My Regular "Go-To" Art Supplies! (Updated for 2026)

A slightly updated blog post of my original post from 2013! Not much has changed! This is just for doing physical hand-drawn art. I may do one about the digital aspect of it another time.

I was drawing late one night and I happened to look over to my left at the table with my art supplies that sits next to my light table. My actual art supplies for the last 25+ years have mostly been the same. As all artists do, we pick out what we like and keep using it throughout our careers (as long as they keep making it) and I find myself sometimes apprehensive to trying something new. If something works for you, why change?

Over the years, I've distilled a lot of my working process down to make it simpler and between the work being more digital than physical nowadays I have found myself using a real short list of items to draw with. I've been asked before what I use to draw so for those interested, here's the list with pics. From the first pic on top you can see that my regular tools only take up about a third of the table top in total.

1) PAPER - Mostly I've been using copy paper sized at 8.5" x 11" or the 11" x 17" size for bigger sketches (like comic book pages). Even my final art for Scooby-Doo (for the comic books at least) have been draw on normal copy paper. It's cheap and works well. Probably not great for the archival or collector mentality but it's the raw material to get a project done. I buy one box with reams of paper in it at Staples once a year or so. For bigger paper, I buy a ream of it when I need it. I can burn through letterhead paper with roughs and thumbnails and if I screw up I grab another sheet real quick from underneath my light table and continue on.

For final art that I want to have a slick, professional look to it, and it may be a piece that I'll be selling later on, I use the Borden and Riley #234 Paris Bleedproof paper for pens. It comes it many sizes and prices can vary depending on where you buy it. I have to order it online as no local art stores exist or the ones that do don't carry it. Go figure. I like this particular kind of paper as it's light and thin, easy to work with on the light table, and also works extremely well with the pens that I ink with. I've rarely had any bad moments with the paper in terms of smudging and bleeding. Sometimes things happen but overall this paper works fantastic. It's been my "go-to" for many years. When I did comics I also would prefer to use this paper over the company's art board. The quality of paper is lacking of late there and I'd rather use my own. If I did a cover for DC Comics, I'd use their art board as the people who buy original art prefer it to be drawn on the "official" board. That is changing though. 

2) PENCILS - I can use anything really though I seem to gravitate to a 5H lead for breaking it down and keeping it clean and then a 2H or an HB to bring out the details. Depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll pull out a purple ColErase pencil or even a ball point pen and do the whole deal. At this creative point in drawing, it's about mood and getting it onto the page. You can tweak it later on with another piece of paper. If I do a convention or I'm on the road, I tend to use the 5H and HB. 

3) ERASERS - I have three. A kneaded eraser, which is one that I use most often. You can bend and shape it to get into tiny corners and every artists uses one. You can't be a true artist without one! Next is a Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser, which is great for really cleaning up with as it leaves very little residue or crumbs and does a better job of overall cleaning than the kneaded eraser. My third eraser is a yellow gum eraser, which I use the least and it does a good job at times but leaves a lot of crumbs in its wake. 

The Staedtler Mars eraser is also useful for other things as well, such as when you take the price sticker off an item you bought and there's some sticky residue left over. The gum eraser sometimes does the job, but a Staedtler Mars one works superb at taking off the residue without hurting a book cover or toy box. A Sandford 'Magic Rub' eraser is great too! 

4) MICRON PENS - My main stay for 24 years now. I came to using these mostly after I had to trash a TON of Scooby and other work back in 2001 or so. I used to work with Le Pen, which was a superb pen marker that worked supremely well on Garde Silk paper which was very smooth. The Le Pen would glide across the paper and leave such a clean line that it almost gave the look that you did it digitally. It was great for style guide work as well where you needed strong clean lines that held up even when it was enlarged. But then you had the downside... All the work would fade from black to brown to light brown to almost invisible. It was great in terms of producing high quality work but the worst in creating original artwork that you wanted to last. It would in some cases start fading in one year depending on where you stored the original art. Hence, I lost a LOT of original artwork that I had to trash as it was faded and would be hard to sell. Live and learn.

So I started using these Sakura Micron Pens in early 2002 or so and I've been using them ever since. The ink has never failed me nor faded over the years as they have archival ink in them. You can go through them though as keeping the points sharp can be a chore. I use the .005, .01. .02, .03. .05. and .08. I seem to use the .01 for fine work and the .08 for thicker lines most of the time. I use the others accordingly to what I'm doing. If I do a convention and I'm doing sketches there, I use these pens for doing a fast ink job over top of the pencil rough.

From my time at conventions, I found that a lot of artists use them! 

5) PITT BRUSH MARKER - My main inking tool for doing sketches, final art, and larger pieces for the last 22+ years. The ink is solid, archival, and the brush points while delicate leaves a nice strong line. It takes some skill and practice to use it right without destroying it. I usually use the frayed brushes (that are no longer useful for fine inking work) to fill in large solid black areas of a composition as well. 

Sakura, who makes the Micron Pens I talked about, also makes a brush pen called the Sakura Brush Pen! I used to use that brush mostly in the beginning. It has a finer point to it and takes a while longer to master. I'm not sure why I stopped using it and went with the PITT Brush Marker instead. It may have been because I like the shorter brush that the PITT had and it was easier to maneuver around. They are still superb brush markers, but I think my hand has grown too comfortable with the PITT. 

Also, the PITT has an upside that the Sakura Brush Pens don't have. Once they become a bit frayed (and you'll know it when it happens) and don't give you the ink line you want you can take some tweezers and pull out the brush point from the pen tip and flip it around! As you can see from my pics, you have a perfectly good NEW point now to use by simply flipping the brush and sticking it back in. The hard part is leaving the right amount of brush length exposed though. The further out it is, the more control it takes to use. The further you stick it in, the tighter your control will be. 

Another trick is that you can twist the end cap off of the pen (sometimes it's hard to do!) and then drop a few drops of ink in from an eyedropper if the PITT Brush is dying on you. Now the only problem with this is that the ink doesn't match. This can be an issue for some but if you are doing convention sketches or roughs with it, it won't matter. I've not used India Ink in so many years that I can't tell you if it's still any good or not. Most artists I know complain about it being watered down or not black enough. Quality control is lacking with India Ink so you might be able to find something you like. At any rate, this is a good little trick to getting the most from your PITT Brush Marker before you have to throw it out. 

BUY THE STUFF YOU LIKE IN QUANTITY - I only mention this as it's cheaper! If you buy them at three pens at a time, you are spending more money on them in the long run. I go to Dick Blick's Art Supplies on the Internet and buy them by the box. The pens I use come 12 to a box and you can store them away. As you can see from the pics above, I keep extras close at hand on the right side of my light table in the first drawer of my artist's shelf. I lay them out according to size so that I know what I'm reaching for even when I'm not looking. When you have gaps that show up from pens dying out you know which ones to replace and which ones you use the most. You keep a bunch of them in stock so that you can keep working straight through. If you're on a deadline, it takes time out of your day to drive to an art store that carries them and you wind of paying more in some cases. Microns are pricey these days too! Buy them in bulk or if they're on sale. I buy more of the .08 Micron Pens than I do the others as I tend to use them for quite a lot of things like signing books.

6) RULER - My little plastic ruler has been with me for 15 years at least! It was cheap and did the job. It was clear plastic as well so it makes working with easier. The downside is that it had no lip or inking edge to it so if you ran a brush or marker next to it chances are you'd create a smudge when you pulled the ruler away. This happened a lot, so I got the idea of raising it off the paper by taking a piece of thin cardboard and cutting it so that it fit underneath the ruler and left an inking edge on both sides. I added a little piece of tape to hold it into place on either end of the ruler and it was my "go-to" ruler for a decade. They are cheap and easy to replace. I do have two other bigger rulers that I use for doing longer lines naturally, but this little one gets me through all the details! 

7) FRENCH CURVES - Ah, the tool of the Jedi. If you are well trained in using a French curve they will serve you well, young padawan. I have many here of different shapes and sizes but I use basically three different ones. One of them (pictured above) has an inking edge built in. If you can buy them this way, make sure you do. It makes life easier! Otherwise... 

You have this kind of French curve where I had to do the same thing that I did to my ruler and tape some cardboard to the bottom of it to raise it up off the paper. I use the outer edges mostly for bigger, wider curves. It's my second "most used" French curve.

And the third is my little worn and faded French curve. It's been with me now for over 30 years or longer and we've been through many, many jobs over the years together. I got it back when I was in high school when I was taking mechanical drawing. It has never failed me! I've used it so much over the years that it's like a Swiss-pocket knife for me in terms of working. I use a side here and a curve there, and maybe a little piece here and there. Over time, you learn to wield it like a blade and you know how to use it with your pencils and pens. It's why it sits on my table where it does. I haven't bought another one since so I have no idea what these small ones cost nowadays.

This, of course, is all based on my years of doing art and what I feel most comfortable drawing with to get the best results. It's up to you to try and experiment with the many supplies out there to see what works for you! Buy the supplies that feel good in your hand and give you the best results... and then buy a lot of it in case they stop making it!

 

Strawberry Shortcake: Pencil to Final Inks!

Strawberry Shortcake character art I did during the 2009 New Look time period. From pencil art on cheap paper, sent in for approvals, then final inks done on good art paper (via my light table). Not digital, done all by hand at the time. I made small tweaks as I went to refine the line quality. Still have the original art. Enjoy!

 

Cleaning out some of my archives!

Selling remaining out of print copies of my Scooby Mystery Inc book and doing single character sketch requests on the inside. The hardest part? Gently sketching on the inside of the book without damaging the "Gem Mint 10" condition of the book itself! ZOINKS!

 

SCOOBY-DOO: When Simplicity Creates Focus!

Final cover art vs. final printed cover: simplicity creates focus!

When showing the whole Gang in the same shot, you lose a lot of precious real estate for other aspects. Add a monster to the layout and it gets really busy! 

Everything always goes back to Scooby & Shaggy in the end. This is why most of the Scooby covers I did for Capstone Publishing only had Scooby & Shaggy on them.

They had someone at Scholastic go into my layered file and take out Daphne, Velma and Fred. Then they enlarged and moved Shaggy & Scooby over. I wish they had asked me to fix this for them as Shaggy's sleeve is off! You can see the hard cut-off when he originally went off the side of the layout. They added his elbow too, but it looks okay. I never knew about the tweaks until I finally got my complimentary copies.

Overall, it looks better as a cover with just them, but I didn't know how big they were going to make the title or add the bottom flashlight icon. The bonus is that you can see more of my painted backgrounds (which took some time to match the show)! The glossy high-end paper they used darkened the final colors to give it the perfect creepy look!

Anyway, I thought I'd post the full original final art as it was. It still looks pretty cool! I added the Mystery Incorporated show logo to make it look like a poster.

SCOOBY Sketching

Sketching Scooby one evening under the warm soft white bulb above my drawing table creates an added layer of mood and atmosphere! 

Sketched on cheap paper with a black col-erase pencil. I like to add line weight to my sketches (if I have the time) as it makes them "pop" more off the page. Normally, I just draw it flat and do the embellishing when I ink, but when sketching for fun I like to spend more time on it. 

Anyone remember the TV show DINOSAURS?

Anyone remember the prime time TV Show Dinosaurs (1990-1994) from the Jim Henson Company?

This is a sketch of the Baby Dinosaur who basically would steal the show. "Not the Mama!" he would yell as he banged his father, Earl, over the head with a pot or pan or something. The show was a great satire for current events.

I found this black Conté Crayon sketch on newsprint paper I did back in '93 or so in my archive. I had the action figures for the show and I held the Baby Dinosaur figure in one hand as I drew it with the other. It was a fun warm-up sketch before I went to a an evening life drawing class back then.

I liked sketching with a Conté crayon more than working with normal charcoal sticks.

Conté crayon was drawing tool that was composed of compressed graphite (or charcoal) and mixed with a clay base which made it harder and more stable to hold without breaking. It came in long 2" thin rectangle sticks. It was no muss, no fuss in my mind and gave you a slick, smooth result.

To keep your fingers from getting any residue on them, you can wrap some masking tape around the stick where your fingers would hold it. As the stick wears down, you can unwrap some of the tape to expose more of the stick. See all the cool stuff you learn here?

 

Found an old color guide for an Ed, Edd, n Eddy cover!

Found an "old school" color guide from 2003 in my archives! 

I only drew this cover (Cartoon Cartoons #20) and didn't color it. Don't know who did the guide or made the notes on it. When DC Comics mailed me back my original cover art they threw this in the box with it. I kept it all this time though the original art was sold many years ago.

Ye olden times, indeed! Back when you mailed the physical final art to the publisher to scan! A year later, in 2004, you could just scan and upload the art to them directly via FTP. 

 

SEQUENTIAL ART: Ed, Edd, n Eddy in "Where Is My Ed?"

Here's another Ed, Edd, n Eddy comic story for you to read! 

One of my favorites that I drew and it's titled "Where is My Ed?" Never drew a giant clam before, but it was a lot of fun. The original script for the story was titled "Where's my Ed?" which I think works better, but one of those little editorial tweaks made at the end during final approvals before it was sent off to printer.

This story is also the last story I drew for the Eds as Cartoon Network Block Party was ending as a series. I liked the short story format for these characters as they're a quick in-and-out commitment for the artist and a nice change of pace from something else you were working on at the same time.

Towards the end of the CNBP series, one of my contributions to the Eds comics was creating a separate credits box which would be on the title page of each story. The upside down art of the Ed's poking their heads into the panel was modeled and based on the animated show's opening title sequence!

Eagle-eyed readers will also note that the "END" at the end of the story was the same "END" for most of my Cartoon Network comics I did. I added it to the art to show it was the actual end to the story. When you held the original artwork in your hands, it was purely visual with no word balloons and you could get the impression that there might be more to the story.

 

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #44 Cover Art: From Concept to Final Art

Following my recent Looney Tunes post featuring the step-by-step creative process, I thought I'd post a Scooby one! 

Here's the final cover art I did for Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #44. This first image is a scan of the actual printed cover that came out. Some highlights from the paper it was printed on were picked up by the scanner though. I hate that glossy paper. Anyway... 

Here's the original thumbnail that WB chose to go with as a design. I did four designs in all for this cover on 8.5" x 11" paper. Even at this small size this design works in its simplicity and balance. Again I used a 40% Warm Gray marker to make the thumbnail pop. I usually make notes on the sides so that whomever is looking at it will know what I have in mind.

This is a scan of the final art that was done on DC Comics art board. Because I used my light table and inked over top of my rough sketch, the final art is super clean, which makes scanning easy. I didn't show my rough art as it basically looks exactly the same! Again, my stuff is super tight so it does seem like I'm doing the work twice.

 

In the photo below, I'm using a brush with Pro White paint on it to touch up some lines on the art.

 

I inked it during the evening and the soft white bulb above my drawing table added a spooky ambience to the process! I recently had the same experience with a Phineas & Ferb cover that had a spooky feel to it. I used to do a lot of work in the evening as it was quiet and calm. 

  

Then Candace Rock, who was at Heroic Age at the time, did the coloring for it based on the script and any notes I had. Once final approval from DC Comics and WB came through again, it was off to the production department at DC Comics to finalize.

 

Finally, I included this cover version as well as this was the final cover for the digital release of the comic. The nice thing about a digital release is that you lose the UPC box in the corner. 

 

All in all, I like this cover a lot! A great shot of Scooby and the Gang with an air of mystery to it!