5 Art Supplies I Can't Live Without | My Recommendations
My Artistic Essentials...
If you're an artist looking for inspiration, a beginner wondering where to start with materials, or just curious about what I use to make my artwork, this week I'm revealing my top 5 art supplies that I couldn't be without!
Making both handmade greeting cards and pet portraits means that I use a wide range of different mediums, so it's been a bit of a journey to finding what I truly love to use!
I hope this blog post provides you with an interesting insight into my own art toolkit, and maybe inspires you to find your new favourite tool!
Disclaimer
I'm not being sponsored by any of these companies, I simply love these materials and want to recommend them to anyone else looking to make their art! I've put the brand I use in brackets so you can purchase your own if you'd like.
With That Being Said, Let's Dive In!
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White Permanent Marker (Posca)
My white Posca pen is an absolute game changer in adding highlights and final details to my pet portraits. It's the perfect tool for going over the top of a finished piece of work, and adding in any light (such as in the eyes).
I find the Posca marker is the best white pen I've used for adding details, as it applied and dries like paint, making it lovely to use.
Pro tip: Don't go overboard with adding white highlights! They can make your work look amazing and add some lovely depth and light, but if you add too much highlight, it can kill the shadows in your piece and make it look flat.
Here, you can see where I've added white details to give the effect of a wet nose.
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Coloured Pencils (Zenacolour)
A good set of highly pigmented coloured pencils is an essential for me in making my pet portraits. They're an amazing medium for capturing intricate details like fur or scales, and make for the perfect tool for blending and creating different tones in your drawings.
I use a set of 72 from Zenacolour, and love the range of colours they offer. Another more pricey brand I love is Prismacolour, for their lovely soft texture and incredible depth of colour.
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Dual Tip Brush Pens (Tombow)
To create any calligraphy and lettering in my artwork, I adore the Tombow dual tip brush pens. I find using a brush pen rather than a paintbrush makes it easier to control your linework and manipulate the thickness and thinness of your lines wit ease.
I find the Tombow pens in particular to be great as you can even add some water and blend the different colours together, and the dual tips allows you to create thick and thin lettering.
One of my calligraphy birthday card designs, using the Tombow brush pens.
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Different Sized Black Pigment Liners (Staedtler)
My black pigment liners allow me to create clean, sharp, black lines for my illustrations on my handmade cards. I love having access to a range of different nib sizes to create different mark making and line thicknesses, but you really only need one.
I find some black fine liners dry a sort of musty dark-grey which I don't like, but the Staedtler ones maintain the lovely crisp, jet black colour for a professional finish.
For the illustrations on my cards, I couldn't be without a good black pen!
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Water-Filled Paintbrush
Last but not least, my paintbrush that I fill up with water (rather than dipping it in a pot of water every two seconds) is so great for my watercolour cards. It allows me to paint continuously, without worrying about dripping water on my work or having to carry water around with me if I'm painting on-the-go.
In Conclusion...
So that's a little look at some of my favourite art tools! Please remember that, as nice as it is to have fancy art supplies and cool tools, you can create amazing artwork with even just one pencil!
Don't feel pressure to have the perfect art tools, and remember that it's all about building up a collection of your favourite materials over time.