Day 3: The tools blessed.

It's all good.

I started out 30dayartist back in 2005 with a budget.
I had a little saving to kick start doin art, but just barely.
I had to purchase cheap materials. Limited color choice of paints.
Limited space. Limited resources. Limited materials.
Limited food. Yep, I was dirt poor and I still wanted to do art.

Art these days is known as a wealthy person's hobby.
Art materials are just so expensive since it has been commercialize.
No longer a source for expression for everyone.

But-no, you don't always need expensive materials
to do good art.

You can always grab 'anything' at all to do art.

Since 2005, I'm able to make a little money in
pursuing my career in art.

I'm slowly gradually able to purchase 'better' materials.

Does it make a difference?

Oh-yeah.

It's the little bit of here and there of the materials,
that adds up to the quality of your work.

I've never purchase an 'artist grade' brush like The Windsor & Newton Series 7 before.
After reading an interview of Craig Thompson of Blankets, and that he uses it,
I don't mind having strokes as smooth and slick as his.

I'm so used to using my Pentel Water Brush's grip, I had to modify the Series 7
to suit my comfort. Normal brushes are just too thin to hold and hours of it
causes strain to my fingers.

This is how I made the grip to my Series 7:

I bought a Koi Water Brush and dismantle it into 3.

3. is the body, where I cut a hole at the edge.

Then I just slip the Koi body into the Series 7, and they
fit tightly together.
The Koi's cap also fits in nicely.

This is my beloved Pentel Water Brush (Fine) :


I got my sis from UK, to buy a new Pentel Water Brush for me,
just in case I'm not comfortable with the Series 7.
But so far, Series 7 have been doing alot of miracles for me.

Windsor Newton Waterproof Black is the only ink I uses.
I'm only able to get them when my sis comes back from UK.
I've tried various inks and have wasted a lot of money.
Nothing seems to be dark enough.
The first ink I ever used was Osmiroid Calligraphy ink.
It was REALLY cheap and it was REALLY dark. The BEST!
I've only use 1 bottle and have never manage
to see it in any shop since.

Even the W&N ink these days doesn't seem so dark
like they used to. But they are the best I can find so far. sigh.

The following are the bad inks I've bought and have no use of.


Here are my 'approved' drawing tools:


For penciling I uses a Faber-Castell clutch pencil because
it is so smooth against paper compared to regular pencils and
mechanical pencils. I like my lead to be as light as
possible because I'm really bad at drawing, and it takes
me scribbles after scribbles to get shapes right.
I'm currently using 2H, but still it's not light enough for me.
Will attempt to find lighter ones.

I uses the chinese brush and the ink stone
to create dry brush effects. Wouldn't want to
waste the expensive W&N ink.

The erasers I'm using are too soft and
doesn't seem to clean too well.
Will try to stock better ones.

The Faber Castell size 2 brush is for backup.

I love to write my notes, script and draft out breakdowns
with my Faber Castell Ecco Pigment-01.
My life have no meaning without them


Paper I use are the Windsor Newton Extra Smooth
A3 Bristol Board and Canson A3 Bristol Board.
The Windsor Newton Extra Smooth is slightly more
expensive compared to Canson. I'm still experimenting
which is better. I've been using the W&N for the
past few days, and will be trying the Canson tomorrow.
I uses regular light-brown newstand paper to do my
drafting and scene breakdown.

Initially, I wanted to get a Daler Rowney Art Sphere Easel,
but have read bad reviews about it.
Then a week before August came, I found this beautiful
Blundell Harling - Challenge A2 Drawing Board in an art store.
I bought this immediately even though it was a little costly.
It has always been my childhood dream to have a drafting table,
but it's too expensive and I didn't have the space in my room.

But The Challenge Drawing Board series is the best invention ever.
It is small and not TOO expensive compared to those huge
drafting table.

This is the present setup of my drawing station.

My HP Mini 1000 is the UStream broadcast station.
The webcam is taped on my table lamp with masking tape.
I carry my HP Mini around to write script sometimes.
But lately, haven't been doing that much.

The post-production machine is just a right turn away.
Initially, I only uses my Asus Novalite PX24 to jack-up
to my Logitech Z-5500 Digital THX to watch movies.
But for convenient sake of traveling up and down from
my room to the living room, I've moved my external
harddrive and the scanner to my room to do the post for
the comics. Besides, I don't mind a little bit of aircond.


As for the pictures, I've been snapping them
with the Samsung SGH i-450 that I won last month.
I was the 2nd price for the 'most promising talent' award
of a local magazine.

Previously, I've been using my ancient-old motorola
phone for years and have no intention of replacing it.
But with the blessing of this new phone, and coincidentally
of I doing the 30dayartist run this month,
thought I just subscribe to a 3G connection so that
I'm able to update my 30dayartist run via mobile.

Everything have been falling into place since 2005.

Sure there have been some downs and fall back.

But it's a progress. And progress always mean 'forward'.

The thing we have to remember as time progresses is,
never forget to 'advance' yourself. It's like playing a RPG game.
Always buy new accessories, weapons, shields, potions, etc,
whenever you have that 'extra' gold coins with you.

To 'equip' yourself for the next higher level.

And never forget the root.
Where you came from.
Who you owe your blessings to.

Thank you Lord.

And to the ones who had ever 'bought' me.

Thank you and thank you.

-chinyew

(This is my first ever brush to draw my first ever mini comic; SUNDAY,
given to me from a friend, from the days I didn't even had a job)