Hello – Jo here. I’m an artist living near to Drefach, Felindre and I joined Origin back in August 2024. This Blog was meant to be a Vlog, but after a lot of false starts and coming across as a bit of a mad woman, I decided that my future as a TikTok influencer was probably not realistic so I have resorted back to the written word. I am here to share a few of my favourite materials, and I will kick off with paper.
My go to paper is Fabriano Accademia. It comes in a pad of 100 sheets and is good quality, archival paper that will support a lot of different media. I also cut mine down to A4 and it will happily go through my printer. Price varies greatly, but there are often promotions and I tend to buy a couple of pads so I always have plenty in stock.
One of my favourite pencils is the delightfully named Ticonderoga. Who couldn’t love a pencil with that name? It is a great all rounder.
Finding the right paint can be a bit daunting if you are starting out. There are so many out there. I mainly use watercolour and although I have a few tubes of very expensive stuff, I tend to use Windsor & Newton. If you want to treat yourself to some great watercolour paints – Sennelier, Daniel Smith to name but two - I would recommend just starting off with a few core colours. If you want to expand, some of my favourites are Payne’s Grey, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Indian Red, Ochre, Indanthrone Blue. You can create a lot of great colours with just a limited palette.
When I am making my cards, I often use metallic paints to add some little touches and these tiny boxes of paints are great (Csy Art Gallery). They are a lovely quality, affordable and you can just pop them in your pocket if you are out and about! They have magnetic strips so you can mix and match your colours.
Where to start with paint brushes? I use all different types of brushes – decorating brushes, pastry brushes, old and new, but if you are looking for a really good, synthetic brush for fine details, the Princeton Velvetouch range is great. Very nice to hold, good price and produces a lovely line.
One thing I have struggled to find is a good quality masking tape. I have tried loads and never found one that totally prevents bleeding and doesn’t tear the paper. The good news is that I have now discovered the perfect tape for the paper I use: Hahnemuehle. It is fabulous stuff and I can often get a couple of uses out of each strip.
Although I don’t do a lot of paper cutting, I do every now and then and have always used a scalpel – Swann Morton 10A blade. They are great to cut with, but putting in the blades and removing them can be a bit fiddly and, to be honest, there is something about using a scalpel that makes me feel a little queasy. Whilst watching one of the Domestika courses (on-line, great value, brilliant tutors and very useful material lists), I discovered this cutter: Olfa. It’s excellent. Nice to hold, blades are easy to insert, affordable and you have a bit at the end to make clean folds.
Lastly, I want to talk about archival pens. I have always used the Sakura Micron pens and they are very good quality. The downside is that they don’t last very long – although that could be down to me being a bit heavy handed with them – and they are just single use. I do tend to keep mine when they are worn down and use them as etching tools. That said, it’s still more plastic being thrown out.
Having seen this come up a lot (and I mean, a lot) on Instagram, I decided to treat myself to a Lumos Mini by Tom’s Studio. There is quite a bit of hype around this brand – certainly on social media – but it definitely lives up to the great reviews. It’s a fabulous design, so easy to fill, feels great in your hand and the nibs come in a wide variety of thicknesses. There is also a wonderful range of inks. It is all so well crafted and thought out from the design to the packaging and the ethos behind the brand. Well done Tom!
So, that’s it from me for now. You never know, when I get my hair done and learn how to apply a filter, I may be back with a Vlog!
Happy creating. Jo
