Expensive Art Supplies: Better? Orrrr...

Fineliners! Paintbrushes! Pigments! Canvases! What are the BEST ones, what do I buy?

A little while back I went on a bit of a ramble about how your choice of digital art program, when you’re just starting out, does matter and can make a difference in being able to practice the skills that you need. I’ll link that here, but in short it’s because super advanced art programs can be confusing and can get in the way of your practice. So while your choice of tool can matter digitally, if you’re working traditionally, it’s the opposite: it basically doesn’t matter what kind of tools and supplies you use. So go cheap!

There are three main reasons for this. The first is probably the one you’ve heard: “it’s the artist, not the tools”. I don’t really like that saying because it can throw beginners off, especially those trying a digital workflow first. But let’s be real: drawing on paper, you don’t need much of anything. It doesn’t even have to be paper, you can draw with chalk on the sidewalk or in the sand on the beach. They all flex those same muscles and train you for the same kind of skills. Both a beginner and a skilled artist can draw with a pencil and get a lot out of it.

But that’s my least favorite reason – it doesn’t really help YOU improve. The next reason is that if you’re using cheap supplies, there’s less pressure to “perform”. It does. Not. Matter. If you make a ton of mistakes on cheap paper, with cheap pens, cheap pencils, cheap anything. So there’s no roadblock! But as soon as you start with something even slightly nicer, you’ll automatically want to be more cautious about it. I’ve talked about this with sketchbooks in the past, but it applies to every other kind of art supply too. Art supplies are consumable. You can start with the cheap stuff and when you run out? Then you can think about whether you want to move up in quality. But you might still like drawing with cheap supplies! I sure do.

And if you did draw something nice on cheap paper and want to improve it? Trace it onto something fancier, or snap a photo and work on it more digitally. You can always move around. You never have to start on the good stuff. I can already hear your thoughts: “but maybe I’ll try out this nice pen anyway–” NO. “but it looks nice, I still wanna–” DON’T! I’ve had those same thoughts when I was starting out. You really don’t need to buy the fancy stuff.

All right, the third reason: sometimes the cheap stuff is just… better. Like, what the heck. I’ve tried some really fancy paper and super nice pens and pencils. And they’re cool for a moment, but after a while you realize that maybe the pen isn’t comfortable, or that the paper you’re using doesn’t let you get the kind of shading you want, or that those fancy markers you got just dry out really quickly and are a pain to maintain. Meanwhile your cheap colored pencils and that stack of paper you grabbed out of the printer are working fine and are fun to draw with.

The other thing with cheap supplies is that they’re often pretty popular. They get popular because they’re fun to use, or people recommend them as a nice starter supply and then just keep using them! And the nice thing about popular supplies is that they’re easy to find when you need more. You don’t have to hunt for specialty art shops for your favorite kind of ink or sketchbook, you can just grab it when you see it. Popular supplies will have people talking about them too, and when you find art videos, courses, and tips for working with certain mediums, you’ll find that they’re often using cheap stuff. Heck, some of the art courses I’ve looked at will put together a supply list, but tell you that if you have similar supplies at home, use those first!

Now, just because I’m telling you to use the cheap stuff doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to use fancier things too. If you found a pencil or kind of sketchpad that you really like, and you’re having fun with it, that’s great, you’re allowed! That’s a key thing here: fun. If you’re not having fun with your art, you’ll be less motivated to do more of it. I’ll tell you one of my own personal counterexamples to this “cheap” rule: I’ve got this super chonky pencil called a “lead holder” that takes 5.6mm lead. It’s THICK lead. It’s hard to find, and definitely not something I’d call “cheap”. But I love to do my traditional exercises with it. It fits my hand well. It’s heavy. It’s small. It makes really thick marks. It needs to be held in a certain way to use it, but it’s a way that I like. Would everyone like it? Probably not. Do I? Hell yes. I have a lot of fun with it and always look forward to drawing with it. I might talk about that one in another video someday. But on the other end? I also have a cheap brush pen. I like that one because it’s easy to find refills, it’s no big deal if I lose it and need another, and it’s nice thick blotchy ink. I’ll talk about that one in another video too – today’s not about me recommending certain art products though.

Remember: you can always try the fancier things later. Art supplies are consumable, and what’s most important to you right now is practice, not getting stuck deciding what kind of pencils or brushes you’re going to buy. Once you build up your confidence and skills, you can start to try more kinds: they’ll always be there. And you might find that you like to stick with the cheap stuff anyway! So stop worrying about what you’ve got, and spend some time drawing on whatever you’ve have now. Get some practice in and make fun things. See ya next time!