Since finishing college, I've been focusing a lot more on my illustration and the pieces I want to create or what I have been creating for clients. Since I have been working in my own studio space, and not lugging all my materials in and out of college, i've noticed a lot more of what i've been using lately, and what I have been loving. I wanted to share with you the materials that I think work the best for me and why I love them.

After deciding to write this blog and laying out everything I needed to account for, I realised I use a lot of different art materials. Now, I don't use these every day, or for every project but these are the main things I have in my desk and what i'll grab when creating a new piece. I'll try link everything so that, if you like the sound of it, you can get it for yourself.

Muji pens
If you already seen my July Favourites you'll already know that I have a new found love for these pens. I find they're so easy to use to get a good line and they come in a variety of colours. You can buy them online or in the Muji shop off Grafton street.

Winson & Newton watercolour palette
I got this during my portfolio course and haven't stopped using it since. It's a well loved item and most of the colours I have are almost completely used up. This palette is so handy as you can use the lid to mix the colours on and all of the colours can be changed to suit the palette you want. My palette came with 12 colours which are Cad yellow pale, Cad yellow, Viridian green, Sap green, Chinese white, Yellow ochre, Burnt sienna, Cobalt blue, Aliz crimson, Cad red pale, Burnt umber and Ultramarine. You can buy all the colours separately as well, and change the palette to suit you. You can buy this palette from Evans and Easons in store, or here, or there is a similar one here.

Letraset Promarkers
I like these markers as they have an opaque finish to them, so you can draw over them with a different colour and they will change to a mix of both colours. These are great to use when you want to see what something will look like in colour before you put it on screen. I also like these markers as they come with a thin side and a thick flat side. You can get them in Easons and Evans, and also from amazon.

Tweezers
These are great for when i'm making my paper illustration because if you have a small piece of paper that needs to be stuck down then you can do it with precision with the tweezers, it also saves you from getting glue all over your fingers.

Scalpel
This is a necessary tool for making my paper illustrations, and cutting anything really as you can always get a precision line. I use the Swann-Morton scalpel with 10A blades. I usually wrap the handle with a lot of masking tape (as you can see in the photo below) to stop getting blisters on my fingers from the constant rubbing of the metal on my skin when i'm using it.

Art & Hobbie shop paper
This paper is great as they usually have a variety of colours and textures to choose from. You choose a normal folder (€5) or a large folder (€10) and fill it with whatever paper you want and then you pay for it. Simple.

Pentel watercolour travel brush
This brush is amazing for using with watercolour, you simply fill it with water and it's ready to use whenever you want. The tip is thin and flexible as well so you can use it for a variety of lines or details. It's so handy on the go too because the water is already in the brush so there's no need to bring a little water container with you.

Cutting mat
A much need accessory for making my paper illustrations and for cutting my prints down to size. This is also good as it is gridded so you can line up your print and cut it correctly. You can get the same A3 one I have here.

Notebooks
I like to try out and use a variety of different notebooks. I like to use my Moleskin notebook when I know I need thick paper for painting or using markers as they never seep through to the other side of the page. I really like Muji gridded and dot notebooks for working out lettering pieces and other designs with precision. Paperchase have a beautiful range of sketchbooks with amazing covers on every one, or you can get good quality, plain classic ones.

Ecoline liquid watercolour
If you seen my July Favourites you will have also seen these. These are amazing for getting a solid colour without having to mix any colours together. They come as a little pot but last for ages, as a little goes a long way. You can buy them here.

On.The.Run:202 luxusliner
This market is great as it has a fine tip so it's great for outlining a drawing or creating some hand lettering. I bought this from All City in Temple bar, Dublin.

Uni Pin fine line pens
I really like these pens as they come in a variety of sizes. My favourites to use are the 0.05mm pen for when I need to draw with a really thin line, the 0.2mm pen for drawing normal lines, and the 0.8mm pen when I need a thick line but don't want to use a marker. You can find them here.

Extra things which don't really need explaining:
Pritt stick
Rubber (eraser)
2B pencil
Tissue (for watercolour brush)
Metal ruler
Watercolour paper (300 gsm)

These materials are the main things that I use physically from day to day. There are so many more materials that I could name that I might use on the off chance for one or two projects but these materials are my most loved ones when doing things by hand before editing or doing something digitally. Let me know what your favourite art materials are!

Enjoy,
Jess x

As this weeks blog post was near enough to the end of the month, I thought i'd do a little favourites piece. I wanted to mention a range of things that i've been loving for the month of July. There is a mix of things from tv shows to art materials. I've talked about them in a bit more detail below so read on.

1. Liquid watercolour
I've really been enjoying using these little pots of liquid watercolour from Ecoline, which I bought in Evans art supplies. I got the Magenta one (337) and the bluish green one (640), and then were €2.99 each in store, or you can get them online here. They're amazing to use because you get a really strong colour first hand, also because you're buying a specific colour, you know what you're going to get without having to mix anything else to get the colour you want.

2. Elastic bobbins
These are basically a bobbin made from a piece of soft fabric elastic that is tied together. I really like them because they don't have that crap metal bit that pulls half your hair out, and it's stretchy and soft enough that it doesn't leave you with a weird bobbin mark in your hair. These are great as well as you can pop them on your wrist and they look like a colourful festival bracelet too, while not cutting off your blood supply like other bobbins do. I got this ones from H&M, in a pack of 6 different colours for €2.99. I couldn't find any online to link them here, but they're in most H&M store and I even think I seen them in Penneys recently. I've also seen a good few DIY pins on pinterest, as it is essentially just a piece of elastic tied on one end.

3. TAE
I feel like this would always be in my monthly favourites, regardless of the weather. I seriously don't think I could survive my day without a few giant cups of tea in one of my Disney mugs (basically like soup bowls). And yes, you've probably guess from the illustration that I'm a Lyons tea woman all the way!

4. PosieTint
This is still one of my favourite Benefit products without a doubt. I've been especially loving it for the summer time as it gives your lips a pretty pink tone, so it looks lovely with a tan (not that I have one yet) and nice dewey summer make up. I can't get enough of this stuff and it lasts forever cause you only ever need a light layer on your lips, and it usually stays on for most of the day (depending on how much you're eating) because it's a lip stain. You can buy it from any Benefit counter or shop, online or instore in places such as Debenhams, Arnotts, Boots, etc. or you can head to the Benefit shop on South William street.

5. Muji 0.5mm pens
This is a recent summer find which I am loving! I was always so used to using the unipin fineline pens, which I still love, but because I lean so heavily on the pen it usually wouldn't last that long (as the nib would disappear). In that way, this pen is perfect because it has a ball point tip and because it's inky it works in the same way as the fineliners. This pen was around €2.20 and I got it from the Muji shop off Grafton Street. They also come in a huge variety of colours, so i'll definitely be going back to get more!

6. Once Upon A Time
This is a TV show I discovered on Netflix after binge watching and finishing all my other beloved shows. I thought i'd give it as shot because of the fairytale/Disney aspect to the storyline, and after the third episode I was hooked! I LOVE IT! This is an old enough show now, I think it started in 2011 and all 4 seasons are on Netflix to watch, so I'm already nearly finished season 1. I really enjoy the storyline as you can try and guess which each character is as they are introduced to the storyline.

7. Malteasers
You can basically blame every supermarket for these being in my favourites this month. They've been on special for €1.50-€2 in most places like Dunnes and Tesco all this month and I couldn't help but buy them (and devour them all!), plus they go really well with my popcorn addiction.

8. Levi shorts
I got these shorts from a seller on Etsy a few years ago and fell in love with them even more this summer. They're a little bit big for me, but with a nice belt, they hold up well. They're also so easy to wear, because I live in Ireland, you never know what the weather is going to be like on any given day, or even what it's going to be like during that day (raining one minute and sunny skies the next) so these shorts are a dream because you can pair them with a nice and cosy jumper or with a cute crop top.

9. True Detective
We finally got around to watching the first season of True Detective and (OMG!) it's amazing! If you haven't seen it, it is definitely a must see! It was thrilling all the way through and became one of them shows that you can't wait to see the next episode or you stay up a bit later just to fit one more episode in. I didn't think that it was going to keep me on the edge of my seat for each episode but it did! Definitely check it out, if you haven't already!

10. Snapchat
I've been loving watching snapchat stories this month, and creating hundreds of my own as well. I think it's really fun and interesting watching different bloggers and illustrators doing their thing and not really giving a crap what they say because it's going to be gone in a day anyway. I've been finding all of them hilarious and interesting all at the same time. If you have snapchat then add me @jessicard23. I've been snapping a lot of sneak peeks to my new projects coming up soon too!

Let me know in the comments below what you've been loving this month!
Enjoy,
Jess x