What are some of your favorite drawing tools (pens, pencils, markers, drawing tablet, all of the above)?

I like mechanical pencils because I tend to draw in a very quick scruffy style and would have to sharpen a normal pencil about every couple of seconds. Even illustrations that end up rather minimal and tight start out as a mess of lines and corrections. For that reason, I also find a putty rubber indispensable, because it can get into all the little nooks and crannies of my drawing. I get into a panic if I don’t know where my putty rubber is. It’s a bit like Dumbo’s feather.

I use a lightbox a lot, because I like to keep my pencil artwork separate and the lightbox enables me to experiment with different approaches to the same illustration.

I use a Wacom when I’m on the computer, although it’s just a little A6 tiddler, so I find it’s only useful for rough sketches and quite broad actions, like using the burn tool in Photoshop.

My favourite pen would be my Pentel brush pen.

If you have a wide collection, how do you decide on which to use on a particular drawing, project, or day?


It generally depends on the subject matter. How a given medium supports what you’re trying to communicate is something that really interests me. For example, I recently drew a character for a story set in the 80s so I’ve used half tones to give the illustration a kind of 80s newsprint feel. If I want to do a creepy, Victorian style illustration I’ll use dense linework and treat paper in Photoshop to make it look older. Upbeat kids stuff might be looser more expressive pencils with bright, fresh watercolours.

If you prefer pens, is there any particular brand, color, or type of ink you like best?


I’m forever hassling people to take up Pentel brush pens. They’re really convenient and versatile, you can use them in an expressive loose kind of way, or reign them in for nice tight graphic work. That said, I’ve recently started playing around with a mapping pen and have been really pleased with the results. 



How do you like your color? Watercolor? Acrylics? Oil? Colored pencils? Markers?



Mainly watercolours and Photoshop. If I’m using watercolour I tend to make a set of swatches, scan them in and then compose the colours in Photoshop. I also colour things directly in Photoshop, and use bits of texture – old paper, metal etc. to give things a bit more depth. Photoshop is great with watercolours and pencils.

If you do use paints, inks, pencils, or markers for coloring, are there any in particular that are your favorites? Do you prefer travel sets of paints to a full set?

I like using felt tip pens, I think because of their associations with being a kid. If I think of colouring in, I think of felt tip pens. I also like drawing with biros, for a similar reason – it reminds me doodling in exercise books in school.

Is there any particular type of notebook or drawing pad you prefer? Or does any scrap of decent-sized paper work in a pinch?

I do most of my work in A4 sketchbooks with heavy paper with a bit of a grain to it. I need heavy paper because I make such a mess, it needs to be paper that can take a bit of a battering. I like the grain because of the way it picks up the pencil and the smudges…it gives more information to Photoshop that I can play with later, burning bits in or cloning nice bits of texture etc.



Do you ever do any kind of post-processing (like adding color in Photoshop or similar tool) to your drawings?


Pretty much everything goes through Photoshop. I use curves a lot, and the burn and dodge tool. I play with the colour values and I like to use multiply layers, e.g having a bit of old paper as a multiply layer, or having my inks on a multiply layer and colouring beneath. Even the scruffiest sketch gets curved up and has some bits burned in and other bits knocked back.

Have you ever tried a new pen (or paper, etc) from reading about it, or seeing the results in another artist’s work?

Almost everything I use. I think it’s really important to keep experimenting and to stay clued up. Everything I’ve mentioned so far can be traced back to hearing about it or seeing it somewhere. I picked up the Pentel Brush Pen because the guy who does the concept art for the Metal Gear Solid videogames uses one. The last design studio I worked at had a really healthy culture of trying stuff out and sharing knowledge. I picked up loads of useful bits of Photoshop from the designers there. If I’m not sure how someone’s achieved a particular effect I hunt around on the Internet for a relevant tutorial.

Do you have anything you use out of the ordinary for making your art?

Not really. After talking up the computer so much I’d like to say that I’m a big fan of the ordinary! If the audience can understand how a picture was made, then I think that’s another level to the relationship between the work and the viewer. There’s something magical about seeing an amazing piece of art that is just pencil marks on paper.

If you create purely-digital art, what are the software programs you use? Is one used more than another?

I’m going to continue the trend of contradicting my last answer. I really love drawing in Flash, especially the way you can grab your lines and fills and pull them around until you’re happy with them. Also, Flash and Illustrator are great for more modular pieces – loads of characters and stuff, because you can easily rearrange, resize and edit different elements.



If you work both digitally and non-digitally, which do you find yourself doing more? Is there a reason you would prefer one of the other? Is it because of the tools available in either space?


Nothing beats drawing in a sketchbook.

I asked about post-processing on a computer, but do you think the computer is a helpful tool for making art? Whether it’s looking for inspiration online, or using it to build a weblog to promote yourself and your art, do you think a computer is necessary, helpful, or a distraction (or all of the above)?


Well, generally I think computers are great. Especially for getting your work seen, communicating with clients, researching content for work or seeing what everyone else is up to. The danger with computers is that because they’re so clever and offer you so much choice, you can struggle to keep a focus on yourself and your work. Regarding the Internet, sometimes it can be inspiring and sometimes it can be a bit bewildering when the whole creative industry is out there for you to explore and find your place in. Regarding post-processing, it’s always a worry that by the time I’ve inked a sketch and scanned the inks and cleaned them up and moved them about and coloured them and added a texture I may have killed the spark from the original sketch stone dead. The trick with computers is using them to enhance whatever it is that makes you unique as an artist in the first place.

Thanks Chris!

You can find Chris Rodenhurst online at his weblog Sketchybeast.

What are your favorite drawing tools (pens, pencils, markers, drawing tablet, all of the above)?

Charcoal has to be one of my favourites; not always practical because it’s quite messy, so I would use it in the studio or on a day out sketching where getting dirty didn’t matter - not on a day out with family :>)

I also like mechanical pencils with an eraser on the end - really simple and accessible, biro on occassion, Conte pencils. charcoal pencils. coloured pencils, Caran d’Ache Neocolor II with water, but only very occasionally ink,

I like painterly drawing media rather than the graphic lines of an ink drawing for the way I work (though I love them in other peoples work). I do like those double ended Tombo pens with water soluble ink (mid grey is a favourite) as you can get lovely washes - again it’s the painterly feel that attracts me. I really don’t like the scratchy feel of most dip pen nibs. I like bamboo pens and twigs because of the changes in line as the ink dries and the slight unpredictability but am more inclined to use them with watercolour.

If you have a wide collection, how do you decide on which to use on a particular drawing, project, or day?

It will depend on the subject matter and what will give me the vocabulary of marks that I need. Also on whether I’m out ‘seriously’ sketching with lots of choices with me or on a trip with family or friends where I can only carry a little, can only draw quickly in order not to hold everyone up and need to keep clean! I’m inclined to use fingers to smudge or drip paint or ink onto clothes or dip sleeves in paint so that is an important factor!

A current long term project on local waterways has work in charcoal, watercolour, coloured pencils, mixed media. linoprints. pencil, Caran d’Ache neocolor II, Inktense - I don’t think I’ve done any oil sketches yet which is unusual as that is usually my first choice at the coast.

How do you like your color? Watercolor? Acrylics? Oil? Colored pencils? Markers? All of the above?

Oil first usually, also watercolour, often with oil pastel or coloured pencil. coloured pencil. pastel - acrylic in the studio but not plein air and markers not for colour but occasionally as drawing tools. Studio work in acrylics is usually finished in oils as the oils work so well glazed or scumbled or scratched through, over underlying acrylic marks put in very very loosely. Most of my work is mixed media as I pick up whatever will give me the marks I want and so a combination of materials is often involved.

If you do use paints, inks, pencils or markers for coloring, are there any in particular that are your favorites? Do you prefer travel sets or do you need a full set of colors?

As a colourist painter I like to have a lot of blues, yellows and reds to choose from and a range of other colours. I mainly mix colours, not using them straight from the tube or pan and though a painting will only use a limited range of them. I want the specific blue or whatever to achieve the results I want to catch the light, mood and colour of the day.

I don’t use sets but have a collection, bought individually over time, of colours that I like to use.

I use Winsor & Newton and Daler-Rowney Artists watercolours but also have a box of White Knights that I’m fond of. Oils are a mix of brands, mainly artists colours but not all. I also like the quick drying Griffin Alkyds. In pastels I like Unison - luscious and velvety and they don’t break into tiny shards like some soft pastels.

If you have a different set of tools for working in your studio (or office, or home, or on the couch) and out in public (at the park, or a coffee shop), what are the differences?

I answered this one earlier really - it depends on the subject, the situation - do I need to stay clean and tidy without smudges or paint on clothes or face, how long have I got to work? am I with friends with all day to paint and so getting paint splattered doesn’t matter and I have all the time I need? then the bag of materials gets heavy as I can’t resist all the stuff I may need - and if I don’t take it will be certain to want!

Is there any particular type of notebook or drawing pad you prefer? Or does any scrap of decent-sized paper work in a pinch?

A wide variety. I like heavy weight cartridge paper as you can use it with any medium, watercolour paper - Arches, Fabriano hot pressed, not Bockingford very much, hand made paper, moleskine for pencils, large A3 sketchbooks in a landscape format that open out to about 3 feet across. I’ve also made my own books recently but I’m no expert at this like Nina. In a pinch - anything.

If you paint, is there any particular type of canvas you prefer? Do you like to paint on wood or other material?

I like deep sided canvasses as I never frame them, I prefer the look of them as they are without imprisoning the work. Plein air I do oil sketches on Cryla primed paper and frame as if for watercolours. I also sketch straight into sketch books of cartridge paper without any priming as I like the way the oil paint behaves - not archivally friendly but ok in a sketch book. Occasionally I’ve painted on hardboard (masonite) and like the firm surface but don’t like the fact that it has to be framed.

Do you ever do any kind of post-processing (like adding color in Photoshop or similar tool) to your art?

I do use Photoshop to create images that exist in their own right and play with ideas - it’s a great tool. You can see examples on my blog and website.

Have you ever tried a new pen (or paper, etc) from reading about it, or seeing the results in another artist’s work?

Yes, I had been using coloured pencils in mixed media work but wanted some better quality ones and had great advice from Katherine and others. They advised Polychromos for the way I work and they were right - I love them.

Do you have anything you use out of the ordinary for making your art?

The way I mix media probably. I like the variety of marks possible by combining for instance watercolour, oil pastel as a resist and coloured pencil to subtly enhance or overlay colour. Again on my blog you’ll see lots of mixed media pieces - recently lino prints, printed non-traditionally with oil paints and then worked into with oil pastel and coloured pencils.

If you create collages, where do you get the materials and objects you use in your pieces?

I prefer to paint the papers myself if it is going to be a finished piece and then cut and tear them - recently I learned to marble to create some different papers for beach sketches - so far these are just in sketchbooks. I will also use hand made papers and elements that won’t fade or tarnish.

When creating your digital art, what are the software programs you use? Is one used more than another?

Photoshop mostly and occasionally Corel Photopaint to manipulate and change elements fed in.

If you work both digitally and non-digitally, which do you find yourself doing more? Is there a reason you would prefer one of the other? Is it because of the tools available in either space?

I prefer the hands on of ‘real’ materials and the happy accidents and ‘language’ of marks. I don’t paint digitally but manipulate elements to create something very very different from the starting point.

I asked about post-processing on a computer, but do you think the computer is a helpful tool for making art? Whether it’s looking for inspiration online, or using it to build a weblog to promote yourself and your art, do you think a computer is necessary, helpful, or a distraction (or all of the above)?

Very helpful for playing around with ideas, creating work that exists in its own right - and very distracting, eating up time if I’m not careful Very useful for research, for talking to fellow bloggers, critique, exchanging ideas, selling a little and learning a lot. So for me an essential.

Thanks Vivien!

Vivien Blackburn’s website is vivienblackburn.com, her sketches can be seen at sitekreator.com/viviensketches, and she also has a shop on Etsy. She has also started a group weblog called Watermarks, which “is a small community of artists who make art from water.”