How about a Wishlist for the Art Journaler or “lifeBooker”?
Here’s my wishlist:
#1 A nice set of Pencils. A set ranging in hardness from H up to 6B is excellent. IT gives a lot of great selection for drawing and sketching. Or maybe a group of all around great sketching pencils like a 2B. (A set of Palominos is always nice. Send me an email if you want some prices on stuff I have in stock.)
#2. A nice set of pens. I like Pigma Microns. They come in a great selection of sizes a variety of colors and will write anywhere and are archival. I read a story once of a photographer who tipped her canoe and all her stuff went into the water. He journal washed ashore a day or so later, covers gone, pages still stitched together and with everything written in Pigma still there. Not that I think that the average journaler will find occasion to tip their canoe, but you might decide to journal in the tub and you never know when your going to drop something into the water. I’d pick 3 sizes a small, medium and larger size. You can get Pigma’s at most craft and art supply stores in singles as well as in 3 and 6 packs.
#3. A set of watercolors. Watercolors are one of the fastest and easiest ways to get color onto a page. A page can be sketched out, inked in and then colored pretty quickly. Go for a pocket set of 8 to 12 colors. I’m partial to grumbacher water colors, but there are a lot of brands. Go for something on the nicer end of the spectrum rather than crayola…
#4. Niji waterbrushes. Niji makes these cool brushes that hold water in their handle. I discovered that you could also fill the handle with ink or dilute watercolor. These are great for when you’re out sketching or journaling at a coffee shop if your into that.
#5. Gouache. I’m a big fan of gouache. It’s good stuff. It’s watercolor on steroids. It’s water based and opaque. You can pain in layers, like in oils and acrylics, but you can wipe out whole layers of color at a time. Good stuff right there.
