Tools of the Trade

Nyrryl Cadiz

@NessIllustration Hi! If you’re experiencing back/neck problems when using a cintiq, an ergotron arm will certainly help. That way you can tilt the tablet just like a desktop. It is not an essential though but it will improve the whole experience.

NessIllustration

@nyrrylcadiz I did not know that! Thanks for the tip, although it seems an extravagant expense when the Intuos works perfectly for me. Intuos is my jam hahaha

jaepereira

@Whitney-Simms how does the ink flow compare to the Pentel? That’s one that I use but it’s too wet sometimes, although I am getting better with my control.

Erin.Cortese

I have to say I’m in love with my iPad. I have only been using it for about 6 months, and now I can’t imagine being without it. I work in Procreate, which is awesome, but I find like Will Terry said, it has it downsides for finishing illustrations (I get frustrated by the colour discrepancies). For larger more refined illustrations, I bought Astropad for my iPad so that I can work in Photoshop. I feel very lucky to have a big beautiful iMac to work on. I set my iPad up in front of my Mac and use them together.

Great podcast!

Nyrryl Cadiz

@NessIllustration hehe yeah, it is an added expense. Wacom offers their Flex Arm at a whopping 375 USD! That’s more than a cintiq alternative. There are the Ergotron arms that costs abot 100 USD. Still expensive though.

Lucelfo

Fantastic podcast episode, as always! so interesting when it come to WHAT great artist uses! Can I ask if you can suggest a printer of your taste? THANKS!

Teju Abiola

I love learning about the tools artists choose to use! I agree a lot with Lee and Will about the quality of materials and how that can affect results. Once I started using better materials, such as cotton/heavier watercolor paper, it became easier to get the results that I wanted. I'm a bit of a supply enthusiast, especially when it comes to watercolor.

As far as limiting your palette, my main watercolor palette has 28 colors, and sometimes I feel like it's too few! I never use them all at once, but the pigments have such a range of different properties, and as Lee said, they can also mix totally differently. There are just some colors you can't mix. I love Permanent Brown (PBr25) and have never been able to mix it or replicate how it mixes with other colors. I had to add a magenta and turquoise because I couldn't mix the hue or vibrancy I wanted. Viewing other people's palettes has been really interesting to me as well. It's interesting to see what they view as essential when compared to the standard/basic palette that is recommended to students.

Jess Erskine

Love your all's podcast. I think I've listened to every single one of Will Terry's YouTube videos while drawing, and that's how I found Jake & SVS. So thankful for you guys, it's so nice to have some folks out there who do this for a living and are happy to share what they go through - makes the illustration life a lot less lonely!

daviesdesignated

Hi @Jake-Parker I think someone (Lee or Will) isn't wearing headphones, and so as they listen to you talk with their computer speakers, your voice echoes back through their mic. Iv'e noticed this on the last few podcasts, hope the feedback (no pun intended) helps!

burvantill

I just ordered the incredible art board. I used to stretch my paper when I was in colllege then I started using watercolor board and that was great. But I’m using paper blocks now and getting tired of them buckling when I load the water on. @Lee-White sounded so confident about this board that he sold me. That whole thing about hating to wait, I am so in agreement with that.

Lee White

@burvantill you won't regret it! I'm still using the original art boards I ordered. They are 6 years old now!

Lee White

@daviesdesignated thanks for the feedback. That has been such a tricky issue. It's not that we aren't wearing headphones, it's that jake and will are in the same room recording with different mics. So when 1 person is talking, the other mic picks up the sound. We think we have solved it, but it was making us crazy!!!

Heather Bouteneff

Is Wacom really pronounced wack em? I've been saying Way com for years, I had no idea

uzma

I second @Heather-Bouteneff 's question. I've always said Way-Com

burvantill

@Heather-Bouteneff MeToo!!

Chip Valecek

I just call them too damn expensive

burvantill

@Chip-Valecek right!

Heather Bouteneff

@Chip-Valecek the cintiq's absolutely are. I got a refurbished intuos a while back and I am fine enough with that. It's like a scifi movie where the character realizes all those years of piano lessons there parents made them take
were for this very reason!

NessIllustration

@Chip-Valecek True that, but they are real quality though, even their lower tier tablets. My first tablet ever was a 200$ Wacom Bamboo and that thing lasted 12 years! It STILL works perfectly and if I hadn't upgraded to an Intuos I'd still be using it. My Intuos is second-hand and it's good as new. With a cheaper brand I'd be worried it would crap out on me after a year...