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thedancingemu In reply to KalahariFox [2014-01-14 05:57:23 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

I hate to say I don't know if my brushes are synthetic or not, I've had them quite a while and I have the awful habit of letting my brushes sit in water until the wood swells and the label chips off so I don't know what brand they are! They're very soft, so either natural or a very nice synthetic. A long as it's really soft, it's fine by me, I can't say I'm super knowledgeable about my tools and supplies, a lot of them were actually given to me by my mother and my ex's mom, both former artists. I mostly use round tip brushes (I use my size 3 the most), as they are extremely versatile, I use my liner a lot as well, and for big washes I use a basic square tip, although I should probably find something a bit more rounded, sometimes I have to be careful of leaving hard edges with the square tip.

I use tube paints, I've never used good quality bricks but I know a local pro who prefers them, although he was under the impression that tube paints are no good once they dry, which isn't true. I have a mix of grumbacher and windsor + newton cotman paints. I had some cheaper stuff (Reeves, I think) back in highschool - it was fine for learning, but later it was worth it to switch to the nicer stuff, the colors are much richer and cleaner. If you get tube paints be careful of the lids, they're fragile and if you try to twist them on too hard you'll break them, and it's hard to get them back on if they get gunked up, so keep them wiped clean.

Arcylic washes are awesome for adding details to scales, moss and fur, the way I work I'd personally have a very hard time rendering either if I didn't use them, it's definitely worth experimenting with.

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thedancingemu In reply to FireMaster13 [2014-01-06 03:11:37 +0000 UTC]

Hmm, I don't know if it's possible to protect a sketch from masking fluid, even pens and paints often lift a little bit if you mask over them. I hear workable fixative between sketching an masking might work, but I'd do some tests on a small piece of paper before trying it on anything you've invested any time into.

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FireMaster13 In reply to thedancingemu [2014-01-06 18:01:44 +0000 UTC]

I use fixative frequently and never even thought of that. I'll try that out and see how it works, thank you! keep up the great work!

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thedancingemu In reply to Bear-hybrid [2014-01-05 23:45:02 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, try it on a little piece first. Masking fluid is super useful, and it's rare that I have problems with it, but I did ruin a big painting once (left the fluid on too long and it wouldn't come off). Also it's no good on some delicate papers, I've damaged a painting I did on some stonehenge paper, the fibers are so delicate it rips the surface even of you're careful.

As long as you test the fluid on a scrap of your paper, and you don't leave the fluid on the paper for days and days, you're probably fine  Just don't use an expensive brush, masking fluid cleans up ok with soapy water, but there's usually a bit of residue. Use older, or cheaper brushes, or toothpicks and stuff.

Sometimes you get old, crappy fluid though. I bought some oline years ago, and I looked at the label and saw how old it was, it was nasty and I think it messed up some paper. I don't think this happens a lot though, I think I just bought from an Ebay seller who didn't care very much.

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Bear-hybrid In reply to thedancingemu [2014-01-06 02:40:27 +0000 UTC]

Ah thankyou so much for the tips! :3 I appreciate it and will try an ACEO soon.

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