While most of my final work is painted digitally with Procreate on the iPad Pro, my sketchbook practice is very important to my process. This year, I'm planning to work with traditional mediums more often, and will use this space to share my most current toolkit.
I've tried many combinations of drawing tools and notebooks, and I finally found a fairly simple I really love. Here is what I'm currently using for sketchbook drawing:
Paint
Natural Earth Paint: This is a fairly recent discovery for me and I fell in love right away. I had stopped using traditional paint in recent years because I liked acrylic and acryla gouache, but couldn't stomach the idea of constantly washing the plastics down the drain. I also didn't love the watercolor palettes available. Enter Natural Earth Paint, a company that has found a solution to all my problems. I can mix my own paints from all-natural earth pigments, or purchase their ready-made plant-based "acrylik" paints. The quality of natural earth pigments is actually even better than the artifical stuff on the market (isn't that always the case?).
Yes, it's more work, but I love the whole experience. As part of mixing my own pigments, I sourced a bunch of beautiful tools that are a delight to use, making the whole process enjoyable. I started a product list of things I use here.
Pens & Pencils
Derwent Drawing Pencils: I've tried many drawing colored pencils and these are my favorite so far. They have a limited but beautiful range of natural colors. I find having just a few pencils helps keep my sketchbook cohesive. Also available for individual purchase.
Ink Pen by Tom's Studio: For a while, I was using Faber Castell PITT Artist Ink Brushes, which were really great. However, I am in the process of moving away from relying on tons of plastic pens. I discovered this small family-owned business created beautiful refillable pens made from metal. My brass dual-tipped Lumos pen comes with 12 different Japanese-made nibs that replace all of the pens I used to use. Yes it's an investment, but worth it to me.
UNI Clutch Pencil Holder with June Gold 2mm Brown Lead: Ok this is so specific but hear me out—instead of pencils, I love drawing with a 2mm lead, and right now I love drawing in brown. For some reason, I never liked drawing in graphite, whether it was the tactile feel or the grey color. I used blue Col-Erase pencils for a while, but I didn't like the blue. I kept searching for a brown alternative, and finally found this winning combination. If I had to pick just two things to take on the go with me, it'd be this pencil and a thin Midori MD Notebook (below).
Notebooks
Midori MD Notebook: Affordable notebooks with a unique waxed paper that holds all of my mediums well, even the watercolors. No bleed even though the papers are thin. Of course there is warping with the watercolor, but I actually find that I like how it feels. These notebooks come in a few different sizes, I like the larger sizes but honestly use them all. The Traveler's Notebook (same company) has MD Paper refills that are fun to use.
Midori MD Notebook cover: This is a nice way to protect your MD notebooks, which have quite thin covers. You can also stick things in the flaps. I recently upgraded to a leather cover I found on Etsy, but the paper ones work just fine.
Find my review of other popular notebooks in this post here.
Misc.
Canvas Pen Roll: I really like pen rolls for keeping my pens organized by color. This one comes in nice colors and is also affordable.
That's it! I like keeping it simple. It helps me focus on the practice, and I can bring these tools anywhere. I keep a simplified version in my daily sling while out and about, and whittle it down to just the brown pencil and MD notebook when I need to go really light.
Find more detailed information and artist resources in Mimochai Studio 💛 -M
