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I love experimenting with new mediums in my art journey — and over the years, I’ve discovered some unusual supplies that have become inspiring staples in my art tool kit. Here are some of my favorites:
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Granulating Watercolors
These unique granulating paints create an unpredictable, galaxy-like effect in your watercolor illustrations that I never get tired of experimenting with. They’re also great for hand lettering effects, mesmerizing backgrounds, and adding texture to normal watercolor paintings.
Kuretake Gansai Tambi Sumi Watercolors
Another product I love from Kuretake is their much more muted Sumi palette. These gansai paints are my go-to when I want to add a little moody shading to my sketches without getting too complicated with color. Plus, the depth of value you can achieve with these makes for stunning contrast with your lighter, delicate shading.
Apparently they’ve been around forever, but when I discovered these simple pencil extenders they changed my life. No more wasting the nubs of your pencils because they’re too stubby to work with — just pop them into an extender and you can use every bit as if it’s still full sized. This has especially come in handy for my more expensive, lightfast colored pencils.
Caran D’ache Luminance Colored Pencils
Speaking of colored pencils — I recently upgraded to the Caran D’ache Luminance pencils for artist-grade, lightfast color for my pieces. At first the price tag made me nervous, but once I tried them I immediately noticed a HUGE difference in color payoff and quality. Plus, the wood handles and beautiful colors make them gorgeous to look at and use.
Ceramic palettes are a game changer for artists because they’re so easy to clean (even stubborn dried acrylic paints wash right off) and give you a pure, white surface to see your color mixes clearly. I personally have 2 of these flower shaped ones and find they give me the perfect amount of mixing space, look beautiful on my desk, and don’t take up too much room.
What are some of your favorite art supplies right now? I’d love to hear what’s inspiring you!
