Since I have been showing many final drawings as well as digital pieces, it's time to show my main tools for sketching.
Sketchbooks are the most important record of my thoughts at a given time. I've had a sketchbooks since I was 11 and never stopped carrying one around with me where ever I go. My current sketchbook is the large yellow one, I stopped using the brown paper sketchbook since I couldn't find a low enough price for my budget. I spent about 8 bucks on the yellow sketchbook. With cheap paper, you don't have to worry about making awesome drawings and just experiment. Last week, I bought a moleskine, sometimes carrying my large book is an annoyance so I often carry it in a bag when I leave the house. The moleskine is nice because its a good size to carry around. The paper is thin but it has a lot of paper so I'll get my moneys worth in it.
Some pages from my Moleskine.
Next are my supplies I use to draw in my sketchbooks with.
I like to sketch in pen, it makes me learn to place confident lines on the paper, plus I have a record of everything I draw since there's no erasing. The pens on the left are 2 Pentel Finto in black and red, the other pen is a sharpie pen. The pentel's are very similar to sharpies but move better across the paper (tip: use on thick paper only, it will bleed through very thin paper). The 2 pens I use the most are ballpoint pens of red and black. The red pen is for laying down the under drawing and the black is for cleaning the sketch up and adding details. To the right are the 2 pencils I use when sketching final pieces. The larger blue pencil with the metal is a Pro-Matic, it holds a stick of graphite and it's great for gesturing a large piece. Since I leave a flat tip, it keeps me from getting ahead of myself with detail. The other pencil is a basic mechanical pencil and a trusty easer near by.
For inking I use FW Ink, I haven't found any other ink that lives up to FW's standard. I ink my pieces with Burnt Umber to give the drawings a warmer line. The white ink is FW as well and I use to for my toned paper pieces, it's great because it won't warp the paper because there's no water added. My favorite brush to ink with is Blick Studio Synthetic 0, I've experimented with many brushes over the years and can't find a brush I enjoy more then the Blick brush. Each brush has a color tape at the end to remind me which one is for white ink and what's for the umber ink.
That's it for my drawing supplies, later on I might do a post about my favorite paper to use in the creation of illustrations.