Illustrating with traditional materials is a labor of love. It’s a process where the risk of ruining a piece is high, but for texture, color, and the ability to use your hands: it is all worth it. These are the tools I use to illustrate.
Clear Glue: Elmers is what I use. PH Neutral PVA also works nicely, you can find it in the bookbinding section at craft stores.
Xacto Knife or Fiskars Knife: I use the #1 blades always.
Crayon’De Ache Neocolor II Crayons: These are water-soluble and extremely pigmented, I color papers with them.
Prismacolor Colored Pencils: I use these mostly for sketching and tracing.
Acrylic Paint: I use Blick and Liquitex acrylic paint. Please don’t use any paints with Cadmium in them - it is used to color yellow, orange, and red paints and is a hazardous element. Lookout and avoid paints labeled Cadmium Yellow or Cadmium Red.
Acrylic Gesso: I use Liquitex Acrylic gesso to prime my paintings.
Holbein Acrylic Gouache: I switch between using acrylic paint and gouache. I think that acrylic paint works better for me to show a variety of textures and brushstrokes but gouache is more vibrant color-wise. Holbein is a brand of gouache I like.
Gloveworks Black Nitrile Gloves: I use gloves to paint with acrylics to avoid absorbing metals and chemicals in the paint. Many people overlook safety when they are making art, all the bright colors and creativity make art materials seem very inviting and safe, but make sure you protect yourself from fumes, chemicals, and hazardous materials that are often in art supplies.
Multimedia Paper: Multimedia paper works best for my papercuts because it is heavy enough to withstand acrylic paint and water but thin enough to cut with ease.
Paintbrushes: I buy value paintbrushes in a pack but I will occasionally splurge on $3 detail brushes. I love splatters and I use old toothbrushes to spray paint all over my artwork.
Scanning: I scan using an Epson Expression XL Flatbed Scanner for final finished artworks that will be delivered to clients. I scan at 600DPI so I can make large prints. In a pinch, I use FedEx’s flatbed scanners to scan my artwork.
I will update this list as my process changes or I discover new materials.
Take care!
Olivia