Originally Posted by Epic
Hey Rags, I know DC supplies their own art boards but I was wondering what kind you would use other than the Company Exclusive boards. I was also wondering what kind of pencils, leds, erasers, etc. you use. Would you mind filling me in? I’m in the market for new supplies and the Blue Line Pro Art Boards have left a dissatisfying taste in my mouth. I was wondering if you could offer some decent, affordable alternatives.
Originally Posted by Rags as his reply
Don’t kill yourself paying for art equipment. If you want nice paper that has a little “tooth” to it, go to any decent art supply store and get a pad of Bristol Board-vellum finish. A pad of 11″X17″ will do. When you draw your live space (a.k.a. image area) do it in a 10″X15″ space. Thats close enough to real proportions.
Pencils, believe it or not, I get at a dollar store. For a buck I get Lovett #2 pencils for a box of 20. Ticonderoga makes excellent pencils too. I really like their non-repro blue pencil as well as their #2, and also inexpensive. For sharpening I get sandblocks. These are strips of sandpaper stapled onto a piece of wood. I use an exacto blade and whittle down the pencil to its lead, and then sand it to a nice, sharp, point.
For rulers, I use a rolling ruler religiously (sorry for the Stan Leeism). The key to them is to put modest pressure in the middle of it as you roll. It takes a little bit of practice, but you will get it easily enough. Invest in a set of french curves and as many circle and eliptical templates as you can afford.
I like to use Design kneaded erasers for the bulk of my erasing. Kneaded erasers are great to lift off the excess graphite when you sketch in the image. I like to dab, or roll the eraser over it like a rolling pin to lighten up the image before I do the final drawing of strengthening the work. Kneaded erasers are a work horse tool, but they are labor intensive if you want to do some wholesale changes.
Any rubber eraser will do. You can use the eraser at the end of your pencil or invest in a Kohinoor plug-in electric eraser–more costly but an excellent investment when you need to erase major areas of your work. Helix has a small hand held battery operated electric that does some intricate erasing, or even for some drawing with an eraser.
If you don’t like the erasers on your pencil, just get a box of those erasers that you stick on the end of your pencil. You, know, the stuff we’d use in school.
Also get yourself a brush to clear away not only eraser bits, but also to wisk away excess graphite once you complete a page. Sometimes you may need to use the kneaded eraser to clean up the haze of graphite in the gutters and margins when you brush a page. Makes it a little easier for inking and for handling.
For ink, well, they don’t make it like they used to. But Higgins Black magic and Pelikan are still the best out there. I’d stay away from Kohinoor as a brush ink. Its best to use it in tech pens. I don’t use the tech pens alot but I do have a .25 and a .50 pen nib for technical drawing–buildings and such. The kind of thing that requires a ruled line. Pelikan opaque white is excellent for white out, as is Pro White.
Brushes are a tool that is worth an investment. Winsor Newton is the top line product. Rafael used to be inexpensive, but has caught up to Windsor Newton. Most pros use a range of #1-#4 in brushes. #2 being the most popular. I have crappy ink control, so I like the #1 for the fine work.
But really, in the end work with whats good for you. Just don’t think that everything that is top of the line in price is necessary. Experiment and disregard anything you don’t like. You’ll be surprised how little of the bells and whistles will become part of your everyday repetoire.
And don’t forget…”its a poor craftsman that blames his tools.”
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