/ic/ - Artwork/Critique

[Anonymous No.3931070]

>go to an art supply shop
>pay around 10$ for 3 fucking pencils
I feel like a fool, I'll never visit this place again

[Anonymous No.3931090]

>>3931070
Try buying expensive brushes and never using them because your art is not worthy yet.

[Anonymous No.3931098]

>>3931090
This but with sketchpads. At the very least they're not Moleskines though

[Anonymous No.3931099]

>not drawing in ballpoint pen on copy paper

[Anonymous No.3931140]

>>3931070
If you live in the US, you could have went to michaels and got a complete sketch set that comes with a ton of pencils, kneaded eraser, eraser, and blending tortillas for $6. They're probably not the highest quality pencils but it's more than enough to get you started with drawing.

When you think about it though, buying from your local overpriced art supply shop means you're at least supporting a small business. My local art supply shop (Jerry's) art least tries to match the prices of the competition and always have nice sales.

[Anonymous No.3931147]

>>3931140
Forgot pic of the Michael's pencil set. Their artist loft brand can be pretty hit or miss.

[Anonymous No.3931168]

>>3931099
trash materials for trash drawings.

[Anonymous No.3931172]

>>3931070
Expensive materials are for people who believe that spending more money on supplies will make their art better.
Go on alixpress or wish and order a cheap set of pencils that have a good hardness/softness range, then go to walmart and get a set of 1$ HB pencils

[Anonymous No.3931183]

>>3931090
>not making a new painting just to christen your brush

[Anonymous No.3931212]

>>3931172
>AliExpress
I don't why AliExpress isn't recommended more for art supplies on /ic/. You can actually get some pretty great deals on art supplies on AliExpress

Talked about the great deals on 2mm and 5.6mm draft pencils and leads I got on AliExpress in these posts in another thread

>>3926236
>>3926237

Some of the other good deals I got,

>Fineliner pens for less than $1 each. They actually are waterproof too and can be used with watercolors or markers.
>Cheap fountain pens and ink cartridges
>Set of calligraphy markers (similar to Pentel pocket brush) for less than $2
>Set of squeezable watercolor brushes for less than $2

>>3931090
The seller "art secret" on AliExpress sells pretty nice quality watercolor brushes made with real animal hair or a synthetic mixture. They just take forever to ship though

[Anonymous No.3931267]

>>3931070
>be in Scandinavia
>all art supplies are taxed
>25%
>only buy professional shit
>mfw

[Anonymous No.3931286]

>>3931172
>Expensive materials are for people who believe that spending more money on supplies will make their art better.

You say that as if all tools and materials are created equally. They're not.

With graphite pencils in particular, the difference in how your drawings will turn out will not be too noticeably different. But there are differences in high end and low end pencils. The main difference I've noticed is how smooth the expensive pencils (like Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils) put down the graphite whereas cheap pencils have a kind of scratchy feel to them. And of course more expensive pencils are easier to erase and less likely for the lead to break. Then you also have to consider differences in how the lead from the pencils smudges and how well it is erased. The main reason I use more expensive pencils is that they just feel better to draw with.

The biggest difference you'll notice for drawing is when you buy better paper. Going from copy paper/cheap sketchbook paper to heavier paper with more tooth makes a world of difference because of how it feels to draw on, how well it holds the graphite, how the graphite smudges less, and of course the change of mindset that comes with working with higher quality materials.

[Anonymous No.3931366]

>>3931168
>drr drr drr

[Anonymous No.3931373]

+1 for a cheap set of graphite pencils. Even though they're cheap, because they're made for art they're going to be tons better than your standard yellow pencil that was made for writing.

[Anonymous No.3931423]

>>3931286
I'm picky about art materials but with pencils I just don't see it. I don't make finished things in pencil, just sketches that I ink, but I make tons of them and I see no difference between Staedtler Noris school pencils and the high end pencils or leadholder leads I have. I never had problems with the wood or the graphite and the results are the same with a little margin for darkness variance from brand to brand. Actually my favorite graphite is that of the Pentel Ain Stein leads for my 0.5 mechanical pencil, really smooth and dark. I don't erase much and I have a really light hand, maybe higher end pencils erase better?

[Anonymous No.3931449]

>>3931423
I find higher end pencils erase cleaner, but I like the quality that comes with it too. Nothing worse than a lead that is brittle or a crumbly piece of shit wood barrel you can't properly sharpen. I recently got a caran dache pencil to sketch with, the barrel is thicker than standard size so it's very comfortable to use as opposed to any other cheap school grade pencil I've had previously.

[Anonymous No.3931466]

>>3931212
Will confirm that these brushes are pretty damn good. In fact a lot are literally the same brushes you can get from a "reputable" art supply store, but at a hugely reduced price. I've been buying a lot of brushes off ebay (it's the same shit as is being sold on aliexpress) and they've all been excellent quality. The only downside is they don't generally fuss around with the packaging, so you'll sometimes get a brush that has been savaged by the trip (which takes over a month generally).

[Anonymous No.3931473]

>>3931286
That "scratchy" feel is more filler, and course filler, like clay, than graphite.

If you're just learning, cheap is fine. When you get better (and know you're going to stick with it, and not rage quit because free loli porn takes effort), invest in better stuff, or switch over to lead holders, like I did.

[Anonymous No.3931480]

i use this and notebook paper, only true materials

[Anonymous No.3931484]

>>3931466
Another downside is that you don't really know where the hairs come from, might not be something everyone cares about sure but I'd like to somewhat know
Also worker pay and all that jazz

[Anonymous No.3931489]

>>3931423
From my experience the more expensive pencils erase better while often smudging less.
The main reason to buy more expensive pencils like Palomino Blackwings or Mitsubishi Hi-Unis is how smooth they feel to draw with and how even the graphite is laid down on the paper. That can make a big difference if you're doing finished fully rendered graphite drawings.

When it comes to materials in general the difference between mid-range to high-end for the price in graphite pencils probably matters the least. But I think the change in quality from cheap to artist quality definitely matters.

What I would recommend doing is constantly be experimenting with different materials. For example drawing on toned paper with a white charcoal pencil for the highlights was like a revelation for me when doing my practice/studies because of how much more efficient it was to visualize and get a full range of values in my drawings.

[Anonymous No.3931490]

>>3931070
did you bough conte paris or someshit?

[Anonymous No.3931799]

>go to paper shop
>buy 30 pencils for 10 $
>they never break
>go to art shop
>buy 20 sketchbooks, carry it away in a big ass bag, looks like i bought a smaller tv
Stashed up, give myself the feel that my tools will never feel more precious than my drawings with them, no fear of a blank page.

[Anonymous No.3931911]

>Be /beg/ artist
>Go to art store to buy brushpen
>Box of thing I wanted says it's a brushpen
>Go home
>Turns out brushpen isn't actually a brushpen, just a shitty black ink marker with a slightly more flexible tip
>I fall for this trick TWICE

[Anonymous No.3931969]

>>3931466
Most of the big retailers get their stuff from the same places - and not just art. You can get unbranded stuff that way, where they sneak it out the back door at night, or whatever. The risk is you get the good stuff, or the really bad rip off stuff. Most of the Amazon "deals" are just drop shipments from the same retailers.