Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
Beginner Professional Illustration Tools and Mediums
19
items Sometimes shopping art materials can be overwhelming. There are so many different brands, so many different sub-categories of paper and pencils and pens, even erasers! If you're just getting started, this can be pretty overwhelming. As someone who ha...
Map
Sections
5
Paper
Dry Mediums
Wet Mediums
Illustration Tools and Accessories
Sealer/Finishing Sprays
Paper
First things first-the base! If you want to create professional illustrations, you'll need a good quality paper to start!
One of the best brands of paper that's affordable, heavy duty so it can take a beating from your eraser or other heavier materials. Thick paper=less tearing and smudging.
Strathmore Artist Papers
This is a great paper to use if you want to add other mediums that aren't graphite or very dry. Paper can only hold so much saturation, and a lot of drawing paper cannot take very much saturation. This paper is still very niceto draw on with graphite...
Mixed Media
If you plan to work with pencil and color pencil almost exlusively, this is the best paper to work with!
300 Series Colored Art
Dry Mediums
Everyone assumes a basic 2HB pencil will get the job done but there are so many other dry mediums that illustration artists use to bring their creative ideas to life. Dive in to the recommendations below for some medium inspiration!
Any of these sets of Fabercastell pencils are great to start with! They have varying shade ranges. It's important to have a few ranges of different shades. H=Hard B=Black. The number lets you know how dark and if the lead is hard or soft (soft is goo...
Graphite Pencils
These are great for shading and for dark line art!
Woodless Pencils (10 Pack)
Conte Crayons are like chalk pastel and a graphite pencil had a baby. It's great for illustrations depicting skin tones, animals, rocks, and more.
Anyone else use conte crayons and pencils? What are some good tips for ...
Charcoal is a great dry medium, similar to conte crayons but with wider rangers for blending and stretching pigment against paper.
Charcoal Drawing Techniques - How to Draw with Charcoal
Prisma is one of the best known brands for colored pencils. They come in varying sets of size and color range--they can be pricey but they last a long time and a little bit of pigment can go a long way. The colors are also very vibrant and blend well...
Premier® Soft Core Colored Pencil Sets
Wet Mediums
When you think illustration you may not think wet mediums play a part in this world, but that is far from the truth! There are plenty of wet mediums that work great as additions or main mediums in your illustration journey!
Indian Ink is great for line art that you want thicker and thinner (Variegated) lines for. It's smooth, seamless, and looks like paint but is thinner.
A Beginners Guide To Indian Ink
Daler Rowney and Higgins are also both great brands for colored ink, if you wanted to do illustrations in full color or add color accents to your black ink illustrations.
TECH Drawing Ink
Micron Pens are great for think and more controlled line art within illustrations. They can usually stand the test of time and do not bleed as long as you let them dry in full before further applications.
Pigma Micron
Ohuhu Markers are all the rage! Any professional ALCOHOL based marker is great to work with. I also recommended Copic markers-but they are much pricier.
Markers
Illustration Tools and Accessories
Now that you have the main ingredients, here are some “spices” to help further your techniques and creative pursuits within the world of illustrative art!
A kneaded eraser is not only fun to play with, but it helps to create more natural smudge techniques, and to help create a soft blend. Great for conte crayons and charcoal.
Kneaded Eraser
A lot of people will tell you dont use the big pink eraser. I'm not one of those people. I think this eraser is hands down the best for regular drawing uses and large area clearings.
Best Erasers for Drawing: The 9 Eraser Types for Artists | by Kevin Hayler
White ink is a great way to add gloss and shine to your illustrations, whether it be for glass, eyes, jewelry, lip gloss, and more! Also white ink works great if using dark or black paper.
White Ink Pens
Painter's tape is great for straight lines, and making sure your inks and dry mediums do not accidentally bleed into already finished areas on your work.
Painter's Tape
Carbon transfer paper lets you copy your illustrative designs onto other surfaces. It will indent and leave marks on your original piece, so it's best used when the original illustration is meant to be a tool not the final draft. Great for replicatin...
Outus 30 Pack Carbon Papers for Tracing
Sealer/Finishing Sprays
Make sure to protect your finished piece from pigment transfer!
This is a fixative spray, it keeps your medium from moving around on the paper and transferring to other surfaces once you are done working. They sell fixative sprays for when you're finished with your artwork and for keeping a layer or work in place...
Experience with fixative spray? : r/ArtistLounge
It cheap but it does the trick-it will yellow with too much sun exposure, unless its the outside variant. Not good for thick clear pours.
Mod Podge® Decoupage Formulas & Tools