My Tools

 I have been an art student for a couple of years now and have collected and picked up many tools and techniques over the years. With the recommendation of my professors and the research I have done of my favorite illustrators I have collected many tools and started to have a wish list of tools to try out.

I first started with oils and I liked the processes of using them, but once I was introduced to my watercolor class I fell in love with the technique and effect it gave my paintings/illustrations. And of course I have to mention the cost of my hobby went down tremendously! I use a variety of brushes some real hair and some synthetic hair. Synthetic hair brushes are very useful since you can use watercolor and acrylic paint without harming the hairs. A bonus in using water colors is that the clean up process is tremendously shorter than with oils. I'm not fussy with pallets but I do reach more toward small ones to give me more desk space. Paper is something really important if you don't want a soggy painting, I use Bristol paper for my illustrations and for something more elaborate and expensive I use cold pressed loose paper 140lb. My illustration class introduced me to calligraphy pens which I love to use instead of other ink pens. They give a nice organic line to my illustrations, a variety of thin to thick lines, and nice finish over all. In complimentary to that I uses India Ink which I found to be a really black and long lasting with no fading afterwards. I use two types of color pencils although both sets are Prisma which are super pigmented, one are the basic colors pencils and the other are watercolor pencils which can be mixed with water to give a different effect. through out the year I discovered what I like using and what I did not and well as certain brands that I lean towards most.