What are your favorite drawing tools (pens, pencils, markers, drawing tablet)?

My favourite drawing tools are Faber Castell PITT Artist pens, Pilot Super Grip pencils, Pentel brush pens and my Montblanc fountain pen.

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

I carry my drawing tools in a small Muji Pencil box. It means I can only carry 4 pens at a time, I like the fact that I have relatively few choices and don’t really have to decide what pen to use at any time. Saying that I have tried lots of different type of pens from Rotring, Edding, Staedtler to Pigma Microns but for the moment I like drawing with brown ink as it throws the line back a bit and makes it a bit less dominant than a black line. I carry the Pentel brush pen and fountain pen as sometimes its good to have a looser approach and using a fountain pen or brush stops you be too precise and tight.

The other kit I carry around with me is another Muji Pencil box (large) in it are 2 pencils 2b and 4b, a pencil sharpener, a rubber (or for Americans an eraser) and 2 Pentel water brush pens a medium and a large. The box is padded with tissue to stop them rattling about.

All thats left is a small Winsor & Newton travel watercolour kit. I’m in the middle of trying to simplify the colours I use, but I like to replace some of the pans with colours I prefer such as Permanent Sap Green, Neural Grey, Permanent Mauve and Cerulean Blue. Typing this out I realise that maybe its colours suited to the Scotland’s landscape and light?

It’s all really basic. If I just want to draw on the way to work I take the small Muji box. If I want to paint I take the larger one with the watercolour set - no thinking involved at all! :)

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

Apart from Faber-Castell PITT artist pens I like to use Noodler’s Bulletproof ink in my fountain pen. It’s a total lifesaver as you can work over the top of it with watercolour.

How do you like your color? Watercolour? Acrylics? Oil?

I use watercolour pretty much all the time in Moleskine sketchbooks. They react pretty strangely to watercolour almost repelling the paint so you have to work in washes almost scrubbing the paint into the page. From what is kind of a negative thing, I’ve got into painting this way and enjoy the results. So, now I’m trying to do watercolour on proper paper and finding it really difficult.

You recently posted a weblog entry with the kit you carry around. If and when you work at home, or in an office, do you use the same types of tools, or do you have a larger set of colors, pens, brushes, etc.?

Yes, I have a larger variety of brushes and pens to choose from. I also use Dr. Ph Martin inks as well they really add a vibrancy to watercolours. So if you want the reds and greens to really pop out of the page its amazing fun to try these out.

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

Sorry, I’m a sucker for Moleskine sketchbooks, its a little bit embarrassing how ubiquitous they are. The fact that they are expensive is quite a good thing as you’re not likely to leave them lying about, but because it takes me about a month or two to fill one they turn out to be okay value. Also I like the fact they fold flat so I draw over the two pages, its seems quite a small thing but its a rare quality in sketchbooks. Finally the proportion for the moleskine large sketch book just, well feels right.

I sound like a total fanboy!

I carry around sketchbooks around pretty much all the time, but aye if there’s a scrap of paper around I’ll use it.

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

Oh, occasionally. The Moleskine paper is quite yellow. So what I generally do in Photoshop is take a colour sample of the paper colour add a new layer and fill that layer with the colour then turn this layer off. The layer with the drawing I use auto tone, colour and levels to accentuate the tone and colours, but it takes the yellow tone away. I then turn that yellow layer back on and choose “multiply” and reduce the transparency to what looks right.

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’ve tried some new Kuretake brush pens which I read about on Meg Hunt’s site which have an amazing dark fluent line. I think they’re for Japanese calligraphy. I just wish they weren’t water soluble.

Also I’ve experimented with trying dip pens after an article by Kevin Cornell who recommended Hunt’s Speedball #102 nibs.

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

When I’m traveling abroad drawing I carry around a Fuji Pivi printer which does small polaroid type photos. Instead of carrying glue to stick all those handy exotic receipts, tickets and bags of sugar you can buy pre blobs of glue on bits of paper. I put these handy things in the back of my Moleskine.

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)?

Yes, all of the above! I’ve avoided doing digital colouring deliberately. I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing using watercolour but its something I really want to stick with as I’m really enjoying the process.

Building a web presence and finding like minds has been incredible! At the same time I need to get away from the computer and make things.

From your CV/folio it looks like you do more web design and layout. Do you, in a way, consider that art? I certainly do, even though I’m not very good at it. I’m more on the programming side. If so, what are your common tools for web design and graphic/art layout?

I don’t know if web design is art? I use Photoshop for layouts and Illustrator for more design logo work.

For so long though its been part of who I am as a designer who likes to sketch. I’m at a crossroads at the moment as I’ve left the BBC and I’m looking to try and spend more time doing illustration. It’s a big step for me but at the moment it feels like the right thing to do.

Thanks Wil!

Wil Freeborn can be found online at his weblog, on Flickr (ghostschool), and on Twitter (@ghostschool). Wil also participated in the 6th Moleskine Exchange.

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

I like to draw directly in pen when sketching since it forces me to loosen up and lighten up and let things get as goofy as they often do. Or, if I want to be more accurate, drawing in ink helps me to remember to go slow and look closely at my subject.

Pencil: I’m rather fond of my Papermate Titanium .5mm mechanical pencil with built in eraser. I have a variety of drawing, drafting and mechanical pencils but I’m not too attached to any of them.

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

The Pigma Micron .01 black ink pen is my favorite. I like the fact that ink is permanent and waterproof and doesn’t bleed or dissolve when adding watercolor the way some other “permanent” or “waterproof” inks do. I’ve tried many others, from fountain pens to dip pens to markers, but I always come back to my Pigma Micron.

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

If I’m sketching from life, I choose my Pigma Micron. If I’m sketching from my imagination I usually use a pencil since I’m not sure where I’m going and kind of sculpt the drawing from scribbles as I go.

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

Watercolor had been my primary medium for 30 years. Then a couple years ago I tried (unsuccessfully) switching to acrylic. I just couldn’t get acrylics to do what I wanted (though I will likely give them another try at some point). Then I moved on to oils and I’ve been studying oil painting since, while not giving up watercolor. I’m finding that some subjects look better to me in different media. For example, when I want to capture detail or delicate flowers, watercolor is my medium of choice; landscape, especially plein air, seems to call for oil painting.

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 have several different watercolor sets and two oil-painting setups. When I use gouache or watercolor in the studio I have two large Robert E. Wood palettes that live on a Boby tabouret beside my large drafting table. One is filled with gouache, the other with watercolor. My watercolors are a variety of artist colors mostly from Winsor & Newton and Daniel Smith, with a couple of Holbein and Schmicke colors thrown in.

When I go out to sketch in ink and wash, I carry a Winsor & Newton Artists’ Watercolor Field Box Set (over the years I’ve replaced all the original pan paint with colors I prefer from tubes).

If I want to use gouache in the field I carry an old small, Schmincke metal folding palette (my first watercolor set) that holds 12 half pans which I’ve filled with mostly M. Graham and Schmincke gouache from tubes.

I have a sturdy zipper bag I got at Utrecht that’s about 8x10 into which I can easily fit my entire sketching kit in (including sketchbook). The items I include in my sketching kit are:

• Micron Pigma .01 pen (my favorite sketching pen)
• Kuretake waterbrushes
• Kleenex purse pack of tissues
• Sketchbook
• optional extras:
  • 2 oz plastic squirt bottle (optional, easier than using waterbrushes to moisten paint and good for sprizting the paper if needed)
  • 2 oz plastic bottle with extra water
  • pencil
  • kneaded eraser

If I’m doing an actual plein air painting in watercolor rather than a sketch, I have a larger, Holbein palette. Then I use a watercolor block instead of a sketchbook and carry real brushes in a canvas brush holder, still quite portable.

For oil painting in the studio I have an old Stanrite Aluminum #700 easel and for field work I use my Soltek Pro (needed the Pro’s extra height because I’m tall). I’m currently using mostly Winsor & Newton oils and a few Gamblin but selecting my oil colors is still a work in progress.

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

Lately I’ve been using mostly Moleskine watercolor sketchbooks and Strathmore Medium Drawing spiral bound sketchbooks. In the past I was fond of the inexpensive Aquabee Super Deluxe spiral bound. I’ve tried many others that I didn’t like for one reason or another. I recently purchased a Fabriano Venezzia bound sketchbook and am looking forward to using it next. Of course I’ll draw on just about anything if no sketchbook is at hand. One of my favorite sketches was done on the back of a bag of Trader Joe’s Biscottis while waiting in the checkout line.

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

Yes! I’ve tried stretched canvas and practically every kind of painting panel there is and I LOVE Ampersand’s Gessobord. I use their 1/8” flat panels because they’re the least expensive, while still being “archival, museum quality.”

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

I went through a phase of drawing in ink or directly on the computer using a Wacom tablet and then coloring them in Painter for creating illustrations, but didn’t love spending so much time at the computer so have moved away from that for now.

I do post-processing in Photoshop when I prepare photos or scans of my artwork for my blog. Despite my care in lighting, monitor calibrating, etc., I almost always have to make some adjustments to the digital photos. I also do the same for photos I want to use for reference material.

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

Oh yes! I’m easily seduced by glowing descriptions by other artists of their new discoveries.

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

Nope.

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

I was using Painter rather than Photoshop as it had more artist-friendly tools but it crashed way too often.

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 spending less time at the computer since I have a part-time day job that requires me to be at the computer the whole time, as does blogging, and too much computer time = too many physical aches and pains.

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)?

Yes, to all of the above.

Thanks Jana!

Jana Bouc can be found online at her website/porfolio janabouc.com, her journal and sketch weblog, and on Flickr (janabouc).