My Art Tools

Took a quick break from working on commissions to show you all some of my primary drawing tools. These aren't the only ones I've used before- I've experimented with different mediums in the past- but they're pretty much my go-to tools of the trade.

From left to right going down:

Sketchbook: The one here is a book of toned gray 80lb sketch paper. It's not my primary source of drawing paper- I mainly use regular spiral-bound sketchbooks you can find in most art supply stores. But this paper I recently found is pretty impressive. It's a lot thicker and hardier than what I usually draw on, so I can make and erase heavy dark lines without leaving behind visible grooves in the paper.

Drafting Brush: I do a lot of erasing when I draw, which means a lot of eraser crumbs. But blowing them away risks getting spit on my sketches, and using my hand can end up smudging the pencil lines. Thus I use this brush to sweep them off the paper.

.05 Mechanical Pencil: I've used "proper" sketching pencils before, but usually only if I want to make a pure pencil drawing rather than sketching something out to be inked and colored later. I've used mechanical pencils since sixth grade to draw pretty much exclusively. My preferred brand is the Pentel line with the lead feeding button on the side, so I can reload the lead without having to move my fingers around much.

White Eraser: The Staedtler brand white eraser has been my go-to eraser for years- they erase much cleaner than those awful pink ones and don't leave behind smudges you can't get rid of. They come with cardboard sleeves which help keep the eraser from snapping in half while erasing, but they have a tendency to peel apart as they age, so I always wrap them up in masking tape for extra durability, and snip them down with scissors as the eraser gradually shrinks.

Kneaded Eraser: I don't use this one as often, though it's good for when you need a more "delicate" touch when erasing, such as getting rid of soft lines while keeping darker lines intact. It's also good for precision erasing, since it can be molded into thinner shapes.

Electric Eraser: This one I use even less than the other two- I usually only pull it out when I'm adding the finishing touches to a drawing to make a precise erasing, such as adding a highlight to a character's eye, or removing small, dark lines without disturbing the surrounding details.

Pen Tablet: My second and current tablet is a Wacom Intuos Pro. It's a good tablet with a lot of flexibility, and you can assign all the buttons to different keystrokes for different programs. Although I admit I don't really use most of the buttons save for the two on the side of the tablet pen itself, which I've set for the Pencil and Eraser tool in Photoshop.