Over the years, I’ve used several different mediums, from colored pencil, to watercolor to digital. My core tools right now are pretty simple! Some of these are affiliate links, so the trading post will be supported by a small commission when you purchase through them.
Drawing Gear
1 – Osprey Madison Fountain Pens – I have both an Extra Extra Fine and a Zebra G nib pen. Zebra actually isn’t my favorite brand of G nib, but I also don’t w
ant to spend a billion dollars for what is essentially a dip pen on the go!
2 – Noodlers Blue-Black Ink – I’m just loving greenish navy these days, and this ink perfectly fits the bill. Noodlers is also just a great brand with a ton of versatile inks.
3 – Kuretake Karappo Bush Pens – Not only are these great quality markers and brushes, I can fill them with the same ink I’m using in my fountain pens. How cool is that??
4 – Pentel Graphgear 1000 .5mm – I like a nice springy feedback when I put pencil to paper, and this delivers, in a metal frame that gives it some weight. I used to used the older generation of this pencil, and love its great grandchild no less! I pair it with the completely luxuriant 5 – Pilot Neox High-Purity Graphite Pencil Lead – 0.5 mm – F, that I discovered by needing to meet my free shipping minimum.
6 – If I want to go colored lead, I’m currently in love with the Uni EMOTT Mechanical Pencils, as well as Uni NanoDia Color Leads.
7 – Pentel Hi-Polymer Ain Eraser – Light-Erasing – My true erasing love. It’s not sticky, but also picks up with just a touch, or erases completely with a rub. It also tends to catch my paper less. I will be cutting one down to fit into my Sakura Sumo Grip Retractable Eraser, as soon as that eraser runs out.
8 – Kokuyo With+ – My current pencil pouch. It’s super handy, but not the longest ever, so when I need my brush pens, I will fall back on my bulkier Nomadic PE-09 Flap Type Pencil Case.
Technical Gear
Canon Pixma iX6820 – It’s marketed as a craft printer, meaning that it can print on thick, wide material. It’s my go to for large projects and printing lines on watercolor paper (lightly so the ink won’t bleed).
Wacom Cintiq 13HD – Though I resisted for years, I finally invested in a Cintiq. It’s a pleasure to work with, though technology is technology, and everything comes with flaws. The reason I haven’t shifted to the iPad with Apple Pencil craze fully, is because the Apple Pencil 1.0 doesn’t have the spring of… really most drawing utensils. It’s like drawing with a rock, plonk, plonk. And I don’t love many small features of Procreate, including the very big gap of not having aliased options.
Canon Rebel T5i – Occasionally you’ll see some demos or time lapse videos of work coming to life. I went with this camera because it was a mid-range price and works well for video. I typically rig it to a PVC pipe overhead mount.
Blue Yeti Microphone – Sometimes I record tales orally. This microphone is great for recording voice overs, podcasts and even music. Warning though: It’s pretty huge. It’s about double the size of what I typically think of when I see microphones.
Microphone Pop Filter – Any pop filter will do.