Every artist does their thing differently. I have changed how I do things so many times since I started working in art. This is a list of things that I personally use right now beside a scanner and a computer:

1. Alvin Draftmatic mechanical pencil:
Where to get it: Art store or Amazon

The $10 pricetag might seem a bit expensive for just a pencil. Trust me, it is worth the investment. This pencil gives such a dark line that I use it almost like ink. I go over sketches I’ve done in plain HB (#2) pencil or I just draw freehand with it.

I have 3 Alvin Draftmatics. One is filled with HB lead, one is filled with red lead, and the last is filled with blue lead.

2. Plain HB (AKA a #2 Pencil):
Where to get it: Any place that sells school or art supplies or Amazon.

The Draftmatic is awesome, but I find that I also need a plain, wooden HB pencil to get softer shading. I will often start a drawing in an HB, then finish it with the Alvin Draftmatic. This is like the amazing Voltron of drawing, especially if I am doing photo realism.

3. Copic Sketch Markers:
Where to get it: Amazon or your local art store.

Years ago I got a set of Prismacolors as a gift. I’ve seen some good work done with them by other people, but I could never get them to work for me. The ink dried out, the nibs didn’t work well, and the ink flow was bad. I had been skeptical about Copics for years until I finally had a chance to try them. I sold my Prismacolors for a set of Copics and never looked back.

In my experience, Copics are so much better than Prismacolors that it is almost insane. Copics have great ink flow, superior replaceable nibs that just plain handle better and so far I’ve not had any dry out. For the first time I was able to get markers to work for me thanks to Copic. Yes they are expensive, but if you are a serious artist that wants to work in marker, I highly suggest you check them out.

4. T-Square:
Where to get it: Office supply, art store, or Amazon.

A plain old T-Square is really handy to have around. I use mine to measure stuff and to draw straight lines. Also I can pretend it is a funny pick-axe.

5. An adjustable desk:
Where to get it: Dick Blick.

Edit: I just found this one with drawers.

Here is mine (slightly different):

Any desk will do as long as it’s flat, but I like mine because you can raise or lower the desk like an easel. (It is great for painting.) I have a cutting mat on mine to protect the desk. I can’t remember the name of mine and I am not sure they still make it. The desk linked here is slightly different than the one I have because it has more drawers. Yes that is a plastic lizard named Milo in the left storage tray. I’m still moving into my new office space, but Milo already has his home.

6. Flat-panel lightbox
Where to get it: Dick Blick or your local art store.

When I sketch, I am the type of person that does not think about what I am drawing first. My sketches tend to be very messy because I use that stage to plan. It’s really helpful to redraw the image once you figure out what it’s supposed to look like. I love my flat panel lightbox. You can even store it on the wall like a painting.

If you can’t afford one, just use your computer monitor set to a white screen. I did that for awhile before I decided to buy a lightbox.

7. Digital Camera:
Where to get it: Your local computer store. (Google it first to make sure you are getting the best price!)

If you don’t have a scanner or your art is too big, you can photograph your art with a digital camera. I have a Canon Powershot SD600 Digital Elph. There is a newer model out now, though.

8. A phone/organizer that allows you to always be connected to the internet:
Where to get it: It varies.

If you intend to sell your art, marketing and keeping an online presence is just as important as making the art. The best way to do that is to have a phone with internet access that has a browser that can handle most web pages. You can use whatever you feel comfortable with. I’m using an iPhone right now, but I still haven’t found my absolutely perfect device. The iPhone is one keyboard short of being almost perfect…

I do find it indispensable for keeping track of my appointments and staying in touch with business partners…but I’d still like a keyboard. It’s the best I have found so far. If I did not have my iPhone, I would never be in touch with anyone because I also work at day job and sometimes I don’t have time to do clerical things when I am at my desk at home. I can only reply to emails on my break during work, and I like being able to do it discreetly to avoid passers by prying into my business. I wish I could recommend to you a perfect one-size-fits-all solution, but I can’t yet.

Summary:

All of these things are items that I personally like, but they are by no means necessary for you to make great art. If you are just a hobbyist or a beginner, you certainly don’t need to spend a lot of money. I did not start out with anything more than a half-broken PC and a notebook because I had no money. I gradually worked up to having a small office for my business after many years of long hours.

You can make great art with a #2 pencil, a scanner or camera, a computer, and a piece of unlined paper. My advice would be to start off small and make sure that you truly need something before investing a lot of money.

I’d love to hear what some of you guys consider as your “essential” supplies!

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I was looking at some art-related sites today when I came across these great little brush sets!

Robert Simmons Gift Box Brush Sets: LINK.

This jaunty case full of brushes is adorable. There are 5 options. All are $29.99. Check them out here.

I should have purchased these for myself, but I had just purchased some individual brushes. I think I’m going to store mine in a popcorn tin. Not as stylish, but I can pretend that I’m a mad scientist that really likes popcorn. And paint.

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If you want inhumanly super clean lines, you might want to use the pen tool like I do for Stupid and Insane Defenders Against Chaos. This super-simple style is excellent for teaching the basics of the pen tool:

A: Setting Up Your Workspace:

Step 1: Scan in your sketch or create a new file (CTRL-N or CMD-N on the Mac). If you will be printing this file on an 8×10, select 8×10 and 300DPI.

If you are resizing your scanned sketch you can adjust the size of your canvas by going to Image > Canvas Size.

Step 2: Click the Create a New Layer button on the layers palette in the lower right corner of the screen.

This will create a layer above the background layer. You can ink on this without messing up your sketch, and if you don’t like it you can start over by just deleting this layer. (Delete by dragging it into the trash can icon next to the New Layer icon.)

Step 3: Name this layer, “Ink 1″ by double-clicking on the “Layer 1″ text.

Step 4: Double-click on the lock icon on the Background layer. A menu will pop up. Click OK. This unlocks the background layer so that you can lower the opacity and see what you are doing. Name the layers whatever you like to keep them organized. Remember, double clicking on the layer name will let you rename it.

Step 5: In the upper-right of the layers palette, you see a menu for ‘Opacity’. Click it and drop the opacity down to about 70%. Now the pencil lines are dimmer so you can tell your ink and the sketch apart.

Step 6: You may want to click this box to lock your sketch layer now. The biggest mistake everyone makes is inking on the wrong layer. If you lock it then it will not take any ink. You can unlock it by simply clicking on the box again.

Step 7: If you would like a white background rather than the checkered transparency, click on the New Layer icon as we did above for the ink layer, select white as your foreground color, then hit Alt-backspace to fill the layer with white. Be sure that you have the correct layer selected and that you drag the layer to the bottom when you are done so that it does not block the layers we are working with.

Step 8: You should now have a blank ink layer on top, a light sketch in the middle, and a white background underneath that. Now it is time to use the Pen Tool on the top Ink layer.

B: WAIT! Configuring the Pen Tool for the first time in Photoshop

The first time you use Photoshop, the pen tool will be set to ‘Shape Layers’ which means it will try to fill a shape, not create a path. This is bad. We want the pen tool to instead create a path so that we can apply clean pen strokes, not try to fill itself and complete a shape. To set your pen tool up simply click the following icon, the ‘Paths’ icon in the upper left corner. The good news is that Photoshop remembers this preference, and you only have to do this once. Now you are set to start using the pen tool.

C: OK! Let’s Use the Pen Tool!

NOTE: I am using a hard brush at 8px at all times here.

Step 1: Be sure you have the Ink layer selected, and click once on the canvas and release the mouse. Now click where you want the first stroke to end, but this time drag it to the upper-left so that it creates an arc. It looks like this:

Step 2: Now click on the indicated point and drag to the lower left as shown. This will move the handle.

Step 3: Create an awesome curve by clicking where indicated (do not hold ALT) and dragging to the upper left:

Step 4: Now you can Right-Click > Stroke Path > Click OK. Make sure that “Brush” is selected like this:

Step 5: Then Right-Click > Delete Path. You will leave behind super-clean lines like this:

Step 6: You now have a smooth pen stroke that you can add more to, erase parts of, or add to to make your lines the way you want them to be. Now all that is left is for you to trace over the rest of your sketch in this way. Do not be afraid to use more layers. If you mess up, just delete the layer and there’s no harm done. If you like it, go to Layer > Merge Down to merge it with the line art underneath it.

Here is my digitally inked drawing. It is ready to be colored:

Summary

I’ll admit that the pen tool is really difficult to understand via a written tutorial. The pen tool is used to make vector paths that are later stroked to turn into the appearance of black ink. Once you get the hang of the pen tool it really makes things easier, so I will try my best to explain it in text.

If you click somewhere a dot will appear. If you keep clicking around you will keep making more dots, and these dots will be connected by straight lines. This is not always what you want. Clicking on a second spot and then dragging it will make a curve that connects these dots. If you hold ALT, then click and drag on the second point, it will move the anchor (this is the bar that pops up around the point). You want the anchor moved towards the direction you are going to make the next point of the curve. Then you can click and drag and it will make a nice line. It is best to practice for a few minutes with the Pen Tool to get it straight. This can be used for super-simple artwork like you see in this tutorial, or applied to very complicated designs. (I’ll show you that later.)

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This tutorial will show you how to set up your machine to recognize pressure sensitivity. You can use this for digital inking, painting, and shading in Photoshop. I use this technique in my comics, mostly for dynamic expressions and (with a large brush on a very low opacity) the multicolored shading. If you own a tablet, you absolutely have to do this setup.

You can use a version as old as Photoshop 7 and still be able to use this tutorial.

Step 1: Set your your graphics tablet up as described in it’s user manual. I personally use a Wacom Intuous.

Step 2: Go to your tablet’s manufacturer’s website and download the newest driver. Most likely any driver that was packaged on CD with the tablet is totally out of date.

Step 3: Go to Start > Settings > Control Panel on the PC or System Prefs on the Mac. Here will be a tablet menu where you can adjust what the buttons on your tablet and pen do. You can also adjust the pen’s pressure sensitivity.

How you set these are based on your personal preference. I usually totally deactivate the buttons on the side of the pen because they get in my way. I also make the pressure sensitivity just a little bit softer than the default setting.

NOTE: Cheaper tablets like the Graphire/Bamboo will offer a very limited array of settings. The Intuous level and higher will offer a full array of settings that you can adjust as well as double the points of sensitivity.

Step 4: Launch Photoshop

Step 5: Open your Brush Preferences (WIndow > Brushes). Make sure that Shape Dynamics is turned on and that it is set to Pen Pressure. This allows the tablet’s pressure sensitivity to respond to how hard or soft you press on the tablet with the pen.

You can now ink by hand with your pen if your pen tool is set up properly. I recommend a hard edge brush, not the soft, fuzzy brush.

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Step 1: Launch Photoshop.

Step 2: Go to File > Import, then select your scanner. It should be listed there. Mine is the ScanGear CS 7.2.5.x, so I click that. The Photoshop scanning menu should pop up.

Step 3: I click on “Preview” (1) so that I can see how much of the page I want to scan (2). Then I adjust the bounding box (That funny looking dotted box) around my sketch so that I am not scanning lots of blank paper.

Step 4: Please note that I have it set to Color, and 300 DPI (3). The image needs to be at least 300 DPI if you want it to look good when you print it out later.

Step 5: If your sketch is too light you can go to Image > Adjust > Auto Levels or Image > Adjust > Levels and play with the sliders to get it looking the best. I rarely do this because I am usually just going to digitally ink over it and delete the sketch layer, but if you want just a nice sketch you will probably want to adjust the levels.

Next I will show you how I digitally ink over my sketches.

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