I add to my Inktober art supplies every year, it's a great excuse to try something new and give your pencil case a refresh. This year I have kept a couple of old faithfuls and experimented with a few new supplies. This morning I gathered all of my Inktober supplies and had a little play with them in my (ugly) sketchbook.
Products shown
Drawing something new every single day for 31 days screams out for new art supplies. If you are using the same products for every drawing, it is beneficial to that with brand new tools to lower the risk of running out half way through. Also, having a few new art supplies to try it adds an extra bit of excitement and motivation which we all need with a daily drawing challenge.
I have bought 2 new fine liners, the first a Faber Castell 0.5mm which is lovely and rich in colour, brilliant for high contrast drawings as the black is really deep. It's very smooth to use and has a very pleasing "wet" texture. The Staedtler 0.05mm is a very fine and delicate pen and not just in its point, but also in its tone, being a little warmer than my other fine liners giving it and brownish look in photographs. The point being so small is perfect for detailed sketches, just like having a permanently sharp pencil all of the time. Depending on the pressure you use, you can get varying line weights which makes it very versatile and perfect for the type of sketches I am wanting to create this October.
A black Sharpie is great for Inktober, I brought my first in half way through my first year as I was using a lot of very dark and contrasting backgrounds and it saved me so much time. I keep a big jar of black Sharpies in the studio because they are so handy and I am always reaching for them.
I have added in a few Faber Castell Polychromos pencils in case I want to add any shadows or pops of colour to my drawings. These are some of my favourite pencils of all time so I like to keep a few close by in case I need them. I am going through a pink faze at the moment and surprisingly, pink pencils are pretty difficult to find, there aren't many shades in any of my sets but "Pink Madder Lake" is my favourite shade of all of my pink pencils.
I am forcing myself to draw everything in ink free hand to push me to improve my confidence drawing with ink. If you have seen my first drawing, the lines are a bit wobbly and that's because my hand was shaking so much and my heart was beating so hard! I have a mechanical pencil on hand but I didn't invest in a new one this time because I am trying not to use it, I did use it a little bit in this illustration however for shading. Mechanical pencils are brilliant for many things, I use them a lot in my black and white portraits because I love the fine points and they are great for under drawings of illustrations, so if you want a more "perfect" drawing in the end, I recommend using a mechanical pencil underneath for your initial sketch and finishing with ink.
The hunt for the perfect paper was a trial, I almost paid an extortionate amount of money to ship a special sketchbook from America (more about that later) until my eyes fell on this pretty pink beauty. I was of course drawn in by the beautiful cover (I like my art supplies to match my home decor whenever possible) and saw that the paper was smooth and good to use with fine liners so I had to have it. The paper is gorgeous, very thick with a pleasing texture, all the while being lovely and smooth. If you are into paper like I am you will appreciate this one, it feels very high quality, but was very affordable. I have been a big fan of Daler - Rowney papers for years and was confident they wouldn't let me down with this one.
I am excited about this years Inktober, I am confident I will come out at the end of it a better artist with an interesting group of illustrations to show for it. Are you taking part in Inktober? If so what art supplies are you using this year? Leave me your link below, I would love to see what you are creating!
Camile
xoxo