Tools of the trade

[N D Hill]

Hey

I know that virtually everyone here works with graphite at least some of the time. Some of you are exceptionally good with it. So I was wondering what kind of leads and paper you all think are the best. Personally, I'd like to try something new from what I've been using once in a while.

Pencil

Steadtler Mars 2mm Lead holder with Steadtler Mars HB 2mm leads and Turquoise Eagle 4h 2mm leads.

Paper

Strathmore medium surface, heavy weight, acid free. (good for markers or charcoal too, btw)

Also, I was wondering if anyone here could recomend a good pen for line drawing. I've been using Pilot Gel Ink pens but those tend to have a wierd flow and feel very course against the paper, like your going to punch through as your bearing becomes more perpendicular.

[Shaggy__311]

Micron makes a great inking pen there about 3 bucks, or like 12 for the set of 6. but there the best i have found yet for inking.

[gekitsu]

hey exo :)

for leads, i'm all faber-castell but not because of quality but because i can't get anything else around here. the material seems to be quite good and i am used to it and their graduations of soft/hardness.

my weapons of choice:
technical pencil; cal 0.5mm; 3h ammunition
technical pencil; cal 0.5mm; b ammunition
wooden pencil; hb
wooden pencil; 2b
wooden pencil; 5b
all brands faber-castell (except one tech pencil which is made out of steel and is a f*ing pleasure to hold in the hands)

for general sketching, i like the .5mm b pencil: it's hard enough to make detailed thin lines without the mascara-effect of softer leads but is soft enough to darken to a satisfying degree. tech pencil because i don't have to sharpen them (disturbs flow of work)

the 3h is mainly for detail work or next to invisible preliminary sketches. i use tech there because for that detail area i use it, it's not important for me to feature the marks play and living line of wooden pencils. sharpening is an issue, too. (sharpening hard pencils with everything besides a perfectly sharp blade is a pain anyway)

the wooden pencils are for the living line. there's no real way around what you get with a true wooden pencil, for me.
the hb is for lines and such while i use the 2h and 5h for setting really dark shadows or heavy accents in lines.

i worked for a long time with tech pencils only and you can't imagine woh much more living i felt when drawing with a wooden pencil again. now, i use both of them for both have their pros and cons.

paper isn't a huge issue for me, as long as it is white (i don't like that recycling paper tone), not too thin and not too grainy (makes ugly lines when scanning).

inking pens, i use faber castell (who would've thought... but my local art store kinda teamed up with them and it's the only shop near me...) ecco pigment pens.
they're working not bad for me but i'm not very used to drawing with these peny anyway. get yourself a #2 synthetic brush and ink with that :)

hope that helped a bit.