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Eraser -
For goodness sake, do not get
those pink erasers. They are horrid little things and I'm sure anyone
who has had any experience with them can tell you the same thing.
They should actually be considered a medium because they don't erase
at all, they only make marks on your paper. Now, enough of my pink
eraser bashing. What you really want to get is a vinyl eraser. In
my opnion, they work the very best with little erasure marks. Also
recommended are Art Gum and those gray bendable eraser things (I
forget the name ^^;). Art Gum also erases pretty well, and the gray
erasers are good for highlights in sketches and little erasures
because they can be molded into any shape (just remember to warm
them up before using them).
Paper - Obviously,
if you want to be an artist, you should have paper. Depending on
the media you want to use, you can choose from a great variety.
For example, if you wanted to do sketches, you may want to get a
textured paper, but if you want to do watercolors, you'd want to
get thicker paper that would be less likely to curl when wet. Of
course, you can do whatever you want with whatever kind of paper
you want; it's just that some media looks better on their respective
kinds of paper.
Pencils
- I'm pretty sure everyone's used a #2/2B pencil. This is pretty
much the kind of everyday yellow pencil that you see in school,
etc. But if you want to go into more depth with your sketches, you
should really consider getting a set of different types of pencils.
They range from H's to B's. The family of H's include leads that
are extremely hard and they should be used for primary sketches
(because they leave less of a mark when erased). The family of B's
includes lead that are extremely soft and should be used to shade
and finish your work. I have a set of 4H to 6B pencil as well as
a white pencil to even out the shading. I also recommend a 0.5 mechanical
pencil with HB lead, because it's always sharp without any sharpening
and is easy to erase.
Pens
- When I do use pens, I use regular ballpoint pens for sketching
and pigment liners for inking and scanning. Actually, I've not much
experience, so if there is anyone out there wants to contribute,
I'll be greatful! Some recommended pigment liners from around the
web include Sakura Micron Pigma pens. For Anime artists, all professional
manga artists usually use pens called G-Pens. I've never had any
experience with the thing, but I do have a friend who has one. From
what I've heard, it's a pen with a nib at the end, and you use something
like Indian ink with it. You hold it straight up and outline your
work that way. The effects are nice, because you get thick lines
if you press down and thin lines if you hold it lightly. Unfortunately,
they don't sell these pens in the U.S. but you can get them online.
Colored Pencils
- An excellent medium for the beginner. They're not very expensive,
and they're easy to clean up. Plus, they won't stain the carpet,
and they don't need alot of space. Watercolor painters usually use
colored pencils before they begin the final draft of their work
to determine what levels of shading are needed. Here is an excerpt
from The Colored Pencil by Bet Borgeson
on the differnt namebrands of colored pencils.
Screentone/Comictones
- For all Doujinshi artists, this is for you. Screentones are used
by almost all manga-ka (professional manga artists). They patterns
that can be rubbed onto pictures to create a design on a wall or
on a shirt, etc. I don't think they're sold in stores, but like
G-pens are sold online.
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