Check out this short video about my favorite art supplies.
Some details I didn’t mention in the video:
When I’m drawing, I need an appropriate sheet of paper. Often at work, I will use a decent printer paper and my mechanical pencil for sketches or basic pencil drawings. These may get scanned in or photographed with my phone for digital work to layer on top, or sometimes just for discussion. The key is to do the planning work, and not make them too precious.
Thicker paper (watercolor, printmaking, or drawing paper) works better if I’ll be adding ink or watercolor to the drawing. I don’t talk about pen and ink in the video, but I use a lot of micron pens and I constantly experiment with other pen brands. I don’t do much pen and ink for medical illustration or fine art, so the experimenting is just that. I do it during Inktober, and year round “just for fun”. That is not to diminish “just for fun” work - we all need to be practicing our craft, and there is a benefit to using art supplies that are a good fit for YOU - you’ll enjoy the time more, and stick with it.
When I do pen and ink for work, it’s mostly in Adobe Illustrator, but I’m doing less and less of that, as I prefer 3D and Photoshop, and that’s what my clients need.
Moving on to my preferred combination for painting: I have been obsessed with Golden Acrylics for about 20 years, since the brand was introduced to me for printmaking. (They make a lovely printmaking medium that you can mix with fluid acrylics for screenprinting.) I love the transparency of some of them, and the creamy smooth richness of all. I use acrylics rather than oils for the speed of drying and the less toxic mixing-with-water properties. I grew sensitive to solvents after a few years of art school. But mainly, I’m impatient. I love to layer, and drip, and I need these things to dry soonish so I can continue on with the piece. I have always liked a nice quality canvas with the staples on the back. I talk about primed canvas in the video, but I do sometimes use an unprimed canvas! I used to stretch them myself, but now I prefer to buy them from another artist. People who stretch canvas all the time do a better, faster job than me.
One more note about art supplies: try to experiment once in a while with non-traditional materials. This art made of a pumpkin + narwhal pushpins was one of the most fun pieces I’ve ever done! Pancake batter, snow, sand, your kids’ scraps and old crayons… sometimes using something different and transitory frees you up to be a little more creative. And you may save money on these projects too!