my accomplices in art

There are materials that all people that work in art and design could live without. Some they buy to experiment a little, some they buy because they'd ran out of their favourites. There are however materials, objects and small things that most wouldn't notice but are personally crucial to each individual artist. The things that they are never seen without, the things that they get a bit panicky if they run out of, and those that can always be found on their desk, that help them with their work and spur them on to create more. These are my little artist accomplices.

I'm a watercolour addict. This set by Windsor and Newton are the love of my life. Messy perhaps but each little muddy dried up puddle is a colour i need and i couldn't even think about cleaning them. Even the colours muddying up the different blocks of watercolour are needed.

The tubes are for when i like to use my watercolours a bit thicker and play about with them on the paper. These are just cheap ones from who knows where. They're more used for their bulk rather than their quality. I sometimes also add in a naughty splodge of white acrylic. White is mainly the colour i use for bulk and dab in other colours from there. I don't really use watercolours in the traditional sense but who says there's rules anyway.

All of my work is coloured on paper with paint with added coloured pen and pencil. I really like mixing materials and working on the spur of the moment. If i'm craving some pencil lines in the paint i'll grab the nearest pencil and work into it while it's still wet. I like to work quickly and more recently have turned back to focusing on colour and expressive use of paint in my work.

When it comes to paint brushes i use quite a variety but mainly stick to very small brushes. I use white nylon brushes when working with masking fluid as i tend to find them easier to clean. I don't stick to a specific brand but tend to go for the feel and shape of the brush in my hand. I can sort of tell how it's going to take the paint, if it's going to split easily and how it'll handle on the paper. Most material picking is by instinct rather than going by advertising. The pencil is in there are he's a pencil that likes to get a bit mucky in the paint. I use him in when it's still wet so he lives with the brush family. Also there's a funny little stick in there that is actually a broken cat toy. It has rubber ends and is great for working the paint about.
I love paperclips. I use them a lot in my sketchbooks which i also use as scrapbooks. I keep some on me at all times incase i find something that i want to keep and pop it in my sketchbook.

I've tried many sketchbooks but at the moment these ones are my favourite.  I have two, one is for lists though as i do love a good list. The one on top is my current sketchbook. They are from www.katynjune.co.uk who sell other lovely desk items and stationary too. The paper is squared, and i much prefer this for a sketchbook as it takes away the scariness of blank pages and is more relaxing to draw in.

My paper of choice is Daler Rowney Heavy Weight. I like thickness of the paper and it takes watercolour quite well as long as it's not too thick. It mainly works best with my pens and scans nicely too. The other sketchbook there is The Langton Rough Grain Torchon watercolour paper. This is just nice for experimenting in and trying out colours. It's a bit rough for regular use.

My pens are my children. I love them. I'm interested in adopting some different brands soon but these have always been my favourite. In the top right you can see the nibs. My preferred nib size is 0.03mm and 0.05mm. I use Copic Multiliner SP's and Staedtler pigment liner. I don't go above those sizes on any work. I use technical pencils in too, the smaller the size the better.  The one shown is a Staedtler Mars micro. I've also included my Pentel water pen which is great for portability.  My coloured pens and pencils live in two old boxes my grandad gave me which can be seen in the photo at the beginning of this post.  I use Faber-Castell Colour Grip and Staedtler ergosoft.  Really lovely smooth colouring pencils to use. My pens are Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen, Staedtler triplus fineliner, Copic sketch and Stabilo point 88. I mainly use both coloured pens and pencil for small details.

Finally my desk wouldn't be complete without my little family.  For those of you who don't know, i collect old photographs which i've found on ebay or in charity shops and car boot sales.  I do this as i find is utterly heart wrenching that these once loved and cherished photos have been lost and forgotten. I therefore collect them and display as many as i can in order to remember them again as if they were my own family. I get a lot back from this as due to having had them for so long and displaying them for so long, they do feel like family to me and my desk wouldn't be complete without them. In the first photograph i have my group of ladies posing outside a hall and a young woman smoking. These are from a collection of photographs that spanned from the Victorian times all the way into the 1970s. It was such a large collection and such a loss that it means a lot to me to now look after. Part of that collection was also this little dog. Then in the bottom photo we have my sailor, a woman with a baby and my family. They sit and watch me draw and are a great inspiration. I got chatting to a medium at my work once and we got onto the subject of my collection. She told me that all the people in the photos will be so happy and grateful that i was looking after them and that one day i'll meet them all on the other side. I told her that was going to be quite a crowd!