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Samantha Nichols's avatar

pastel pencils or *adult*crayons on black paper

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Beth Spencer's avatar

That sounds super fun! I like those Stabilo pastel pencils a lot. Now I’m going to have to try them on black paper soon! Thank you! 💖

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KJ's avatar

Thank you both for sharing, I had never heard of pastel pencils and I just added a few to my list!

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Meaghan McIsaac's avatar

omg omg what a fun thread. Can't wait to see what everyone recommends! My favourite things to draw with are a col-rease red pencil, alcohol markers and fountain pen ink. I struggle mightily with jelly gouache but i still like to try in spite of my struggle

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I've always wanted to try that jelly gouache! I hear Destiny's Child "Bootylicious" in my head every time I think about buying it haha. That's not a bad thing either. I'm afraid I'd neglect it and it would dry out but I guess it's reactivate-able, right?

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Meaghan McIsaac's avatar

lol! Yes, this is my fear as well. But it looks so inviting!

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RAJ KAUR's avatar

I don’t think i’m ready for that Jelly 🤣

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I'm really not! 😜 Still trying to understand regular gouache but I do have fun with it!

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Laura Babcock's avatar

😆

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Hope White's avatar

Jelly gouache still confounds me, but I struggle on!

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I haven't tried it! What do you find challenging about it? Is it color mixing? Did you get the set from Amazon or Michael's? I wonder what I'd do with it! Now I kinda want one! 😆

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Hope White's avatar

I found it's texture hard to work with. I got a cheap set on Amazon that wasn't HIMI! I should get the good set!

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Audhdpainter's avatar

I'm loving my HIMI gouache

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I've always wanted to try it!

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herb roselle's avatar

Conte black crayon.

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Beth Spencer's avatar

Oooh are those on the harder side? I use the pink and tan ones almost every day!

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herb roselle's avatar

Yes. They are charcoal-ish, but go on the paper nicely. Flatten one side and make a point. I draw from the shoulder with it.

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Lila's avatar

Ooo I love this question because I really enjoy mixing materials. I find my current fave materials are dependent on what sketchbook paper I am working on; currently in my art talens sketchbooks it’s the delicious combination of gouache backgrounds and shapes overlayed with prismacolor or luminance pencil lines ✨ I’m eyeing the nova line of the stillman birn series next as I do love toned paper…

I am still struggling to learn how to use the neocolors ii better; I find they don’t quite fit my style so far (maybe ever) except for extremely quick studies 😩

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Beth Spencer's avatar

Neocolors took me a minute to really get into too. Do you ever mix them with goauche? That can be fun. I like mixing them with markers too. They were my best friend in the 3 Materials Drawing Challenge! I go into detail a bit more here: https://www.introvertdrawingclub.com/p/international-drawing-challenge-day

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Lila's avatar

I’ve tried mixing with water based markers, but not much with gouache! I feel that both are sorta creamy mediums and might be lovely when mixed together - thanks! I’ll check your post out 💕✨

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Debbie Starrett's avatar

I have recently started using my neocolor II’s with my paintbrush to add bits of color here and there. I hold the neocolors in my hand and run my wet paintbrush over the crayon picking up the color I need and painting it where I need. I also will use my neocolor II’s wet by dipping directly in water then drawing with them. It’s so fun experimenting until you find what suits your style! 😁

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Beth Spencer's avatar

Ooooh fun! I love mixing them with gouache and markers. What are your top 3 colors? I think mine are Olive Brown, Jade Green, and Ochre, or maybe Burnt Sienna... I need to do a "You're on a desert island and can only choose three Neocolor II's" game haha.

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Tara Tayyebi Fard's avatar

Such an irresistible topic! I have been trying different materials this year but my all time favorite remains fude fountain pen with waterproof ink, unless I'm drawing at my own desk and can use dipping pen and acrylic ink 🥰

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Mike Mills's avatar

So one thing that I haven't played with in a while but really felt like fun was ink painting. Using a bamboo brush, some water-soluble ink and some heavy paper really felt good. I felt that I could really create something that could either be really detailed or free-flowing in a way other mediums never really captured.

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KJ's avatar

This sounds so fun, thank you for sharing!

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Karen Louise Hodgson's avatar

Wax crayons, pencils, gel pens, felt tips,

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Nino van Vuuren's avatar

Ooh! I have so many favourites 🙈 so let’s go for my current go to- my inktense pencils. I like to use them with my acrylic inks, watercolours, neocolors and fountain pens (post about my fountain pens dropping tomorrow).

And I have been wanting to try out soft pastels ever since I saw Paula Rego’s soft pastel paintings at an exhibition two years ago.

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B.A. Lampman's avatar

Noodler inks. The wackiest, most idiosyncratic and unpredictable inks I've ever used. I used to steer clear of them for those very reasons, but now I'm a convert and I'll never go back.

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I have been so tempted to try them and now I must! I love a surprise. ❤️ Thank you for sharing!

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B.A. Lampman's avatar

Take a look at their website... all of their inks are wildly different. Some are permanent, some not. Some are indestructible, and some will fade really quickly. Some have qualities that you have to use to experience... for example an undertone (or different colour even) that on wet paper will emerge "beneath" and around the edges of the main colour.

I worked at an art supply store for many years and we carried Noodlers, and you never knew what you'd get. There was not much consistency with the colours---they would change slightly with each shipment. I always pictured the manufacturer standing over a cauldron, stirring and throwing in eye-of-newt, etc 😅

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Audhdpainter's avatar

This sounds exciting to me! I love playing with inks for interesting backgrounds

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Lisa Burda's avatar

Such a fun thread, thank you! I love using a mechanical pencil + watercolour! Really want to try watercolour brush pens (smth like Ecoline), should be so fun and convenient for a quick sketch when travelling. And I am not really friends with acrylic inks, because they dry so fast and don't reactivate, but probably should experiment more with them!

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Rebecca Barry's avatar

I've never tried watercolor brush pens. What do you like about them?

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Lisa Burda's avatar

I've only seen demos by other artists, but I like that they work both as markers and watercolour paints (they can be activated with water and will behave just like paint!). That is why I want to try them :)

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Kathleen Kelly's avatar

Triangular 6 B PECILS AND BIG PAPER.

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Helen C Stark's avatar

Kathleen Kelly!!! What a great name!!!

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Teresa Barroso's avatar

My LOVE goes to Luminance pencils, cliché but true. My life is happier with them on my desk 😄 I'm very CURIOUS to try acrylic ink this year 👀 although there's some fear that they may go to the same boat of my watercolour/guache tubes, which I rarely use 🤐 fabulous thread Beth! ❤️

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I picked up a Luminance the other day and thought of you, Teresa! They are SO good. If I could find them at the art shop here, I'd have every single one of them. Definitely need to add a few to the cart soon. I haven't used my acrylic ink in ages since I've been painting more. And don't really like most of the stuff I made with them! 🙊

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Teresa Barroso's avatar

Ohh you are kindest Beth 🥰 well if I don't like the acrylic inks, I can always add them to the materials swap page 😉

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Heidi Fiedler's avatar

Coming back to this thread when I have some birthday money! So many fun things to try.

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Beth Spencer's avatar

Perfect, Heidi! I'm adding it to the Contents Page, so it'll be easy to find. 💝 https://www.introvertdrawingclub.com/p/directory-of-posts

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La Scarlatte's avatar

I'm in love with kraft paper en pencil and neocolor 2s on top. I use a brush pen to wet the neocolors and give them a smooth surface, so I can layer and layer and layer.

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Rebecca Barry's avatar

I love kraft paper too. I like the weight of it.

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La Scarlatte's avatar

Yes! And it isn’t one smooth colour but blended pieces of paper together so it makes a more interesting background

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Rebecca Barry's avatar

Oh, right, I hadn't thought of that, but now that you've articulated that, I see what you mean. And I love your drawings! They're so intricate! I especially loved the big-eyed nocturnal animals. I might be one of those. ;)

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La Scarlatte's avatar

Oh thanks so much! And I’m a bit of a night owl myself, so I love meeting other nocturnal animals 😊😊

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KJ's avatar

Your videos and art pieces have definitely inspired me to try kraft paper!

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Rebecca Barry's avatar

Hello, I'm new and so happy to be here. My name is Rebecca and I mostly draw cats. (And the occasional chicken.) I'm a writer by trade, but drawing is what I do when I need to bring some humor and light into my creative world. https://open.substack.com/pub/rebeccabarry/p/if-youre-having-a-bad-day-draw-a?r=1e46c&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true I love working with watercolors. I'm curious about oil pastels, and I have a box of watercolor crayons that I can't figure out. And I love the storks you drew!

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Beth Spencer's avatar

Welcome, Rebecca! I'm so glad you're here. Cats and chickens are always welcome too! Oil pastels are fun! I love the Caran D'ache ones and you can't beat those Neocolor II crayons!

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janice baker's avatar

what is jelly gouache?!!!

I love acrylic black ink with a dip pen...

and water soluable crayons.

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Beth Spencer's avatar

I see jelly gouache on Amazon all the time and am always tempted to buy it! I even saw it in Michael's recently but resisted haha. 😆 I love water soluble crayons! Here's a comparison I found about the jelly gouache: https://www.thelastpigment.com/blog2/himi-jelly-gouache-review-what-is-bad-about-jelly-gouache

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