TOOLS
Here you'll find the analog and digital tools I currently use for my work.
The best art supplies need not be costly, but they should be well-made, feel good in your hands, and be aesthetically pleasing. A good pencil that doesn't merely just work, but makes you excited to work, is a draftsman's Excalibur.
SKETCH BOOKS
Leuchtturm1917 - 120G Medium A5 Hardcover Notebook
My current main sketchbook. Wonderfully smooth paper, with just a hint of texture to keep things interesting. Paper is just very faintly off-white, but not yellowed as much as a Moleskine. Excellent travel size while still allowing for detailed drawing. Pencils are carried in a leather Quiver Pen Holder. My previous sketchbook was the Leuchtturn1917 A5 Sketchbook which has thicker paper, but rougher texture that I wasn't a huge fan of.
Leuchtturm1917 - Medium A5 Hardcover Red Dot-Grid Notebook
My favorite for rough ink sketches and written story notes. The paper isn't as "gallery quality" thick as the Hardcover Sketchbook, so I use it for really lose, sloppy visual mindquesting. The subtle dot grid is great for more graphic design-oriented sketching or practicing hand-lettering.
Leuchtturm1917 - Pocket A6 Hardcover Notebook- Dotted ◈ JetPens.com
Similar to the one above, just in pocket size and with a gray dot-grid instead of red. I take this with me EVERYWHERE; the gym, church, restaurants, anywhere. It's small enough to be discrete for any social situation. I carry a Horizon Helvetica Key protractor on it.
Oasis Notebook - Small A6
My planner and journal. I'm extremely forgetful, so daily journaling and to-do lists are essential for me to function. The Oasis has a subtle lined grid, but it's faint enough to give you the blank-page freedom for visual sketch-notes. Marvelously smooth paper. Opens perfectly flat.
PENS
Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pens .38mm ◈ JetPens.com
My main inkstick. I use it for everything, whether it's journaling, notes, or sketching. Not the most handsome pen in my collection, but its line quality is unbelievable for its low price. I have seen some people inserting the Signo .38mm refills into other high-quality pen bodies for improved ergonomics and aesthetic. I intend to try this out myself, and will update this category if I find a good pen body for it.
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen ◈ JetPens.com
Everyone needs one in their field sketch kit. Takes a bit of getting used to, but with a few subtle movements it produces truly remarkable line variation and texture. Try dabbing the brushtip in a bit of water for some really interesting inkwash effects.
Pentel Fudemoji Double-sided Pen ◈ JetPens.com
If I could use only one pen for drawing, it would be this one. Excellent fine tip for line details, and a really smooth large-size brush nib for filling in thick Mignola-styled shadows. Easily the best double-sided pen I've ever used.
PENCILS
rOtring rapid pro 0.5 ◈ JetPens.com
My personal Excalibur of sketching pencils. Solid metal construction, splendidly balanced weight. I've never once had lead break while using this, and I'm usually drawing with really fragile 4B graphite. Previously the Zebra DelGuard LX was my main mechanical pencil. I still use it in .3mm if I need to make exceptionally small lines.
Staedtler 925-35 - 2mm ◈ JetPens.com
An exquisite piece of German engineering and Japanese manufacturing. I use this when I need the thickness of wooden pencil lead without the hassle of sharpening and wood shavings. With its matte black metal body, knurled grip, and aggressive click, the Staedtler is like if a Remmington shotgun were a mechanical pencil.
rOtring 300 - 2mm ◈ JetPens.com
If the Staedtler is the katana of my lead-holders, the rOtring 300 is my wakizashi. Extremely tough. I use it as my backup lead holder with 4H/2H lead for lighter underdrawings and shading. Also has a secret lead sharpener hidden in its button cap.
PENCIL ACCESSORIES
Campus 2B eraser ◈ JetPens.com
This thing erases everything in sight. It's advertised as being mainly for erasing 2B, but it does a great job of making even dark 4B pencil marks vanish. Eraser shavings clump together for easy cleanup
Mitsubishi Uni 2mm Lead Sharpener ◈ JetPens.com
Not a cigarette lighter! Gets a really nice needle-sharp point for your 2mm leads. Super small, has an internal compartment for holding graphite shavings.
Tombow Mono Zero Click-erasers - Round + Squared ◈ JetPens.com
Fantastic for those more detailed erasing jobs. Can't decide which one I like more so I carry both daily.
Mitsubishi Hi-Uni Mechanical pencil Lead ◈ JetPens.com
Darker and smoother than most other leads. Blends well and erases very clean. I love how the container design hasn't changed since the 90s. I usually use .3mm or .5mm in whatever the darkest grade is available.
Mitsubishi Uni 2mm lead ◈ JetPens.com
Similar to the mechanical lead, this stuff is darker and smoother than most other brands. These come with a rubber stopper at the end so the leads don't slide out of clutch-mechanism holders (like the rOtring 300), but you'll want to remove it before feeding it into a click-mechanism pencil such as the Staedtler.
LEARNING MATERIALS
HOW TO THINK WHEN YOU DRAW - My favorite all-around source for how to draw anything and everything. The Etherington Bros put most of the tutorials are available online for free, but if you’re like me and prefer the physical books sign up for their newsletter to grab the next Kickstarter print run.
INVISIBLE INK - If there’s one book you get on how to write good stories, make it this one. Brian is a story consultant for Pixar and dissects why your favorite films and books make us feel the way we do, and how to achieve that in your own work. Really easy read. If you're not sold, listen to some of his Youtube episodes about storycraft.
PERSPECTIVE! FOR COMIC BOOK ARTISTS - The only book on perspective I own, and probably the only one I’ll ever need. Makes a lot of complicated stuff really easy and fun to understand.
COMICS & SEQUENTIAL ART - By the master Will Eisner himself. Also takes the seemingly complicated math of sequential storytelling and breaks it down into easily understood bites anyone can learn from.
HELLBOY COMICS - Anytime I’m stuck on how to handle a certain comic page, I just open up anything by Mike Mignola. Learn from the masters! I linked to the 2nd volume in the omnibus series because it's my favorite, but you can't go wrong with any of them.
SOFTWARE
CLIP STUDIO PAINT EX - The program I do all of my digital drawing in. Great for illustrators, essential for comic artists. Its file management system for keeping track of huge numbers of comic pages has saved me hundreds of work hours.
BLAMBOT FONTS - My favorite source for fonts. I mainly use "Might Makes Right BB" for my comic dialog font.
FRENDEN’S CLIP STUDIO BRUSHES - I used to love making my own custom brushes, but it got so time-consuming. Thankfully Frenden made a few hundred of them. Future updates are included for free. I use the "Ran's Axe" brush for everything.
QUICKBOOKS SELF-EMPLOYED - A lifesaver for freelancers or self-employed creators of any income level. Makes it easy to categorize your tax-deductible business expenses and track your budget.
HARDWARE
Logitech C920x HD Pro Webcam + LitraGlow Light - Does everything you need a webcam and soft light to do. I have been told by very many people I look exquisite on livestream, so I believe this setup is suitable for most.
Clip Studio Tabmate - A Bluetooth controller specifically made for Clip Studio Paint. Within a day of use it felt like second nature despite the tons of commands it can use with so few buttons. If you feel strain after using keyboard hotkeys while drawing for hours, consider giving one of these a try.
Wacom Stylus Ergo+ Grip - If you've got any kind of wrist injury or repetitive-stress/tendonitis that inhibits your drawing, these things are great. Also just really comfortable to draw with.
Wacom Cintiq 22HD (DTK2200 Model) - What I draw on digitally. Most people don’t need a display this huge, but I have some old arm injuries that flare up if I draw too small or too tight. Working on a large surface helps me stay looser. Got my Cintiq in 2017 and it still runs perfectly.
Ergotron - LX Premium Single Monitor Arm - I have my Cintiq mounted on this. Another really useful aid if you have wrist/arm injuries that need extra ergonomic help while drawing. This thing is TOUGH. Doesn’t wobble when I draw on it, even with my huge heavy tablet.
Audio-Technica ATH-M40x Headphones - Closed-back headphones with excellent noise isolation. Unfortunately they've doubled in price since I bought mine, but you can find refurb/used pairs pretty easily.
Massdrop X Sennheiser HD 58X Jubilee Headphones - Open-back headphones with superb sound, while letting you be able to hear what's going on around you.
Blue Yeti Condenser USB Microphone - The mic I use for all my voice/video media. Excellent sound quality, and I like the classic Atomic Era design. If you're on a tight budget, try the Blue Snowball Mic which is also pretty great.
WORKSTATION SPECS
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450 AORUS M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory
Boot/Main Drive: SAMSUNG 980 1TB NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
Media Drive: SAMSUNG 990 2TB NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive + Heatsink
Media Backup Drive: Seagate FireCuda 2 TB 2.5" 5400RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6 GB Phoenix Fan Video Card
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA GD (2019) 700 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply
Case Fan: Arctic P12 PST 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack
Monitor: Asus ProArt Display PA278QV 27.0" 2560x1440 75 Hz Monitor