Heeyoung Kim's favorite art supplies for botanical art

 Art materials are complicated and confusing especially to those who just start a new painting/drawing adventure. To help you make  the exciting start a pleasant experience, I would like to share my materials with my personal tips. Items I am introducing here are purely based on my own experiences. Links are for references. 

Drawing Materials

My all time favorite pencils are Caran d'Ache Grafwood Pencil. Most of the works of my drawings are done with these. To try out, buying a set is easy, but you can choose the various numbers pencils individually. I mostly use #4H, 3H, 2H, H, F, HB, 2B and 3B. This brand is pricy compared with other pencils, but the lead quality is exceptional. One problem of this pencil is sharpening, because they much thicker than all other brands, both graphite and the wooden pencil body. When they are properly sharpened with some extra effort, the thick graphite/lead is very useful to cover fairly large area quickly. When you like to use very soft and black lead, you can get it up to 9B. Hard ones are very hard, but clean and non-scratchy, and soft ones are smooth like chocolate:).  Most small hand-held sharpners do not fit to this at all. The electronic pencil sharpner shown below is very useful for all sizes of pencils, and good to have one in studio. Or, the pencil sharpener made by the same company, Caran d’Ache works well. Also, it is handy when you learn how to sharpen it manually with a knife.  Faber-Castell Dust Free Vinyl Eraser is the best eraser ever (well, to me)! There are colored ones, too, but I prefer white ones, because they are much softer, so you can minimize the damages on the paper surface. When you use B pencils (soft ones), and try to erase, you will see black graphite smudges all over the paper and eraser. It is not because of the quality of eraser, instead it is due to the soft graphite. So, do not blame your eraser for that! Use kneaded eraser for B or softer pencil works. They pick up soft graphite dust better. 

Papers are very important. For the best results, you need to start with the right one. Here are some materials I use.

Initial drawing and layout paper

 I use Bienfang 360 Graphic Marker instead of regular tracing paper, because it is 100% cotton, archival and thin enough to trace, yet extremely sturdy. It takes graphite, ink, and a little bit of watercolor application for color notes/study. You can make your own tracing/graphite paper with this paper, with which I can trace better than any other methods I have tried. It comes out various sizes, 9x12", 11x14", 14x17", 19x24" and roll. Select the right size.  The roll is thinner than the pad and you can see through better.

Watercolor paper (also for graphite pencil drawing)

I had to change the whole recommendations in this section since the change of Fabriano, as you all know about it, perhaps. As of today, June 25, 2021, I found Winsor and Newton watercolor paper has changed the hot pressed paper, too. So, I have to go through more thorough tests wit Winsor and Newton paper now. Information below will be edited after my new evaluation. So, I restrain my recommendation for Winsor and Newton paper until I am satisfied with more test results by myself.

Since the change of Fabriano Artisco, Hot Pressed, watercolor, but I went through my own paper surface test, and ended up with Winsor&Newton hot pressed paper. I often paint fairly large scale that needs washes on large area, and many layers. This paper is sturdy, and best part of it is "not getting linty". I recently used Arches and Winsor&Newton at the same time with pretty serious level of details and lots of layers and liftings. Both papers held all the abuses pretty well. However, I prefer W&N, though. The surface of  W&N is much rougher/textured than other hot pressed paper, but I didn't have any issue in keeping the edge and details sharp. I recommend this one especially to those who heavy handed :) and need a lot of lifting and fixing. I would like to write more about this in my blog, after my student show is mounted, maybe mid November. :)

I order them through Ken Bromley from UK. Here is the website. https://www.artsupplies.co.uk/item-winsor-&-newton-professional-watercolour-paper.htm  Shipping from UK is expensive, but tax deduction compensates shipping fee. So, it is not too bad, and their packing is very reliable. So, I order my paper from them. 

I use watermarked side with 300 lb. 

Pads, blocks, or single sheets? The paper maker says sheets and blocks are of the same quality, but I personally feel that sheets are better in quality (I might be wrong about this, but I think so.). I always use sheets. When you buy several sheets and cut them into suitable sizes, costs are pretty much the same. 

Brushes

The most critical tool for artists! I would say a brush is an extension of the artist's hand. It is completely personal and extremely sensitive. I know you experienced that some brushes other artists or instructors recommended never worked well for you. I think your technique and the way you use them will tell you what kind of brushes you should choose. If you think you are heavy handed and like to work with big strokes with loaded paints, synthetic brushes will be fine, because you are not going to take advantage of the merits of the expensive sable brushes. However, when you like to work with details and fine linear strokes, or like to add many layers to build up intense colors, or actually feel the most sensitive performance of the brush hairs, sable brushes will give you better painting results and protect paper surface better.

My all time favorite brushes are Winsor&Newton Kolinsky Sable Series 7, both Miniature and Round Tip. As a starter, I can recommend a set of 4 round tip brushes, #0, 1, 2, 3 (the first image below). I recommend this set, because you often find a good deal from Ken Bromley. But, these round tip brushes are long and harder to control for detailed works.  For botanical artists I recommend to choose  Miniatures (#4, #3, #1, #0). For extremely fine details, Miniature #000, or 00 will be good, but if these are too small for you depending on eyesight and hand stability, #0 might be better option. Miniature #4 is my favorite among the favorites. It is big enough to cover fairly large area, but had good tip to work on details, and very easy to control. You can buy individual brushes through Jerry's Artarama, Blick, or some other online art supply stores, too. Compare prices at these sites, as you will find different prices for the same products. When brush tips are worn out, do not throw away! You will find them very useful for some techniques such as creating texture or lifting. 

Lifting brush. I have to confess that this brush makes my painting process whole lot easier. Da Vinci Series 5880 Cosmotop Spin (the second image below).  I call this a Magic Brush! Believe it or not, it lifts so well. I think the density and stiffness of hair are perfect for lifting. I use #2, 6 and 10 depending on the size of lifting area. When you click the title of the brush at Amazon.com, you will be able to see various sizes of the brushes. Dick Blick stores carry this brand, too.  One more brush type I use is Filbert by Princeton Velvetouch, #0, 4 and 6 for adding water and softening lines, etc.

Paints.  

This world is full of wonderful colors. I wouldn't let "Limited palette" limit my artistic creativity :)  Some colors are impossible to mix. I need that tube.  

However, it is a good idea when we start with some basic paints in the beginning while you learn colors and mixing, then add more colors when we work on specific painting projects. I use various brands: Winsor and Newton (WN), Daniel Smith (DS), Holbein (H), Schmincke (SCH) and M. Graham (MG). In my opinion, colors from various brand tubes with same names and pigment numbers are not the same. So, you need to study and test all the colors you have in your palette by trying them on paper one by one, and by mixing them with other colors. I try to use only transparent or semi-transparent colors, and I do not use Cadmium colors and white. 

Here are some basic colors I use. Each primary group includes warm, medium and cool colors. Blue ( French Ultra Marine-WN, Winsor Blue Green Shade-WN, Cerulean Blue-WN, Cerulean Blue Tone-Sch, Indanthrine Blue - WN), Yellow ( Pure Yellow-Sch, Lemon Yellow-DS, Indian yellow- WN), Red Permanent Rose-WN, Permanent Alizarin Crimson-WN, Napthol Red-MG, Quinacridone Pink-DS, Permanent Carmine-WN, Magenta-WN, Brilliant Pink- H) or Opera Rose-WN, Others (Raw Sienna-WN, Quinacridone Sienna-DS, Quinacridone Burnt Orange-DS, Perylene Violet-WN) 

One important advice: Go to the paint producer's website and read through the resource pages, and see if the paint you like to buy is transparent or not, and the degree of light fastness test. 

You can order them through Dick Blick website or sometimes you can find better price through Amazon. Daniel Smith sells sample colors, so you can try before buy the tubs. 

Materials for Pen-and-Ink:

Ink -  Winsor and Newton “Black Indian Ink” (with a spider man graphic on the package). This ink is shiny, truly black, and waterproof. Do not buy ‘calligraphy ink’ which is not waterproof (thiner and not water-proof). http://www.dickblick.com/items/21117-2000/

Ink Bottle: Get a glass jar with a wide opening: A clean empty glass Facial Cream jar works well. Why do I need this extra ink bottle? The original ink bottle has a narrow opening, and the pen and holder can easily get dirty with ink.

Pen nibs & pen holders:
Pen nibs: Tachikawa Comic Pen Nib - Maru Pen: Very small and hard mapping pen nib. School Pen: Larger than Maru pen and very versatile. You can draw almost the whole illustration with this nib. https://www.jetpens.com/Comic-Manga-Nibs/ct/2475.

Pen nib holder: For both types of the pen nib above mentioned, I recommend to buy a nib holder from the same brand, Tachikawa. Many companies copy the same design, but often they don’t fit perfectly. https://www.jetpens.com/search?q=pen+nib+holder&v=2

Paper for ink work: 2 pieces (one for final work and another for practice), 140 lb (2-ply) or heavier, 11x14” or student’s choice 

Strathmore Bristol Board, 500 Series, Plate finished. Make sure to buy Plate finished! ( No vellum! - “vellum” sounds smooth, but it has sandpaper-like surface and cannot be used for ink with pen nibs). This is traditional paper dimension, https://www.dickblick.com/products/strathmore-500-series-bristol-pads/?fromSearch=%2Fsearch%2F%3Fq%3Dstrath%2520more%2520500%2520series%2520Bristol%2520borad. This one is the same paper quality but comes in a longer dimension, sequential board. Choose 500 series, Plate Finished, https://www.dickblick.com/products/strathmore-sequential-bristol-board/ Of course, you can buy sheets and cut them into your favorite sizes. When you buy sheets, there are various thicknesses you can choose from. You can either Buy single sheets in desirable size and weight, and cut them. (Recommended for those who wants to buy just one piece of paper and try, or for those who want to try larger drawings in the future, or buy a pad.

Lamp

: Daylight, long neck and almost like natural light. I recently upgraded my lamp which I used more than 15 years from Daylight Company (the one I had in this page for long). Recently when I tried to change the bulb, I found that lamp was discontinued. But they have much better one now. Nowadays everyone takes photos to post images in social medias and need a good lighting system. For those who paint at large scale, a long lamp might be helpful to light up the painting evenly. There are two options I can recommend: Lumi and Luminos. You can see them here, https://daylightcompany.com/us/table-lamps/ When you don’t paint larges pieces, Lumi should be more than enough. I use full size sheets, 22 x 30” very often and need larger and longer one, and Luminos is a fantastic choice for me. Now, the price is steep. Well, that is an issue. So, I dug up a little further to see if there is any outlet I can buy it at lower price. There sure is one: https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/tn/?searchterm=U35600&hdrsrh=true&rd=k This website has Luminos, the larger one, but I didn’t see the small one, Lumi. If you need it, I recommend you to do a little more researches.

Attention: This long lamp is for the working area. It is not the ideal one to light your botanical specimens, because it will not give you one narrow point light source. I mean it lights up everywhere and you will not have an ideal lighting situation for the specimen. I use a small lamp or natural light for the ideal light on the specimen.

Floorstand recommended for optimal adjustment. Attention: Cover the lens part from sun while not using, because all magnifying lenses can cause fire with strong sunshine. Also, handle the neck of the lamp very carefully because it is heavy and your finger can be squeezed in between the two metal parts. I know this lamp with floor stand is expensive, but it is a long term investment for those who want a good lamp. I have been using this for 7 years, and it is my treasure. In USA, Menard has a similar lamp, which is not technically daylight lamp, but it is pretty good under $50. 

Miscellaneous items.

Let's number images below from 1 to 15 from top left. 1. Palette. It has 40 wells. The arrangement of this one is particularly appealing, because I can use or mix the color right next to the well. 2. Well. good for wash. useful to keep paint from dust as it comes with lid. If you prefer small one, #3 will be good. #4 is plastic, but it is handy as it fits in #1 palette, and easy to travel for taking to classes. 5. Brushbox, This is a must for sable brush users. All other types of brush holders do not protect sensitive hair of the brush perfectly. Considering the prices of brushes, you'd better treat them nicely :) 6. Frog pin holder. You can use just regular bottle or vase, but with these, you can arrange your specimen as you like. # 7 is large and heavy, so you can arrange a bigger and heavier specimens. 8. Emory Board, yes the one for nails. This is much more refine, and easy to get and use for making pencil tip really pointed. 9. Artist Tape. Using acid free tape is very important for conservation of your artworks. 10. spray that you can moisturize paint in your palette. 11. knife Olfa snap blade utility knife, small. (not the thick heavy-duty one) See here, https://www.amazon.com/OLFA-9150US-Stainless-Auto-Lock-Graphics/dp/B000BKA6IA?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER 12 divide: This one is fairly large and simple wood sticks, but I like this one, because other metal ones have very pointed needles that are pretty hazardous. This is very useful to those who like to work on enlarged scale. 13 ruler are for measuring specimens. 14. magnifying lense. It is not easy to find a good one at stores. Usually they are too small or not very appropriate for paining. I personally find this hand-held one works best for me. I bet you will love the large one- 5". 15. table-top easel. This is recommended for those who work on large pieces. Very sturdy and adjustable. It serves all my needs. 

The items list below are only for references. I do not have any affiliation with the products. I just show the links to help those who want to try art supplies I usually use.