Gray scale
Graphite Pencil Graphite stick used to create gray-scale art. Good for creating value drawings in addition to finished drawings. Capable of creating a great range from soft gray to dark black. And more importantly, you can erase your mistakes. “Superman isn’t afraid of it.” -Andhi Spath “It’s our familiar fallback, after being beat up by carbon dust and watercolor paint.” -Jody Marx Carbon Dust Carbon powder used to create gray-scale art. Good for creating varied textures. Applied to paper or drafting film using soft brushes, sponges, and directly from a stick. “I love carbon dust, but it's a cruel mistress. You have to be unbelievably fastidious, with your work, otherwise it will get absolutely everywhere. But the finished effect can be stunning.” - EJ Landsman Pen and Ink Ink through some type of pen: technical pen that holds the ink, crow quill pen that is dipped in the ink. Mimics gray-scale using a variety of techniques such as stipple (dots) and hatching (lines). “If you’re afraid of getting darks in your color, ink is the best place to work. Immersion therapy. It’s amazing how little lines and dots can make such a dimensional image.” -Angela Boyle |
Color
Watercolor Paint Water-soluble pigment used to create subtle color images. Good for botanical art and other translucent images. Though there is a wide variety of colors available, a small range of colors can be blended to create a wide color palette. “LOVE watercolor... Watercolor offers a lot of variety because you can get both wet and dry effects, and won- derful things happen with successive washes of paint.” -Nora Sherwood Colored Pencil Wax and pigment applied from a stick in tiny lines to create blended colors. Allows for incredible detail. Though colors are limited, they can be blended through layering the application of the colors. “Colored pencils require a lot of patience but are great for building up different types of textures.” - Alyssa Suzumura Gouache Opaque water-soluble pigments very similar to watercolor. “I love gouache because it's so versatile. The opacity and color intensity makes it great on most surfaces.” - Andhi Spath Acrylic Paint Pigment in a plastic, wet medium. Forgiving because the opacity allows you to paint over any mistakes. |
Drawing Surfaces
Bristol Paper Thick paper best for dry mediums such as graphite, color pencil, and ink. Plate bristol paper Very smooth Bristol paper best for ink. “The smoothness of plate Bristol is soothing.” -Angela Boyle Vellum bristol paper Lightly textured Bristol paper best for graphite and color pencil. The texture provides more surface for the media to grab the paper. Watercolor Paper Thick paper intended for wet media, mainly watercolor paints. Hot-pressed watercolor paper Smooth watercolor paper best suited for detailed watercolor or mixed media with ink and watercolor. Also good for colored pencil. Cold-pressed watercolor paper Textured watercolor paper best suited for rougher images, such as landscape, or less detailed images. “I find cold press yields stronger colors in general!” -EJ Landsman Illustration Board Fine paper mounted on stiff backing. Good for most media. Drafting Board Polyester-based film with a matte, translucent drawing surface. The matte surface can be on one or both sides. Good for colored pencil, ink, or plastic media such as acrylic. “I love the translucency. It allows you continuously to change the background according to your mood. As well as use it similar to tracing paper, no transferring needed!” -Kami Koyamatsu Stipple Paper Highly textured paper that simulates the stipple technique used in ink but in graphite. Also called coquille paper. Scratchboard Black ink applied to a white surface such as a plastic covered paper or a clay-covered board. The ink is scratched off to create a white image on a black background. Allows fine detail or broad graphics. Vellum Plasticized cotton, it is smooth and durable. It works with ink and graphite. Similar to drafting film. It is easier on your tools, but less durable. |
Computer Programs
Adobe Photoshop For manipulating and creating images. You can do a lot of modifications such as hue, saturation, merging images, and so on. Adobe Indesign For laying out images. Useful for creating that layout for both books and posters. Adobe Illustrator For creating vector images. You can change the size of vector images to no end because the lines are calculated. |
The work presented in this anthology is copyrighted by the authors. All rights reserved.