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Kydo — Tools of the Trade

Published: 2011-08-01 17:20:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 1056; Favourites: 8; Downloads: 17
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Description And now I shall give you all a look into the deep, dark festering secrets of my art powers! This is my palette. These are the tools I have used to make 80 percent of the art on my account. I shall now delight you miserable peons by enlightening you as to their use in context of one another. Don't you feel lucky, for having been graced by my attention?

Zebra 0.5mm Mechanical Pencil

I prefer mechanical pencils over the orange brands for four reasons.
First, it will NEVER be any duller than 0.7mm, and that's IF I draw at an extreme angle for a while. This is because the lead's diameter is 0.5mm and no thicker. Thus, it doesn't need to be sharpened in order to retain it's point.
Second, it takes less than half a second to sharpen it back to usability once the revealed lead is used up.
Third, I never have to worry about pencil shavings or pencil sharpeners.
Fourth, if I treat the pencil bad and the lead breaks inside, the pencil will still work fine, because the lead is only held by a small contact point at the tip!
And I like the Zebra brand especially because their pencils are encased in metal, meaning it's hard for me to wreck them!
I use the pencil for two things mainly.
First, I use it for planning. Because a pencil can be erased, and I use fairly hard lead, I can plan very light guides which can be erased into nothingness.
Second, I use it for light-spectrum shading and texture. The shading of a pencil looks dramatically unique from the shading of a marker or pen, and giving myself the option between the two opens up the potential in my work.

Zebra Black Ballpoint Pen

Yes, I know I have a Bic depicted. I couldn't find my Zebra. It looks identical to the pencil though.
As you can see, the name next to it is somewhat cryptic. What do I mean by "Feather"? What do I mean by "Pencil Fill" for that matter?
"Pencil Fill" means I can use the pen to fill in for a pencil. For example, say I've done some lovely pencil work I intend to keep in the finished work, but I need to erase out from under it. I can re-do the pencil work with the ballpoint, losing very little of the original impact, protecting that work from the incoming eraser.
Now, feather is a little more difficult to define. The pencil and the ballpoint are the only tools on the list that can do it. Generally, when I say "feather" I'm referring to a type of line, which is actually comprised of thousands of lines drawn atop one another, where the center line is the darkest, and it fades to lighter tones on either side in a very short space. It's hard to describe without a visual example, but rest assured, it's important. The pen is usually used to do it, because pencil is too ephemeral.

Uniball Vision Micro

Yes, this is another ballpoint pen, but it's different. See, the Uniball uses liquid ink, rather than the tooth past stuff you get in most ballpoints. As far as liquid-ink ballpoints go, Uniball is the king, due to their flow control mechanism, ensuring even application. The other important thing about Uniball pens, is that their ink is pretty much water proof. (The paper isn't, but if the paper holds, the ink will too) If they started selling metal-cased pens, I'd fall in love with them all over again. Every single inked drawing of Little Green Kydo has been done with one of these. So why is this relevant?
Well, first, the liquid ink in the Uniball is darker than anything Copic sells. It's also a richer black, whereas Copic is rather cold. Also, because the ink is water proof, I can use it BEFORE inkwash, and still maintain line clarity! Which just gives me more options in the crafting process, really.
Second, the Uniball is a beautiful pen, but it's... Not as refined as the rest of the tools presented. Okay, let me put it this way, if my pens were people, the Uniball would be Kurt Cobain surrounded by people like Mozart and Nobuo Uematsu. It's rough and crude. It takes a LOT of practice to get the level of finesse to control a Uniball well. Even I, the great and legendary unknown Kydo, have difficulties using the Uniball from time to time.
But because it is so crude, it has so much more potential than the rest of the pens on the list! See, you CAN finesse it into beauty! But it's HARD to get the finepoints to look dirty! With a Uniball, I can get the full spectrum of line qualities (With the exception of feathering) into a single line. The Uniball is power, it's just very hard to control.

Copic Multiliners

The range depicted is:

0.05
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.5
0.7
BS

Every single one of these pens can be used for a variety of hings, and depending on how I want the finished work to look, I can rearrange their associations. For example, if I inverted line weight, using lighter pens for outer edges, overlapping edges and closer objects, while using heavier lines for fine details and stuff in the distance, my work would have a very awkward, uncomfortable look to it, where perspective is betrayed by technique!
...Oh, also, the Brush Pen has unique functions as well. It's thinnest line is fatter than the gray tone markers. I use it to fill big empty spaces with black ink. I very rarely use it for lines, because it's marks are so fucking heavy, and I really don't want to wreck it's tip any further. I mean, really, brush pens are so delicate!
Anyways, copics are lovely because you can buy ink replacements and nib replacements. Also, their made of fucking metal, so good luck wrecking the damn things! Permanence, mother fuckers! Copic ink is oil based, meaning water won't fuck with it. But it doesn't actually have any REAL binding agent like the Uniball, and other copic inks (Like the gray tones) can cause it to bleed.

Copic Markers, Wedge and Round, Greytones

I have lots of these, but I only use three of them. One is so light, my scanner can't even see it. I can, people who look at my art can, but my scanner's dynamic range is just too shitty to pick it up. The second one is my mid-tone. (Light tone if I'm scanning it) and is usually used to intentionally bleed my light and dark tones together. And the dark tone is just a dark cold gray. I don't use it much, because it is so dark without actually being black. I WISH these were in metal cases. I like permanence in my equipment.

Why isn't on the list?

Some may ask why I choose to use the permanent interpretation of the disposable version of the technical pen, rather than the technical pen itself. There's a lot of reasons, among them are: Technical pens require me to make very precise ink choices, none of which are actually any better than copic ink, and if I make the wrong choice, the pen is fucked. Any change of ink requires me to take the pen apart and clean it. I can't just toss it in a box and leave it for months, because the ink will solidify in it's nib, and the pen will be wrecked, meaning I either have to use it EVERY SINGLE DAY, or clean it out every time I use it. Technical pens are truly wonderful, and FAR superior to Copic's multiliners, yes, but they take so much maintenance, and I use them so rarely, that it's not worth it for me at the moment.

Some may ask why I do not have the traditional quill pen on the list. The fact is, because everything a quill can do, these pens can do better. I can get every possible line a quill could make- AND MORE- and the pens I use don't drip. And I never spill the ink vial. There is seriously NO reason to use quills any more, there is a REASON we left them behind. I'll admit that they're fun to work with, and it's good to learn how to use even the shittiest of tools to make beautiful art... But when you get right down to the pure functionality of it all, toss the quill and grab a ballpoint.

Some may ask why I have not included a brush. This list is about my drawing tools. I don't care if inkwash is traditionally referred to as a "drawing" it ISN'T A FUCKING DRAWING. The two have nothing in common with one another. People in the past were fucking idiots, and we should desert their elitist presumptions about the quality of art and technique classification! Brushes are not shown, because those are painting tools. And though I like to paint on my drawings, usually with white paint for corrections, or ink for technique or look, they still are not drawing tools.

Some may ask why I haven't included the eraser. Well there is one in the picture, so ha!
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Comments: 1

favouritefi [2011-08-08 05:35:45 +0000 UTC]

impressive

👍: 0 ⏩: 0