MY TOOLS
I get asked every day about the tools I use to make my art. I don’t mind sharing, its just hard to keep up with the demand and reply to every person who asks, “what pen is that?” So I made this page to make it easy to share with others.
If you see me using something that isn’t on this page, please let me know and I’ll add it!
Pens
1) Copic Multiliner
A great pen to learn inking on. I have the 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 and they all work great. These are a little more expensive than your typical disposable technical pen, but I like the tips better, and like the fact that I can buy refills for them.
2) Pentel Pocket Brush
A work horse. It has a nylon brush tip, and offers a smooth and powerful line but can also give you fun expressive lines too. I’ve been drawing with this pen for years and it holds up to a beating, yet will still give you a fine delicate line if you need it. I highly reccommend it.
3) Pentel Fude Brush Pen, Extra Fine
This pen is my back up work horse and in some cases it’s my go-to. I’ve inked an entire comic with it and it never falters. Makes clean, meaningful lines with it’s durable tip.
4) Pilot Futayaku Double-Sided Brush Pen
This pen is my favorite felt tip. The line is crisp and stays that way over most of it’s life time. An added bonus is the grey ink on the flip side that’s great for shading.
5) Kuretake No. 13 Fountain Brush Pen
This pen is beautiful. The lines are rich yet sharp. It’s great for details and broad strokes. The pen has a little more weight to it so you feel like you’re actually holding something. The fine nylon bristles have a satisfying snap to it allowing you to intuitively move from thick to thin. I love it.
6) Zebra Fude Brush Pen
I’ve been using this pen a lot lately. Does great details and the ink flow is always consistent. It gives you beautiful delicate lines from both it’s tips. The larger of the two is a nylon bristle tip, and does all the heavy lifting. The smaller one is a felt tip and is great for added details. When they start to get dry you can use them for some cool dry brush effects. Not refillable, so beware.
Brushes
7) Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Watercolor Brush - Round #1
This is what brush pens wish they were. This is the gold standard, Rolls Royce of inking tools. It’s the brush Bill Watterson drew Calvin and Hobbes with. No nylon, synthetics, or plastic here, just wood, metal, and hair. There’s nothing quite like drawing with one. The ONLY draw back is you have to dip it in ink, which can get tedious, especially while under a deadline.
Markers
8) Copics
I love these markers. I think they are the best for rendering and modeling shapes. They sell refills so if a marker runs dry you can refill it, which I do all the time for my greys. They also sell replacement tips, so if the tip wears out you don’t have to replace the whole marker. There’s also over 350 colors so your bases are covered there.
I’d start with a basic set like this:
9) Copic Sketch Set of 6 Markers - Sketching Grays
And I’d also get this gray. You can learn a lot about values and light & shadow and how to blend markers with this set. Skills and information that will be helpful when you start rendering with colors.
10) Brush Stylefile Marker Set of 12 - Set A
Stylefile sent me a bunch of markers to try out. I hadn’t heard of them until they reached out to me. Their markers are incredibly vivid. Way brighter and more saturated than Copics. They are also cheaper. I’d look into them if you want to add a little more punch to your color game.
Ink
11) Winsor & Newton Drawing Ink Bottle, 14ml, Black Indian
Works great for inking with a brush or nib.
Watercolor
12) Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi 24-Color Painting Set
Beautiful rich color. I love this set.
13) Winsor & Newton Professional Water Color Compact Set
I love this little travel set. It’s great on the plane, or while sketch crawling through a city. I have an older model than the one pictured, but this one looks legit.
14) Pentel Arts Aquash Water Brush Assorted Tips, Pack of 3
These are a magic little tool. For years I used a brush and a cup of water like an animal. Not any more, I’ve started walking upright and using these beauties.
Pencils
15) Pentel Twist-Erase III Automatic Pencil, 0.5 mm, Black
Great for not taking notes, and doing small sketchy renderings. Also has a long eraser, which is nice!
16) Prismacolor Col-Erase Erasable Colored Pencils
A great pencil for sketching, its smooth and not too soft. I like vermilion and orange for sketching. Ther’s no reason for it. Just like the colors.
17) Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, Soft Core, 48 Pack
I’ve been using these pencils since grade school. I used to render entire pictures with them, but now I use the pencils to add shadows or highlight so something I’ve watercolored or rendered in marker. I think every artist should have a set in their arsenal. You can get this 48 pack, or fully commit to your craft and get the set of 150.
White Stuff
18) Sakura Gelly Roll White
I’ve tried out a bunch of white pens, and this one is hands down the best. Don’t waste you time, and just get the roll with Gellys. (I just came up with that, contact me Sakura if you need any more marketing copy)
19) White Prisma Color Pencil
Super handy for adding a little bit of highlight on a drawing.
20) BIC Wite-Out Correction Tape
I use this stuff for all my inking mistakes. It might not be the best option, but it’s so easy.
Erasers
21) Sanford Design Kneaded Rubber Art Eraser
I roll this into a cylindrical shape, and rub it over my sketches to lighten the pencil before I go in to make more final linework.
22) Prismacolor Magic Rub Vinyl Drafting Eraser
I use this for erasing pencil lines after I ink. Really picks up the pencil well.
Paper
23) Hammermill Color Copy Digital Cover, 80 lb, 8 ½ x 11
It has a smooth finish that’s great for inking and markers. Also, works well in my printer. Warps with watercolor.
24) Moleskine Cahier Journal (Set of 3), Extra Large
I use tan ones that I found at an art store, but amazon only sells gray, black, and red. This is a great sketchbook because it doesn’t feel precious, so I don’t get upset for sullying it’s pages with bad drawings. Ink stays a little wet so watch out for smudging. Markers can bleed a little so beware.
Hardware
25) Apple iMac 27-Inch
I use a Mac because it just works and is easy. My current iMac is 5 years old and is not slowing down. I have a 2 T of storage, and 32 Gig of RAM.
26) Wacom Cintiq 21UX
This thing was a huge game changer for me! It saves me so much time and has paid for itself over and over again. I have an older model than the one pictured. I bought it in 2007 and it’s still running great.
27) Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen Display
I use this for when I’m traveling and need to get some work done. It’s such a great display I would make it my main Cintiq, except that I already have a big one. Works great with a laptop.
28) Apple MacBook Pro
I use this for traveling. It’s a Mac so it works great.
29) Epson R2000 Printer
This is the best printer ever. I use it for making fine art prints that I sell at conventions. The color is stellar. It’s a work horse too. Any normal printer problems I’ve had with it were easily dealt with. I think every serious artist needs one.
30) Epson 10000XL Scanner
This thing was soooo expensive, but worth it. It scans beautifully and it scans large 11x17 drawings. Since I do a lot of comic pages it’s saved me hours of stitching scans together. If you can’t afford it, any Epson scanner is great. I also like this one.
31) Panasonic Electric Pencil Sharpener Autostop KP-77N
This is one of my prized posessions. They don’t make them any more, and there’s not a pencil sharpener on the market righ tnow that can get a tip like this one. I got mine on eBay, but it looks like there’s a few on Amazon too.
That’s all for now. As I find new tools and materials that I like I’ll be adding them to this list. In the end though it’s not the tools that matter, but the skill of the person using them. I’ve seen amazing drawings done with cheap crayons and bic pens. Master your craft first, worry about your tools second.
Thanks,
Jake
