studio mica - materials

s t u d i o m i c a

[m a t e r i a l s] section

[For] paper, It doesn't really matter what you draw on, as long as the paper is of a colour that contrasts with what you are drawing with. Lined writing paper is actually a good cheap paper to practice on. I erase a lot, so any paper that can hold up to a lot of erasing earns bonus points. =) Personally, because I am broke, I use a medium tooth paper that is avaliable at most art stores for a reasonable price. North American comic artists actually draw their books on 11x17 bristol board, with non reproducable grid on it. I have a few sheets given to me by a comic artist at a con but I don't have the heart to use it. Only thing to watch out for, is if you plan to ink your image, make sure the paper you use doesn't bleed or flare. This can easily ruin your hard work. Lined paper doesn't take ink well either because it has a thin layer of wax over it. When I say ink, I am refering to inks that are not ball point inks. Try drawing with a rollerball on lined paper and you will notice some sections the ink does not go down as expected.

[I] normally use those white vinyl erasers. They also come in those retractable cases, those run out far too quickly for my liking. It is not uncommon for me to run through one of the white erasers in a month!

tools

FYI only: I DO NOT ENDORSE THESE IN ANY WAY - Left to right: staedlter pigment liner, sharpie marker, sanford uni rollerball, sakura pigment ilner, staedler 9705 technical pencil, wedge tipped permanent marker, sakura pigma brush marker

[As] for pencils, I am partial to drafting or technical pencils, of the 0.7 - 0.3 mm variety. I find these are excellent for detail work, although the 0.3 mm lead does have a tendency to break often. On the other hand, there is nothing wrong with a regular wood HB pencil is fine, although I also find 2B pencils very good as well. Being a messy artist, I find that the higher 3-5B tend to generate very smudged images for me. Generally, for non artists, an HB pencil is middle of the road in hardness. 2B - 5B pencils get softer as the number gets larger and 2H - 5H pencils get harder as the number gets larger. H pencils are for drawing, and B pencils are for sketching and shading.

[As] for pens many artists use Hunt dip pens. I'm too damn impatient, as well, dip pens take a bit of getting used to... nothing like having a piece of hard work ruined by an ink blob! *_* I use a variety, ranging from pigment liners to ballpoints. =) Any brand is OK, I'm not really picky. The pigment liners I am currently using Sakura Pigma Microns and Staedtler pigment liners. You can pick up the later from any office supply store as they are used for drafting. ( In the 0.05 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.5 mm and the 0.7 mm varieties ) These tend to have a shiny drying ink but are extremely easy to control. Another way to ink is to use a brush. Brushes are harder to control, but have much more flexibility compared to markers. Sakura makes pigment brush pens. These are a cross between a marker and a brush. - I find they are even less intuitive than a brush. Rollerballs are good pens. I recommend Sanford Uni Micros - these are amazing pens - very smooth action. Amazingly enough black ballpoints work well for inking! (or blue even! some of my impromangas were done in blue ballpoint! Ballpoint pens have the advantage in that you can shade with them if you vary the pressure you put on the paper. WATCH OUT. Some pens do not have waterproof ink, so be careful when near water, or you might ruin your hard work.

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