Here is a list of materials I use in my regular sketch sessions and workshops. You can find the recommended (R) ones and alternatives if you can’t find them.
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Fountain Pen with M Nib or F Nib. Stronger lines will make your lineworks stand out and finer lines will produce a more detailed drawing, but will take longer to complete. Waterproof ink is recommended if you want to add ink washing or watercolour.
Sakura Pigma Micron Drawing Pen or a similar waterproof alternatives with 0.05 for faint lines and 0.2 for strong lines
I usually prefer using a water brush (like Pentel) and load it with the same ink used in my fountain pen with 1/10 of Ink and 9/10 of clean water. The ratio can be changed based on your desire grey darkness.
Pentel Arts Water-Based Color Brush Pen – Gray or similar. Usually I keep 2 types of grey, a lighter one and a darker one.
Waterproof ink is recommended is you want to add ink washing or watercolour on your ink drawing. You can also use alternative fine liners with waterproof label on.
Indian black ink or other ink colours are also good if you want to draw just with ink or add dry medium later on.
I usually prefer to use ink converters as you can use a larger variety of inks and colours.
Cartridges are also good, but they will be more expensive and also less eco friendly.
They are very useful to transfer ink from bottles to cartridges or waterbrushes.
For Ink and Dry Media drawing I recommend using a hardback sketchbook with hot pressed paper, 140 g/sm or above white or light tinted pages.
For watercolour drawings I recommend using a hardback sketchbook with hot pressed paper or slightly textured, 300 g/sm white pages.
You can also use loose pages with the same characteristic above, but in this case an A4 drawing board is recommended.
Portable Watercolour set with 12 colours useful for outdoor drawing. This is the Palette I use with Daniel Smith watercolour tubes.
Colour Palette:
Portable Watercolour set with 24 colours useful for outdoor drawing and also indoor drawings. This set of palette offers a broader range of colours for more complicated compositions. The colours I use are from Daniel Smith tubes put inside customised pans.
Colour Palette:
These watercolour brushes are incredibly useful for wet washing techniques.
Traditional brushes are the best way to draw with watercolour as you can control water better than water brush. The only downside is that you have to carry water containers with you.
Escoda does portable brushes which can be folded and placed in small cases as well.
Portable Water brush are the ideal solution when you are drawing outdoors and you don’t want to carry much. You can just load the water in and squeeze when you need. Usually I carry one large size and one medium size.
Masking tapes are used if you want to produce a defined frame for your painting. The best masking tapes are the Japanese Washi tapes, which don’t tear the paper.
Always carry some tissues with you to clean excess of colour or when you want to change colours using water brushes.
Being comfortable is the most important thing when you draw outdoors. This is the reason why I always recommend to bring a portable stool with you.
Few things to keep in mind when you are choosing one:
Size: make sure to buy one that you can comfortably bring around in your back pack.
Weight: Find a lighter one, so you will have less to carry in the bag
Paperclips can help you to keep your sketchbook pages still when you are drawing outdoors, especially during windy days.
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Lightweight and portable, perfect companion for your outdoor drawing adventures
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