I needed to take a photo of my tools for a recent project so I thought it would be a good time to do an update here on the blog. A few weeks ago I actually sketched this kit (see here) and I’ve already made a few minor adjustments!

My kit is constantly changing especially with regard to my secondary tools. At the moment these are coloured pencils and markers but previously I carried around more fountain pens with different coloured ink and watercolour pencils. Check out this article to see what I was carrying around in March 2021.

Here is the listing of what is included in this photo:

Paints

• A mix of Daniel Smith, Winsor and Newton, and Schmincke watercolours in a metal tin.
• All the colours in my palette – refer to this listing and this series of articles.
• The metal palette shown here is Schmincke tin with three wells in the lid. (For those in Australia – I also use a Derivan tin.) See this article for how I use the mixing areas and why it’s important to use a tin with three wells in the lid.

Fountain Pens

• Green Sailor fountain pen with 55-degree fude nib filled with De Atramentis Document Ink Black. My favourite pen for quick sketching due to its expressive lines. More about this pen here.
• Lamy Joy pen (white and red) with F nib filled with De Atramentis Document Ink black. The pen I use at home is the same body but with a gold nib (once was EF but now more like a M in thickness)  Please note the Joy is a calligraphy pen and comes with a stub nib. I replaced that with a normal nib for drawing. More about why I love this pen here.
• TWSBI Eco (white) with a F nib with De Atramentis Document Ink Black which I use for all my writing. The rationale for this is that it preserves the ink in the White Joy so I don’t have to fill up the ink in that pen as much. Plus the F nib suits my handwriting better – I prefer writing with a thinner line than I do for drawing.
• An extensive series of articles on foundation pens can be found here.
• More about permanent inks for Fountain Pens here.

Brushes

• Rosemary & Co Series 772  sable blend 1/2 ” dagger. I use this brush for 99% of my sketches. It has a sharpened end so that it fits into a toothbrush container. More about the dagger brush here, and the toothbrush holder here.
• Rosemary & Co Series 772  sable blend 1/4 ” dagger – I use this for details and/or if I’m working small.
• Rosemary Eradicator Brush (medium) – it also has a sharpened end so that it fits into a toothbrush container. I use this to soften hard edges and to create some fun textured strokes. See this article for more about that.
• Rosemary & Co Series 55 kolinsky sable 1/8 one stroke (with a sharpened end as well). I was using this brush for painted lines and details during the 2020 30×30 Direct Watercolour challenge – see here – and it has stayed in my kit.
• Waterbrush by Faber Castell. I don’t like to paint with it (see here for more) but use it when working with water-soluble tools or as a clean water supply for pre-wetting skies.
• Refer to the Brushes Section for more articles on brushes.

Other pens and pencils

• White Gel Pen. Uniball Signo Broad (pictured). For further information, there is a great review of white gel pens here.
• A mechanical pencil with 2H lead
• Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent White pencil. I use this under watercolour as a resist.

Other

• TGaal Pencil Sharpener
• Two small water containers attached to either my palette or my support board (or a StablO nomadic easel) with Blu Tack. The Blu Tack on the bottom of the containers is a little messy (comes off in my bag and gets on everything else!) but it is the most versatile fixing means (more so than using velcro or magnets). I bought these containers at a $2 shop a number of years ago and haven’t seen them for a while now.
• Washi Tape for taping the edges of my sketches and temporarily attaching items that I glue in place back home.
• Black microfibre cloth for taking the moisture out of my brush.
• A collection of coloured pencils in a handmade pencil holder (made by Cecilia of Walkit Sketching Bags). This selection of pencils is still changing but includes Derwent Coloursoft, Faber Castell Polychromos, Caran d’Ache Luminance and Bruynzeel Design pencils.
• Some markers: currently these are water-soluble GoldFaber Aqua Dual Markers by Faber Castell in a Mead Five Star Pencil Pouch Stand ‘n store (here is an Amazon Link for one.)

Back Home

A few things that I have at home and use regularly in my sketchbook:

• I add dates and other important headings using stamps (Southport by Paper Person). More details here
• Mint Lamy Safari filled with J Herbin Diabolo Menthe ink (water-soluble). I use this pen for the guidelines for my writing. More about my guidelines and grid pages here.
• A number of TWSBI Ecos with coloured ink. See here for more details.

If you want to find out more about a specific tool please check out my Sketching Tools section.

Please let me know if you have any questions!