#when really the key is kicking your perfectionism to the curb and just drawing

[crabsnpersimmons]

yo dawg, or i guess uhhhh

yo crab

what are those marker pens that you used in your exam 2 moon doodle? are they felt tips? can i buy 'em online? i like how they look on your sketchbook, but maybe its the type ya use. what's your current sketchbook brand?

sorry just curious, take your time answerin

yo yo! no problemo!

they're pentel brush sign pens! they're water-based, felt-tip pens with a flexible nib:

i bought them online from amazon as birthday present a while back, so you may be able to buy them online, depending on your location (i'm from Canada!) they also come in a pack of "standard" colours, like your usual red, orange, yellow, etc. pack, but i don't have that pack 😅

i included two swatch pages so you can see how they look on different papers. the left one is my pocket sketchbook (the same sketchbook that the Moon doodle is on), which has smooth paper. whereas the right swatch page is on my larger sketchbook, which has textured paper (which I think might be for dry mediums... but oh well). you can see on the left swatches, the colours are lighter but a bit inconsistent (you can see some speckling). but on the right swatches, the colours are deeper and the lines show more feathering, but the colours are fairly consistent. neither of these bother me too much though, because it's these happy little accidents that make traditional art fun (and to drop kick my perfectionism)

also! just an extra note, pentel also sells a very similar looking pen but the tip is not flexible. so if you don't like brush pens, that's an option, but i believe it only comes in the standard colour pack. if you like these colours, i think the brush pen is your only option (but as far as brush pens go, these are fairly beginner friendly!)

as for my sketchbook... that's tougher to answer 😅

it's a pocket sketchbook i got from my local dollar store, and they don't even carry this size anymore 😭 they carry larger sizes, but i specifically wanted something small that i can put in my pocket and literally just doodle wherever i am. i don't have a lot of info on the brand or the paper quality, but i can tell you it's a bit yellow, as smooth as printer paper but slightly thinner than printer paper, so my markers and fineliners will show through the other page. i included a photo of a spread in my sketchbook where you can see the markers and lines on the other side of the pages showing through (also featuring that exam Moon doodle, some very rough character design explorations, and @starriegalaxy's Fear Factor boys)

but as always, i try not to fixate on the paper or the colours too much when i'm just sketching. my sketchbook is a place for me to experiment and play, and drawing on a cheap sketchbook with markers that bleed through or don't colour smoothly helps me to throw perfection out the window and just draw because it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be

#ask the crab #i hope this helps! #i'm always a little nervous to talk about my stationary #because i've been on the other side thinking that having the right tools will make my art look better #i'll still share with anyone who's curious #but i never want anyone to think that this type of marker or this type of paper will be the key to improving their art #when really the key is kicking your perfectionism to the curb and just drawing #that's why i draw on dollarstore sketchbooks #because i'm just drawing for fun and drawing for me #and i'm just glad other people like my silly drawings haha