A Collection of a Kidlit Illustrator's Art Supplies in 2023

Collection of my Illustrations in 2022

As a kidlit illustrator, I love to create illustrations digitally and traditionally. Today, I am going to share some of the art supplies and equipment I use in creating my illustrations; I will also be linking everything I mentioned in this post in case you are interested in the supplies I am using! I am by no means affiliated with these products. 

ipadpro 11 & apple pencil 2nd gen

To create my illustrations digitally, here are the equipment and applications I use:

1. Ipad Pro 11
2. Procreate application
3. Apple Pencil second gen
4. Uppr apple pencil gripper
5. Adobe Photoshop

On the Ipad, I create all my artwork digitally using Procreate. The two brushes I use specifically are the default 6B pencil for my line work and Joe Lillington's Brush Gritty (set 3) for coloring; I like to use these two brushes because I want to create a traditional feel for my illustrations. When I was younger, I was heavily inspired by traditional artwork like Glen Keane's character drawings, Claire Keane's sketchbook drawings, the use of pencil crayons and watercolor from various children's book illustrators, and many more. Lastly, once I am done creating my illustrations digitally, sometimes I like to upload the illustration into Adobe Photoshop to clean up the piece. 

Even though art is evolving digitally, I still love to create illustrations traditionally. Here are a couple of the art supplies I love to work with:

    1.MeiLiang Water Colour paint set

• This watercolor set is amazing! The colors are vibrant, it comes with its own swatches (there are a variety of colors included), and it is not too chalky. Overall, this watercolor set is pretty affordable for beginners. 

MeiLiang Watercolour Set

    2. Moleskine Art Watercolour Album

• This is a small watercolor book that you can take it out and paint your surroundings. The quality of the paper is great, it's sturdy and it also has an elastic band to keep the book closed. 

Moleskine watercolor album & micron fine-liner pen

    

    3. Sakura Pigma Micron fine-liner pens

• I love using these pens! These pens are waterproof, it dries fast and it offers a variety of different widths. 

    4. Blackwings pencils 

• This is one of my favorite pencils! The pencil contains high-quality graphite, it rarely breaks, and it is very easy to sharpen. That said, this pencil is truly great for illustrations because it's smooth and soft.

    5. Studio Series A6 Field Sketchbooks by Peter Pauper Press

• This is a small little sketchbook that is perfect for taking it out on walks or in cafes to sketch your surroundings. 

Field Sketchbook

If you are a beginner learning the basics of drawing, then I suggest grabbing a basic pencil like Staedtler and a small sketchbook to sketch every day; this will help us train our eyes to draw what we see! Practice is the key to improvement! Also, to improve our line confidence, I like to use fine-liner pens to draw which will also train us to embrace our mistakes. 

Comment on this post and let me know what your favorite art supplies are!