what art supplies do you use? and how do you use them?

[Mushroo 12]

i own gouache paints,watercolors,glitter pens,and a bunch of school supplies like mechanical pencils and erasers.

I usually draw on my phone in ibis paint with my index finger. that's how I've been drawing almost my entire art journey...although I started with traditional art I've strayed away from it when quarantine hit,so I didn't draw on my sketchbooks a whole lot which is sad but at the beginning of when I started drawing I pretty much only drew on my sketchbooks or notebooks which left me with a lot of cool nostalgic pieces that I still keep.

gouache paints:

I'll admit I don't really like thick paint like acrylics or gouache but they are fun to use when using them on thicker paper or canvases...I know that's probably more of the intended use for these paints. but thicker paper usually means carrying around a heavy book and I don't really like the texture of it but besides that I also don't want to keep buying canvases every time I want to paint with thicker paints. I usually work with what I have since I am but a young adult living off of bread and milk,but I'd like to try and get better at it so my art can get a hold of traditional art again.

acrylics:

the ol tube paints,I have gouache paints on little plastic cups but the acrylic ones are In tubes...are there acrylics in plastic cups? eh that don't matter right now but these paints are actually pretty cool and easy to use but it really depends on the quality of the paints,I've owned acrylics ever since I was young because I'd go into stores like Ross and Walmart and buy cheap acrylics. its fun to use on canvases for simple paintings from what I've used them for. 

school supplies/pencils:

iv'e been using mechanical pencils my entire life. I don't like using number 2 pencils,art based pencils or any other kind. I'd try them but id most likely find them too complicated or bad quality,when I use mechanical pencils I feel like I have full control over my sketches because the mechanical pencil is easy to just press on whenever the lead breaks or runs out,I can easily click on the to of the pencil and lead will be pushed out or I can pop in a new lead into it if it don't have any.

when I say I feel like I have control over my sketches I mean I don't have to put much attention to it because they are just sketches I usually use sketchbooks to draw roughly or messy, to get out a bunch of ideas,doodles or simply draw out of boredom,it works for me because I don't work on a traditional piece for that long anymore due to a lot of changes in my life and mind so I have to get the sketch out before my brain fries and I loose interest which is sort of sad considering how I use to use sketchbooks a lot when I was younger and Id take hours completing a drawing even forgetting to eat or go outside...I mean drawing digitally does the same but at least it makes cleaning your art much easier and it is less time consuming but I seriously feel like I'm happier using the supplies I've been using for so long like mechanical pencils,watercolors and my overworked index finger.

what supplies do you use? what's your experience with these art supplies and how have you been using them? feel free to lore dump your art journey even if you just started!:P

[SharpWit 2,771]

I've always been taken by charcoal and ink drawings, in part because of the amount of detail captured by the simplicity of contrast. This is boosted by late fall being my favorite season, but winter being my happy space. I glow with the greens of spring sure, but the peace experienced by a world gone dormant is just something else that I revel in, where details hidden by leaves and deep within the bush are shown through their fallen debris. This scenery is best shown with such mediums.

However, I'm left handed, which means the side of my hand constantly rubs into my work, risking accidental smears and smudges, so I rely on pens and markers that dry relatively quickly to avoid this. The Uniball Vision Elite is a particular favorite of mine. It writes smoothly, is a pretty solid pen, and this is because it holds an excessive amount of ink, so it will last you significantly longer than most ballpoints. I was lucky enough for my mom to be an accountant growing up, so I had ready access to these. I really need to get some more, but now I mostly use the Sharpie S-Gel Pen alongside a standard Sharpie marker.

This is my most recent piece I made for my dad's birthday.

I would've liked to fill in the grassy hillside more, add some more trees and shrubs further back, but I worked on it up until the final hour beforehand, and was exhausted after spending a total of 8 hours hunched over and only getting about half a night's sleep on a bed I don't fit on.

There was also supposed to be a ton more people, as this landscape is based on a graveyard, and I wanted to include everyone in view, but trees are more my thing.

[Sparklefan1234 174,303]

I use the PhotoScape X program to edit things on my computer what feels like every day. I'm sorry if that doesn't count. 

Edited April 13 by Sparklefan1234

[puppycloud 39]

intuos small and clip studio paint (paid) or medibang paint pro (free app)

[Acinonyx 95]

Pencils and I use them with my hands.

For real though, drawing isn't a main thing of mine but when I do it's generally a sketch with a few different shades of lead.

[Hippity Hoppity Sketch 2,167]

I use Markart colored pencils (120), Fuxi sketchbooks, JiMiao pens for outlines, Flipaclip for animations and digital art, and mechanical or wooden pencils. : D

Edited Sunday at 11:12 PM by Hippity Hoppity Sketch

[Dah Onion Eater 4,574]

  On 2025-04-20 at 11:11 PM, Hippity Hoppity Sketch said:

I use Markart colored pencils (120), Fuxi sketchbooks, JiMiao pens for outlines, Flipaclip for animations and digital art, and mechanical or wooden pencils. : D

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THEM THINGS WORK SO GOOD! 

As for me, gel pens! Specifically these bad boys

[Avvery 40]

I use watercolors and ink for my artwork. I just blend and add layers for details.

[Dreambiscuit 10,463]

Drawing:

My favorite pencils are Wolff’s Carbon pencils, which lay down nice, strong blacks very smoothly.

I also use a gum eraser which looks like a little grey blob. It can erase without destroying delicate paper surfaces and it can be kneaded to reach hard to reach areas without disturbing the surrounding artwork.

Strathmore 70lb Drawing paper, usually 9”x 12”. It’s heavy but not overly so, with strong texture on one side and a smoother texture on the reverse, able to accommodate different kinds of art projects.

My approach to drawing is simple; I start with a loose sketch on a piece of scrap paper until I get the composition where I like it, then I trace the final rough onto a clean piece of good paper. Once I have the outline established I add the details freehand until it looks good. Sometimes I use reference materials but mostly I don’t.

Painting:

I use oil colors but I’m not specific to any one brand. There are many brands and each have something unique to offer. I never use acrylic or other water-based paints because their colors change slightly when they dry, and they dry much too quickly for me. I paint SLOW, so I need paint that will stay wet until I’m done.

I sometimes use linseed oil to loosen up my oil paint, or add a glazing mixture with the linseed oil to darken or add contrast to my paintings once the brushwork is initially finished.

I use stretched canvas of any brand (excluding Walmart or cheap store brands), and I further prime it with several layers of gesso, sanding between each layer until the surface is very smooth. I never use board canvas because its rigidness never works well for me.

I apply the basic drawing to the canvas in the same way I do for paper drawings, with a rough sketch on scrap paper. But I transfer my roughs to canvas using carbon paper, which a carefully erase and replace with clean outlines drawn with colored pencils (usually soft Prismacolor) similar to the colors I’m going to paint with.

Most of my brushes are soft sable or synthetic, and my favorite size is 0/20, which is about the size of a needle. It’s great for fine detail work.

I clean it all up with mineral spirits.

Sculpture:

I use Sculpey modeling compound almost exclusively. And I prefer the original over Sculpey 3 because it retains better detail. It remains pliant until baked in the household oven and it’s sand-able, so you can really polish the work after the initial sculpt.

I paint most sculptures with Ceramcoat or other water-based paints.

Sewing/plushies:

I make plushies by shaping aluminum foil to the shape of the plushie I want to make. Then I draw pattern outlines on the foil with Sharpie markers. Next I cover the foil form with paper towels and tape them in place, cutting the towel pieces to fit the pattern outlines I drew with the Sharpie. Once the paper towel patterns are finalized and fit together properly over the foil form I lay those patters on the reverse side of my fabric, which is usually minky/micro plush, and trace the outline with dark carbon pencil (never ink cuz it can bleed through the fabric). I only make patterns for one half of the plushie because the same patterns can be reversed and therefore matched perfectly to make symmetrical cutouts. Then I cut the fabric and add guide lines and marks to line up each piece together properly. Then I sew, by hand. I’m not good at using sewing machines so my hand stitching takes forever, but I can control the project that way and make fewer mistakes. Once I have the outer ‘skin’ of the plushie finished I stuff it with Poly-Fil either loosely or tightly depending on how firm I want to plushie to be. I sometimes use foam to make shapes and structure inside the plushie, to help with faces and other areas where stuffing alone doesn’t work as well.

That’s the basic stuff I can think of at the moment.

[SkarletVoid 136]

Childhood trauma and a guitar