Art Discussion

[Kiraly]

Oh hey did someone say art supplies?!?!



This is only a tiny fraction of what I have, but it's my standard watercolor/colored pencil setup. There are more colored pencils in the pouch on the right, but the ones I use most are on the table. I got a set of Blick brand colored pencils when I was in college (and lived near a Blick store...I miss those days) and I love how soft they are! I haven't found other colored pencils that blend as well, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

My watercolors are a mishmash of brands...at some point I should post the guide I made so I could remember which colors were which, because I can't think of them off the top of my head. (I didn't see any responses to the question daiseerose asked about watercolor brands, so at some point I'll try to look and see what brands I have). I try to have at least one warmer hue and one cooler hue of each primary color (like pthalo blue and ultramarine) but I'm still figuring out where the gaps are in my palette. The brushes are also a hodgepodge (some were purchased, some were gifts) but as you can see I mostly have smaller brushes. I have others that are larger, but I usually use those for acrylics (which would be a whole separate post.) The paper is a 140 lb / 300 gsm hot press glued block, which is nice because that way the edges don't curl up. I like to work on really smooth paper because I tend to combine watercolors and colored pencils to get fine details.

I also have some micron pens in there (I don't always ink things, but when I do those are my favorite) and my trusty .7 mm  mechanical pencil. The sketchbook is mostly filled with pencil doodles, some of which become drawings all their own and others which become ideas for paintings.

Oh, and there's a bonus shot of the lazy Blessed Feline sleeping in his window hammock. Very important to the artistic process.

[SugaAndSpice]

Just going to pop in here and say that Faber-Castell brand pens/markers are amazing!! I love mine they never let me down.

[taybee]

OH MAN OH MAN ART SUPPLIES

So I have to say that I'm most comfortable with digital art- I of course use Paint Tool Sai and Photoshop with a 13inch Cintiq.

NOW FOR TRADITIONAL ART, for example, my comics...

(two different comics completely) 
I swear by Bristol Paper- brand doesn't matter as long as it's thick and smooth. I like it because it's good for ink, markers, AND watercolor. Downside: good luck getting it through your printer, for my comics i've started sketching digitally then printing it out THEN lining, which I use a g-pen nib for!
I saw some talk about Speedball nibs earlier, and i gotta say they didn't work for me. Since i got the G-nib Speedball nibs just feel really flimsy to me now- especially being you drop it more than an inch and its bent for good sdfg

and of course COPIC MARKERSSS~~

I don't have a TON but between me and my roomate's collection we have almost every color anyway haha Only downside to these is they smear like crazy with the calligraphy ink, so when I use copics I line with microns.

[Curry]

Ouuuuuuu copics!!! I want them so badly but they're SO EXPENSIVE and I cry :'3c

[taybee]

Yeah they are gah- I've gotten most of mine from http://www.carpediemstore.com/ the shipping is kind of expensive, so it's best to buy in bulk instead of just one marker if you shop there! They have a lot of deals too

I've also gotten a lot from the Copic booth at Anime Expo, which are only like $3-4 there!! But getting into the con itself is expensive enough, especially if you don't live in the area haha

[Krisse Kovacs]

Cintiq.

I have never ever seen such thing.....
is it even better in some way, then the most cheapest small tablets, or, they are nothing special but suuuuper expensive?
I always wonder about this........

I actually need a new tablet, and wonder if even worth to get a bit more expensive tablet (not cintiq) or I should just stay at the tiny and super-cheap tablets..........

[Curry]

Yeah they are gah- I've gotten most of mine from http://www.carpediemstore.com/ the shipping is kind of expensive, so it's best to buy in bulk instead of just one marker if you shop there! They have a lot of deals too

I've also gotten a lot from the Copic booth at Anime Expo, which are only like $3-4 there!! But getting into the con itself is expensive enough, especially if you don't live in the area haha

gah, I live in hell (Florida) so although we have them at Michaels they're all ridiculously expensive there. like, $6 a marker and I die :"3c thanks for sharing that link though!!! I'll keep that in mind!!!

@martti, cintiqs are WONDERFUL but also so so very expensive and that's yet another thing on my wishlist hahaha

[Rabbit]

I have never ever seen such thing.....
is it even better in some way, then the most cheapest small tablets, or, they are nothing special but suuuuper expensive?
I always wonder about this........

I actually need a new tablet, and wonder if even worth to get a bit more expensive tablet (not cintiq) or I should just stay at the tiny and super-cheap tablets..........

I've never seen a Cintiq in the wild either, but I have an A5-sized Intuos 3 and it has served me faithfully for *counts fingers* nine years of near-daily use, never needed any maintenance save for replacement pen nibs and a protection film for the drawing surface to reduce the wear. So, I guess if you think about how long a good tablet is going to last you, the cost per day sounds a lot better. How big were you thinking? Size is a big factor in the cost, and while I'm far from a pro or even a serious amateur the A5 has served quite well (plus it's just about the same size as my laptop so it's handy to transport )

[Haiz]

My first tablet was a Wacom Bamboo i got one christmas that I didn't really use all that much - I was very young and expected drawing digitally to be much easier so I kinda lost my motivation. Then sometime last year I decided that no, I will draw digitally, maybe it'll help with a different tablet and program? And after hearing a lot of good stuff about Huion tablets on tumblr, that's what i bought, because it was affordable haha ha..... but I've been using it a lot, especially this year, and I'm pretty happy with my choice ^___________^

[Krisse Kovacs]

@martti, cintiqs are WONDERFUL but also so so very expensive and that's yet another thing on my wishlist hahaha

I kinda wish I could have some cool tablet, but I am not even good at art to have one like that..... maybe when I get like 50 and keep drawint till then I can improve my art until then to deserve a tablet like that......

I've never seen a Cintiq in the wild either, but I have an A5-sized Intuos 3 and it has served me faithfully for *counts fingers* nine years of near-daily use, never needed any maintenance save for replacement pen nibs and a protection film for the drawing surface to reduce the wear. So, I guess if you think about how long a good tablet is going to last you, the cost per day sounds a lot better. How big were you thinking? Size is a big factor in the cost, and while I'm far from a pro or even a serious amateur the A5 has served quite well (plus it's just about the same size as my laptop so it's handy to transport )

my tablet is more then 5 years (unsure if I bought it in 2009 or 2010), still working however the cable is kind of broken, which means if I move the cable just a bit, it disconnects itself and after the disconnection it won't work properly (no pressure). it was really bad in 2013 november, when it disconnected itself every 10 minute and only a restart can make the pressure back, so drawing an art for 4 hours, there around 30 min is the actual drawing the other is just restarting the whole computer, because no other way to fix it. I bought a new tablet, also a cheap one, but that broke after a year, so no guarantee anymore, so I can just threw it out, because the service place I asked for repair them said, they don't do these stuffs, and connect the companies, but what the company can do even with a broken cable?? they won't send me a new tablet just because of the broken cable?? also these tablets are so cheap, that it is cheaper to buy a new one then repair them anyway....
so basically I use the old one, which (luckily) does not disconnect itself that often anymore, kinda never does, unless I kick the cable on accident. other luckily about it, that more then 2 years ago I kinda stepped on it's pen and I kinda break it, but only the battery-holder, which broke completely after many month, my brother fixed it temporary, then I connected the company and they sent me a completely new pen free, I was so happy, then the tablet got the cable problems so I was really unhappy about that....

still I have fear what if it start acting like it did 2 years ago? that's why I plan to buy a new tablet sometime....

My first tablet was a Wacom Bamboo i got one christmas that I didn't really use all that much - I was very young and expected drawing digitally to be much easier so I kinda lost my motivation. Then sometime last year I decided that no, I will draw digitally, maybe it'll help with a different tablet and program? And after hearing a lot of good stuff about Huion tablets on tumblr, that's what i bought, because it was affordable haha ha..... but I've been using it a lot, especially this year, and I'm pretty happy with my choice ^___________^

my first tablet was a really stupid tiny tablet, it was actually my father's tablet, but I stole it because he was not using it anyway (I am sure he did not buy it for art xD). it was really tiny (around A6 size) and no pressure at all. I used it mostly for colouring and after a time I got used to for it, and managed to draw with it, until I bought my own tablet more then 5 years ago (which I sue at the moment), I wanted a tablet that has pressure, that was literally all I wanted in the tablet (Trust sketch design tablet and pen). pretty cool tablet, it was not working for me how I wanted, because I had Win XP at first, and it requested vista or higher xD but I changed system JUST FOR THE TABLET

sometimes when I hear that artist (with low art skill, or just started doing arts) they buy pretty expensive tablets (for me, they are expensive compared the prize to my tablets) and I am like "if you think an expensive tablet will make your art perfect, you are really wrong and you'll get disappointed" and also it is same with the artprograms, I mean, I started in MS paint xD and I liked that too, then my brother won an artprogram, which I started using for colouring my traditional art outlines., then got photoshop, and sai and tried some other programs (mangastudio 5 was the most recent one).
I started with traditional arts, mostly coloured pencils, I drew tons of arts on paper before I even started using tablet (started drawing arts in late 2006). but since around 2011, I draw less and less on paper, and now I am more into digital only. my tablet is my dearest friend. if it dies, I die with it, unless I get an other one.

I actually love my tablet that I use..... if it had no cable problems, it would be the most perfect tablet I have.

ALSO I can't really buy from random online places, maybe that tablet is good, like it is said, but I can't really buy them here in any shop, or at least I did not find it.... I would prefer hungarian shops, because in case they broke, they can be replaced or fixed if it breaks in a year. if I order online from an other country, I can't do that.....
(or like when I tried to buy a new tablet 2 years ago I bought a tablet, but it was not working at all with my computer/artprograms and I took it back to the shop (in 3 days) and I returned the product saying my problems, I got my money back and I bought an other one)
right now the cheapest tablet I can buy is the tablet I own but broken (genius), it was really good too, or at least nothing too bad about it, but it is typical problem with genius tablets that its pen break easily. that is my tablet's problem, but on their website I could not connect them to get a new pen. (I am often really blind to find things ;3; )


I talked too much randomness here, sorry.

[Ana Nymus]

my first tablet was a really stupid tiny tablet, it was actually my father's tablet, but I stole it because he was not using it anyway (I am sure he did not buy it for art xD).

Same with me: I "permanently borrowed" my dad's tablet (he wasn't using it and later gave me permission, so all is good). For the first year+ I was using it properly because I didn't know I needed to download additional software, so it didn't have any pressure and none of the buttons worked. Then I did a little digging and found the software that I needed, and now it works pretty well for my purposes! It's a little small (maybe around 7 inches wide), but that means it fits in my laptop case perfectly so I can carry it around.

[Lenny]

Tablets!!!

My first tablet was a very very very old Wacom (model from the 1990s). I think it was an Intuos? It was very large, and heavy, and cost me $110 AU online, but I WANTED A LARGE TABLET so I was GOING TO GET ONE. I think I was about 13 when I bought it. It still worked with one of those connections that are impossible to use with laptops, not USB... and it was impossible to get a driver for it above Windows XP, so I used that for as long as possible, too. It had great pen pressure, and it lasted quite a long time. The only reason I let go of it was because I really needed both something portable, and something that was able to work with newer operating systems without having to adapt drivers for it >.> (Also having something that connects via USB is also nice to have, hah.)

My second was a Monoprice. Basically a rebranded Huon tablet. SUPER CHEAP, cost about 80$AU for the second largest model (which happened to be the exact same size as my laptop, which was awesome for transportation reasons). I had a huge issue with this one in one specific area: it kept on seeing Krita and SAI's canvases as being screen-split, if I ever used two monitors at once. There was no way around this, so... *sniffs and waves goodbye at days of watching anime + drawing* But other than that (and the fact that you needed batteries for the pen *frowns*), I had a good deal of use out of it. It had the sweetest pressure range, and it lasted around 3 years before the cable became slightly unstable and I upgraded to my current tablet. It's still mine in name, but my brother now uses it.

My current one is a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium!~ I upgraded last year, and it was woooorth it. So worth it. I may be officially a hobby artist as I'm not using it for a living or studying it, but I use it daily, and this thing is awesome. The cable is separated from the tablet, so if it ever has connection issues you only need to replace the cable (this is a typical Wacom thing, but Monoprice did not have this so it was a death sentence when that cable started getting loose). It has a wireless mode! with a very long battery life! So that reduces clutter and risk of damaging cable (and comfortable art positions). It came with the sweetest pen holder and a whole assortment of nibs, and the design is so beautiful. Also the tablet shortcut buttons are extremely handy. And of course the pressure range is even better than the Monoprice, and far outstrips my old Wacom :') It's also yet again the same size as my laptop, so! Very handy. However, this one was by far the priciest, at 300$AU new. I also seem to have acquired a very odd and specific bug after updating to Krita 2.9... it seems to be with this particular Intuos line, and I suspect the drivers. Krita 2.9 (and further builds) refuses to recognise the tablet as a tablet, and rather reads it as a mouse. Not all Intuos Pro tablets do this - the majority do not, it's a very odd bug. However, I've read one account online of the exact same issue, and I have a friend who also has that problem with it. Hoping the wipe and reinstall of my laptop that I'll be doing in the Christmas holidays will fix that...

I still dream of a Cintiq, though.

One day... when I have money that I can legitimately spend on it...

one day

[mithrysc]

My current one is a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium!~ I upgraded last year, and it was woooorth it. So worth it. I may be officially a hobby artist as I'm not using it for a living or studying it, but I use it daily, and this thing is awesome. The cable is separated from the tablet, so if it ever has connection issues you only need to replace the cable (this is a typical Wacom thing, but Monoprice did not have this so it was a death sentence when that cable started getting loose). It has a wireless mode! with a very long battery life! So that reduces clutter and risk of damaging cable (and comfortable art positions). It came with the sweetest pen holder and a whole assortment of nibs, and the design is so beautiful. Also the tablet shortcut buttons are extremely handy. And of course the pressure range is even better than the Monoprice, and far outstrips my old Wacom :') It's also yet again the same size as my laptop, so! Very handy. However, this one was by far the priciest, at 300$AU new. I also seem to have acquired a very odd and specific bug after updating to Krita 2.9... it seems to be with this particular Intuos line, and I suspect the drivers. Krita 2.9 (and further builds) refuses to recognise the tablet as a tablet, and rather reads it as a mouse. Not all Intuos Pro tablets do this - the majority do not, it's a very odd bug. However, I've read one account online of the exact same issue, and I have a friend who also has that problem with it. Hoping the wipe and reinstall of my laptop that I'll be doing in the Christmas holidays will fix that...

My current and only tablet is also a slightly older Intuos 4 Medium (I got really confused when they renamed/rebranded everything and I was looking for driver updates). I can't remember exactly how much it cost beyond "pricey," but I'm pretty sure I got an educational discount on it... The shortcut buttons are really nice, and I also like the set of nibs they provide. Especially the felt. It's slightly longer than my laptop, but since no one sells 14" laptop cases anyway I can carry it together with my laptop, which is nice.

The only problems I've had with it so far was when using it with Photoshop elements: no matter how smooth I tried to draw my lines they turned out jagged and pixellated. Apparently it was actually a somewhat common photoshop/windows problem related to the driver, but I was able to solve it by just updating my outdated driver version.

[taybee]

I started in the stone age with a wacom graphire- then finally after almost 8ish years i upgraded to a wacom create, but i only used it for about 6 months before a friend decided to sell his cintiq for half the price it usually is- so i jumped on it while i had the chance haha!
The cintiq is great, definetly worth the price- the only thing that bugs me is the colors are slightly less saturated than my main monitor (i have my setup as if i had 2 monitors, the second being the cintiq) but that all varies with different screens and is customizeable as well.

[Athena]

So, I need abut of help with drawing trolls...
Anyone got any advice?