drawn when I can).

-Cartoon Style - Being a realism artist makes cartoon styles the hardest of the styles out there for me; It’s about simplifying. Simplify simplify simplify. My own cartoon style is a mix of anime/manga chibi styles and things like Jhonen Vasquez and Tim Burton’s art, as well as a few different web comics that I grew up with. I can’t say my cartoon work looks like any specific cartoon artist, but those are at least my go-to inspirations when I’m working in the style. If at all possible I do prefer to avoid this style. -Character/Pinup Style - Unlike the rest of the styles, this one is completely a creation of my own. It mixes semi-realistic shading with a linework style inspired by both anime and American comics, but wouldn’t necessarily fit into either of those brackets. It’s simpler than semi-realism, but a lot more realistic than cartoon, and I’m looking forward to creating a lot of work in this style very soon. -Tattoo Styles - I will preface this with the fact that I have no experience doing tattoos on peoples’ bodies. However, I have had a TON of commissions where people wanted me to design their tattoos, and so I had to study them in-depth so I knew what the tattoo artists would need when the client took my art to them. I am confident in the American traditional style, Contemporary, Cartoon, and Black and Grey styles. -Graphic Design - Originally, I started learning graphic design for my own purposes; How to brand and market myself. Create my own logos, etc. I figured, if I already have the artistic abilities why not do it all on my own? Before I realized it, I was doing paid work for anything from logo and t-shirt graphics, to album art, magazine covers, web banners and profile pictures. I can do both corporate and illustrative graphic design, but I prefer illustrative. -Nagel Style Reproductions -  To be clear, this is reproducing his style, not reproducing his work. Nagel was one of my very first formative artistic inspirations. About ten years ago, I decided to do one piece referencing his work as just a style study, and then people wanted me to do portraits of them in the style, which eventually led to me now having a portfolio of about 30 pieces that are various portraits, pinups, etc, in his style. I never expected or wanted to be known for that, as it started as just a practice thing for me, but Nagel is so iconic that it became one of my most demanded styles from prospective clients. So there you go. Eight solid styles that I work in. I don’t mean to ramble, but stopping me from infodumping when I get started is really hard to do, especially if I’m the one who needs to stop himself. In the past, I haven’t been the best at labelling my artwork with the exact style I’m using, and so there’s some confusion as to which I’m using on specific pieces among my current fanbase, but I do hope to rectify that with a new labelling process that I’ve started the last couple weeks for clarification. I unfortunately will not be going back and labelling work that has already been published online, but hopefully you all will start to see the distinctions as I publish more.

[spectral-musette]

what materials do you use for your drawings?

Hi anon!  It’s been a while I think since I’ve answered this type of question, but I don’t think much has changed. I’ll ramble about art supplies here under the cut. Disclaimer that these are probably not the absolute best supplies available, but they’re what I’m comfortable with or what I can easily find. Sometimes inexpensive to moderately priced art supplies are better for me mentally because I feel less anxious about using them up. Please don’t let that hold you back from using Nice Things if your brain isn’t Like That.

I like Strathmore Toned Tan paper (but when I started using toned paper in... 2013?ish? I was drawing on pieces of brown paper shopping bags). Brown or grey cardstock can also work, but I don’t think it erases quite as cleanly as the Strathmore paper and can tend to pick up oil from your hands more. I also like the portability of the wire-bound Strathmore sketchbook, and it lays nicely flat in the scanner (most of the time).

I draw with 2HB graphite pencils (Dixon Ticonderoga, but I doubt the specific kind makes that much of a difference). Really nothing fancy, I just find them with office/school supplies in packs of many. I like an electric sharpener to get a nice sharp point. (There are different levels of soft/hard graphite drawing pencils you might prefer though!)

For highlights, I use Prismacolor white pencils (PC938). I use a small manual sharpener for these for a blunter point and to use up less pencil when I sharpen. The one downside of these is that the lead (I know it’s not actually lead, like, Pb, but I can’t think of what else to call the inside of a colored pencil) can tend to break when sharpening, but I don’t think that’s entirely to do with how one sharpens and just relates to how they’ve been handled - being dropped on a hard surface might crack the lead inside?. I have also used General’s white charcoal, which is softer, but the Prismacolor smudges less.

I like high-polymer eraser caps. I’m sure people swear by other erasers (like a kneaded rubber), but I like having something I can shove on the end of my pencil so I don’t lose track of it. I also like the shape and the stiffness of the caps. I’m pretty sure I have an erasing shield somewhere but I literally never use it - lines that get erased as collateral damage evidently just deserved it? Regardless of eraser type, the white pencils do not erase very well.

Spray fixative helps keep your drawings from smudging, especially if you’re using a sketchbook or otherwise storing them in a stack (though I still just use one side of the page, but that’s also so I can remove drawings if I want to). A can of fixative should last you a good while, 2+ years at the rate that I draw. I have a can of Krylon workable fixative at the moment which is working out okay. I like the Prismacolor product but it’s been tough to find lately. I object to the Grumbacher fixative because it smells AWFUL, though it works fine too. Definitely put down scrap paper (newspaper, etc.) before you spray so you can get any edges of the drawing without coating the surrounding surface in fixative (RIP my desk).

It can be helpful to have a ruler and/or a T-square around.

For watercolors, I use a variety of cold-press watercolor paper (the Canson XL pads have a nice texture, and I like the Artist’s Loft Level 2 watercolor pad from Michael’s). I know serious watercolor artists often swear by Arches paper, but I find it intimidating and stick with more inexpensive paper so I don’t get too nervous to use it.

You’ll want a plastic palette for mixing colors, up to you if you prefer the rounded depressions or the shallow rectangular ones, or a combo.

I’m in a watercolor pan phase, rather than tube paints. I have a cheap set (I think also Artist’s Loft brand) that is my current go-to because it has a portrait pink pan (and I can just use the lid as the mixing palette). I do get frustrated with the limits to how saturated I can get certain colors with it, though. I bought a Sakura sketch box which I think is better quality and has more vivid tones, but I have to mix way more colors to get skintones, which I haven’t fully gotten the hang of yet.

I used to use dilute Liquitex acrylics for painting, and they did probably saturate more because of the way the paint binds to the paper, but that’s a mixed blessing -  they’re less forgiving if you make a mistake. With watercolor you can blot and rinse off with a clean wet brush (to a certain extent) if paint gets somewhere that you don’t want it on the paper, but acrylic stains way more. Also, when your watercolor paint dries on your palette, you can just add more water and continue to paint with your customized color. Acrylics dry on your palette as a film which does not redissolve well (thanks to the plastic medium) and is a certified pain in the ass to scrape off the palette. They also stain your clothes, like, forever.  I swear I have a shirt with a spot of blue acrylic paint on it from the 90′s.

My favorite watercolor brush is an angled shader, 1/4″ or 3/8″. In theory I have a liner and a spotter for detail work but in practice I just use the sharp tip of the shader like a goblin. I have experimented a little with water brushes; mostly I like the Pentel Aquash for monochromatic ink washes.

That’s probably already way more words than you wanted to read, so I’m going to stop myself here. Good luck and happy drawing and painting!

[manueillustrations]

I love your work and fan art! Do you use pencil art or digital software to draw? How long did it take you to draw so good?

First, I always drew, since I can take a pencil :3 I was always the little ‘artist’ at. school. Ever my art teacher at elementary school gave me pencils, markers, pastels because he knew I loved to draw (but the other kids was jealous, I can understand why...) But I practice a lot. Draw a lot.. I often do mistakes but I try my best to improve. Even today I always have mistakes in my art, as an artist/illustrator I really think it’s normal. I cannot be perfect ;) But I still praticte (use references sometimes... take pictures of the nature, sky, clothes) sometimes I even try my own poses to make sure I got them right! When I draw digitally, I use a Wacom Intuos Pro with Photoshop CC 2020 :) I do like to draw with traditionnal mediums too! Watercolor, india ink, prismacolored markers, pencils, acrylic :)

[cinnimint]

Oh, on the subject of documenting things, can you give us tips on how to grow a marker collection while on a budget? I saw you mention you are building a collection slowly of art supplies

This one is a bit easy yet also long to answer! So I am on a budget (which is tighter without a proper job for now) so I really understand how hard it is to collect the supplies you really would like. For markers, specifically Copic Markers which are known for their high $$$$$, This is how I personally buy them. Yes, if you collect all of the colors this way, it does cost more money, but I only collect the colors I know I will personally use vs buying a big set and most of them going unused. 

Buy INDIVIDUAL MARKERS vs Sets; The only big exception I really think is their skin tone set! I really enjoy the skin tone set, I just wish the set had more tan and dark skin tones, but they do give you two very light shades, one medium, and two very dark ones. I recommend buying this set, and maybe adding some more middle tones in. If they are on sale in sets, and you really like a set, I say go ahead.

Buy COPIC CIAO markers vs COPIC SKETCH markers; Copic Ciao markers are smaller, and hold a little bit less ink, but they are typically 2 or so dollars cheaper! Price depends on where you go, but I typically buy them at Michaels which they are around 5.99 per marker for the Ciao. I enjoy the Ciao as much as the sketch markers, there is no quality difference.

Make sure you SWATCH the markers before you purchase them; I’ve have many instances where the cap sometimes doesn’t ALWAYS 100% match what I think the ink would look like, so it’s very important to make sure you swatch to make sure you like the color! After all, at 5-7 dollars a marker, you want to make sure you like them. owo;

…Just don’t buy ‘em :’D ; There are so many alternate alcohol marker brands now, and while I do enjoy my copics, I HIGHLY recommend Artist Loft markers which are sold open stock at Michaels as well. I enjoy them just as much as copics. Another brand I enjoy are Ohuhu markers, which you can buy in sets, which depending on your budget may be a little high, but it’s worth saving for. They have brush tip markers now as well! 

For other products, I kinda follow the same rule of open stock/individual buying. I buy Micron Pens as open stock, and buy certain colors. I just recommend staying away from the brush tip microns, they break down very quickly. I have a Pink, Red, Brown, and multiple black ones in different sizes. I typically buy 05 size. For my watercolors, you can go a long way with just your primaries, Phthalo Blue, Permanent  Red, and Gamboge are the colors I bought that mix very well. I bought a purple though because…I love..porple…

Pencils are pencils, I do like having two Prismacolor Col-Erase pencils just because it makes my sketches softer, but honestly? Just a pack of mechanical pencils from Dollar Tree is just as fine. 

One last thing, especially for those that get their supplies at Michaels…BRING COUPONS. Get the app, go on the site, just don’t buy without using coupons. I’ve saved so much money doing this. They can also accept more than one coupon as long as they are different kinds. More than half the time they have a 40% off coupon on their site, and sometimes even 50 or 60% off. Also they sometimes will have 20% off entire purchase. 

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk 

[dross-the-fish]

I've never had an issue with prismacolor pencils. Would you say the difference between those and Castells is actually significant.

It is for me. But I will be transparent, a lot of that might come down to my method of drawing. I work in lots of layers and sometimes I use a very heavy hand to get bold lines. I also like small details like jewelry, wrinkles and scars. Prismacolors didn’t work for me because the waxiness didn’t stand up to layering and I only got a few layers down before the buildup would start rubbing off the paper. The pencils also didn’t hold a point for long and would break at least once on every attempt to sharpen them.

 Also idk if it’s common with the Prismacolor brand but I noticed some of the cores were off center in the barrel of the pencil, which may have contributed to breakage. That could have just been a one off flaw in manufacturing, I haven’t bought prismacolors since, so it’s entirely possible I got a bad batch in what might otherwise be a good brand. I hear a lot of people do like them and I will give them this, they are very good if you like to blend your colors, due to the soft, waxy core they lay down a smooth color. For certain styles and people who have a bit more finesse when handling a pencil these might be a perfectly good product.

What I prefer with the Faber-Castell is the sturdiness, these are a lot more heavy duty and can stand up to long plane rides, being shuffled around in baggage and even being dropped. I find they also play well with other mediums like watercolors, inks and solvents, they’re harder to blend but make up for it with the ability to layer your colors. Really though, it comes down to what suits you as an artist. If Prismacolor has been a good brand for you then keep using them, everyone has a different method and what works for me might not fit you.

 I hope that answers your question and I hope you continue to enjoy making art. 

[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!

[gabelew]

What all art mediums do you enjoy working with? Do you have a favorite or perhaps one you've always wanted to try?

i put detailed answer under read more, cause it got kinda long.

ifwe’re talking traditional that’s basically all i use at the moment. and by thati mean abusing 24/7the stabilo pen & the HB pencil i got for free somewhere andoccasionally remembering that the other stuff exists.

prismacolorcrayons are the goddamn best for complex scenes, when you have a detailedbackground with perspective, props, characters and whatnot. but they are SOhard to get in my country.

light-coloredstabilo pens are cool when you want to freehand a character, but need to figureout anchor points and basic construction first.

whenit comes to colors, i, who is shit at painting, cheat by using the mediums thatare more drawing-oriented. chalk is basically colored graphite and works greatwhen you want to go big but have like 15 minutes to do so.

markersare… well, markers. I like the restriced color palette and the unforgiveness.you have to know what you’re doing and what purpose does each and every strokeserve. plus i adore the flat color look.

iuse ink very rarely, so i’m not really good at it. the lines are much nicer butalso harder to control. it’s something i really need to work on.

graphiteis i think the most fun, you can have thin lines, thick lines, lines thatchange, you can use the side, you can have sharp or soft edges. i use it forfigure drawing, when I need to have a decently sized finished-looking piece inless than 10 minutes.

something i’d like to try? watercolors and gouacheshave the top spot now, i think? I experimented with them a bit, but it waslike, twice, so it doesn’t count. I’d also kill for an opportunity to try outcopic markers to see what’s so special about them.

oh, and there’s digital art of course. does this count as one medium? or many, one for every style? hmmh.

[paradamaxima]

Pencil, oil, copic, and clay? :9

Pencil: When did you first take in interest in art?

I was about two or three when I was first introduced to Disney princess films, and I was so entranced by Beauty and the Beast at first. I was around five or six when the first Incredibles came out (I think?) and I remember thinking of making something just like that, so I took up drawing and I took it very seriously. I was basically first introduced to art from watching animated films (✪‿✪)ノ Very cliche lmao

Oil: What’s your fav medium of art to work with?

I am mostly digital, but for traditional mediums, I love watercolors and markers; I like watercolors because you can create a lot of cool effects with little effort and I like markers because they’re immediate and there’s no need to wait for things to dry before you put on another layer (´∀`) I love using both. I am super into brush pens too, since they’re great for shading in hair (see my Inktobers for 2018) and adding regular shading to inked illustrations/sketches. Other than to shade, I don’t use them to line, only to sketch.

Copic: What are some of your fav brands of art supplies?

I use Copic, as this ask already suggests lmao; I use their markers and multiliners. I also use a lot of the brand Kuretake, I use their brush pens and they’re really nice, along with their Gansai Tambi watercolor set, which is also amazing. I use a lot of Prismacolor pencils, and they’re great too. For paper, I rarely use anything off brand like Art Alternatives or Artist’s Loft; I like Canson paper/sketchbooks mostly. I mainly use whatever sketchbook I’m able to get, and I’m actually not too picky about brands, as I work with so many different ones and they mostly work fine for me; it’s good to experiment with brands to find out what works for you personally because some brands might work for me but not for you ۹(˒௰˓)۶ You’ll have to sacrifice some money but it’s the only way if you’re not getting them for free lol

Clay: What gets you out of an art block?

I don’t get art block too often anymore but when it did happen, what usually helped was watching other peoples’ sketchbook tours; seeing their process and compositions of their art pieces motivated me to improve my own. What also helped was looking at things that I loved to draw. For me, it was vintage fashion, comics, and gritty or pin up illustrations; other times it was character designing/sheets or concept art of characters (`•ω•´๑)

[pipmcmayhem]

Traditional art for the first time in a while.

Here are my OCs Locoso (left) and Tiv’Trekka (right). My two loop songs were “I See You” by MISSIO and “RISE” from the League of Legends OST (I don’t play the game(s), I just absolutely love the song). Completed over the course of 3 days.

This is the first fully traditional piece I’ve done since October of 2019. My primary medium for traditional art is Prismacolor Premier colored pencils. The edges were done using a few metallic gellyroll pens and a white prisma. I draw the sketch separately and then transfer it using (in this case white) carbon paper.

It’s funny because I’ve had this black Canson 11x14 XL pad for about 2 years and haven’t actually started using it until recently lmao

This is a piece of Sarphayon, main villain of my original series, Transparent Eyes. Loop song was “In The Dark” by Bring Me The Horizon

I actually had to perform surgery on this piece. I couldn’t get the reds of his eyes to show up as vibrant as I wanted on the black paper, so during my experimenting I fucked up so bad that I just cut the eyes out with a hobby knife, and then decided to trace the outline of the eyes onto white sketch paper, color them, and then carefully glue them from behind. The piece buckles a little, but it’s still worth it.

I’ve been doing traditional art a lot to help maintain my sanity for mental illness and trauma reasons so I’ve just been diving headfirst into it and I’m glad I started broadening my methods. The Prismacolors look really good on black paper and I plan to experiment with more mediums once I get more supplies. As of right now, I’ve got my prismas, a huge set of Ohuhu markers, some ink and gel pens, and a set of watercolors (which I never use) and that’s about it. I hope to get some charcoal soon, and I might end up making my own tbh. I also wanna get some paint markers. I guess I’ll just have to see what the future holds lol.

My next piece is some Helluva Boss fanart (for a change; I usually don’t draw anything by choice but my own characters LMAO) so I’ll probably post that later if anyone is interested.

I hardly ever post anything because of social anxiety and I’m just bad at it lmao. But if you like my art, please consider leaving a like or comment or whatever. It means a lot to me. :)

Thank you for checking out this post, and have a nice day/night! :)

[cityslickercos-moved]

For traditional art what do you use? Brands/types of mediums and such. Any favorites?

Well you see,,,,, i stole everything i have from my old school except my paint, markers and colored pencils. I have a lot of copics collected over time and a decent set of prismacolors. Also the cheapest acrylic paint tubes you can find at michaels lol. Liquitex basics in red, blue, yellow, bright pink, bright teal, and white. Mixed all my colors from those, they’re really translucent and i like that a lot. All my sketchbooks are strathmore or canon, and i took them all from school. Rip. Any watercolor art I do is made from the huge cheap artist’s loft palette, all the technical inking pens are micron 05 :>Stole many many random paintbrushes. But yeah, those are my brands I guess :3I think my favorite thing to use for traditional art is acrylics. My crazy ass LOVES blending. Im working on a huge piece rn and its just so satisfying and gay

[myfandomincolor]

If you don't mind me asking, how many different media do you typically use in a finished piece? And how do you keep watercolor within the boundaries you set?

Hi Anon! I 💖love💖 talking about media and materials, so I am moooore than happy to answer.

I use anywhere from 6-??? kinds of media when I illustrate. I’ll describe the process, which will hopefully help!

• Usually I start by sketching with colored pencil. I use a Pilot Color Eno in either orange or light blue. I also use Prismacolor Col-Erase, but they’re more permanent than the Pilot leads and don’t erase as easily. I like colored pencil because it won’t wash away when I start applying wet mediums.

• Once the sketch is finished, I use multiple watercolor washes to start building up areas of color. I really love the different effects you can achieve with watercolor, it’s my favorite! I sometimes use pan watercolors (Pelikan or good ol’ Prang are good), but liquid concentrated watercolor is my main jam. I’m obsessed with Dr. P.H. Martin’s Radiant line. I like painting with soft, round brushes. TBH I hardly ever use anything besides a size 6 round (I love Plaza Art’s brushes, and the Fairfax bristles are so nice for illustrative painting, plus they last forever).

• I use marker, colored pencil, ink, etc to add details and more texture. Copics, Artwins, gel pens, metallic inks...whatever seems right!

• I finalize lines in either ink or graphite watercolor. I love love loooove the Tombow Fudenosuke and Akashiya Sai brush pens for bold lines (the Sai isn’t waterproof, so I make sure the paper is dry before inking!), and ArtGraf watercolor graphite for a softer look. The soft grey linework that usually pops up in my pieces is the graphite. I use a water brush pen instead of a regular brush since the bristles are more firm.

•The last thing I do is add white highlights with either Deleter White 2 ink or a Sakura Souffle gel pen.

Keeping the watercolor where it’s supposed to be is 1/2 materials and 1/2 accepting that I can’t tell it exactly what to do XD As far as materials, I try to use paper that suits wet mediums. I use Global Art’s Trav•e•logue sketchbooks, and both the standard and watercolor papers are fantastic IMO. For loose paper, I like Arches when I can justify the expense, but Strathmore watercolor is a great alternative.

Using colored pencil as the sketch layer also helps! Colored pencil lead is partly made of wax, so it repels water. 

You can also guide watercolor washes by wetting the paper before you add color. If you first “paint” an area with plain water, the color will stay in that wet area when applied.

Sorry if this was a ton to read through! ｡(*^▽^*)ゞ In summary, I usually do colored pencil > watercolor > detail with whatever > graphite or ink > highlights. Have fun with your mediums and find stuff you enjoy handling!