I’m a mixed media artist, I just have lots of tools, maybe not as much as a professional-trained artist, but enough to keep me messy.
Brushes
flat brushed introduced by James Gurney. I noticed for round brushes, the more expensive the brush, the better it feels. However, it’s not the same with flat short brushes; price difference doesn’t mean much.
Flat brushes are easier to control and lasts a bit longer than round brushes to me. The tips of round brushes often wear off after a few months, as early as 3 months, the bristles start getting spread out. Short flat brushes preserve their original tip for a longer time and the bristles stay together even with minimal care.
Watercolor
Japanese and Russian brands are the most affordable ones. Hayao Miyaki used Holbein – a pretty commonplace brand. His method is direct, simple and adventurous. Personally, I’m influenced by Nathan Fowkes and James Gurney method: mixing a bit of gouache with watercolor to fix the details that didn’t go as I want. Adding white gouache instead of diluting the color with water will create a smoother painterly effect, and white gouache saves me when I forgot or mixed up my plan with the highlights. I get a separate pack of white gouache from Himi, a brand famous for their jelly paints.
Gouache
I have used only one brand of gouache only, from Russia. It’s challenging at first because it doesn’t have color codes, which often shown on America, English and other western brands. Being an artist doesn’t mean I can spot color with my eyes, color codes are there to standardize among different brands.
Paper and Sketchbooks
I often purchase watercolor paper in a large pack and cut it into the sizes depending on my use. I often paint small, (size) from (size). I will use cold press paper for more texture, and hot press when I need a smooth surface.
I like to have sketchbooks of different sizes, especially small to medium-sized to carry them around and sketch when I’m free.
I like to make my own sketchbooks so as to avoid the fear of ruining a fancy sketchbook. I only have one “fancy” sketchbook, and the progress of completing it is much slower than others. It’s the one used for social media promotion.
Digital tools
A medium-sized Wacom and a laptop. Most of my digital brushes are made from Kyle Webster – I’m a big fan of textured brushes, namely ink and watercolor brushes.
I don’t think there’s a must to acquire expensive laptop or tablets to start painting digitally since I don’t know what direction to head. Gaming or animation certainly needs high-quality tools, but illustration works can be done with a normal laptop. I believe in starting small and growing big later.
As you can see, I use a diverse range of tools to create arts, which is also a joyful aspect of being an artist. I hope to be able to experience more materials, tools and topics – if you are interested in these things, subscribe to my blog or connect with me on social media!
Jeanne Lolness 