My Top 5 Favorite Art Tools

No matter how you create art, all artist have their fav go to tools that they consistently use on a regular basis. Today, I'll be highlighting my top 5 favorites. They're not anything fancy but to me they make my job a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Mechanical Pencils

 What's there not to love about mechanical pencils? First off, they're cheap. I get mine at Dollar General. They come in a pack of about 6 for $1. Second, they are convenient. I can draw on the go without the worry of my pencil point breaking (if it does, I have a new point with the click of a button) or becoming dull. Because I don't have to worry about my pencil point becoming dull, it's easier to work in small detail.

Bristol Board

Whenever I'm completing a commission done in graphite, I always use Bristol Board from Strathmore. The weight of the paper is perfect for the projects I create. It's also smooth enough for creating portrait art but not too smooth to where everything looks super "smudgy" when you go in and blend out hard lines. Back in the day before I knew better, I used regular old printer paper to draw portraits. That was all fine and dandy at the time, until I tried Bristol  Board. I was amazed at how my art look so much cleaner! And of course I could add a lot more layers.

Filbert Brush (oils)/ Small Fluffy brush (graphite)

Ok, so, I may be cheating by technically putting 2 different tools here but, they are both brushes so it should be cool. Let's start with the filbert brush first. Filbert brushes are very versatile. They can hold a lot of paint, which comes in handy when you need to cover a large area. They can be used for painting broad lines or thin lines depending on how you hold them and how much pressure you use. 

Small, fluffy brushes are great for blending graphite drawings or adding a bit of graphite to a particular area for a light shadow. 

Q-Tips

Another favorite of mine when drawing portraits. Great for blending different tonal values when working on the skin tone in a graphite drawing. 

Pinterest

I don't know how many of you would consider this an art tool but I do. I use Pinterest all the time for finding inspiration for a new painting. Since I am self taught, I use Pinterest for finding art tutorials to perfect certain techniques. It's also great for finding drawing prompt list, which I use to help me fill my sketchbook.

No matter what type of artist you are (traditional, digital, etc.) everyone has their favorite tools of the trade that they love. What are some of yours?