Use code 96AHYE or follow the links in this description. 

I’ve been a Google-Fi customer for years now and I switched over from Verizon for a couple reasons. One, I was shopping for a plan of my own anyway. Two, I needed to trim down my monthly expenses that included subscriptions and bills. Over $100 a month was digging into my budget and I was willing to try out Google-Fi’s Flexible Plan, which is a minimal monthly fee plus playing a flat rate per gig of data. I brought my phone with me, so without paying for a new phone, I was only paying about $35 per month for better cellular coverage than I had gotten with Verizon or At&T in the past. 

Make sure to wear PPE when handling MOST art supplies! We’re exposed to tons of particulates everyday, so it's important to protect our bodies (which house our minds) as much as possible from as many of those chemicals, agents, aerosols, and more no matter how benign we might think they are at this time. Things like N95 masks, latex or nitrile gloves, safety goggles, and having shop towels on hand can help.

This product makes life so much easier! I use it for most of my messy media like graphite, charcoal, pastels, watercolor and water soluble inks, colored pencils, and anything else that has the potential to smudge and smear. I’ll spray a piece of artwork I’m working on lightly and often when I’m happy with the progress I’ve made. This can be when I take small breaks as well as at the end of my day’s sessions to make sure everything stays as it is while I’m away from it. 

I highly recommend this fixative, but make sure to wear PPE and only use it outside or in very well ventilated spaces. We’re exposed to tons of particulates everyday, so it's important to protect our bodies (which house our minds) from as many of those chemicals, agents, aerosols, and more as possible no matter how benign they might be. Things like  N95 masks, latex or nitrile gloves, safety goggles, and having shop towels on hand can help.

I know what you’re thinking: with all of these other fine artist-grade materials, why are you recommending CRAYOLA MARKERS?? It’s because I really like them and they’re the main medium I’m using for a project that I will disclose at a later time when it’s closer to being released. Long story short, their washability along with vibrant colors and gliding ease made them perfect for using them like water colors. Stay tuned to my blog for this project’s release. Hint: It will reference something like “Stained Glass”.

• 100 CRAYOLA MARKERS: One 100ct pack of Crayola Super Tips Markers in assorted colors.

Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils are also a go-to standard for artists for coloring and illustrating. I've used them to create stunning mockups of murals and other commissions. They're smooth, vibrant, consistent density, and easy to blend. Speaking of blending: they make Colorless Pencils specifically for doing that! And did you know that you can smooth and blend colors even more by going back over them with the WHITE PENCIL too? You know, just in case you're caught without a colorless one. Yeah! Try it out!

• Soft, thick cores are perfect for shading and shadows

ProTapes are THE BEST artist tapes I’ve used. There are others out there that try to pass off as artist tapes, but are off in some way. Some feel like fragile masking tape, are off-white colors, and are annoyingly NOT easy to peel. Not ProTapes, which takes the cake in all categories, plus it’s pH neutral!

• Artist tape- premium flatback paper tape

The best parts about FROGTAPE Multi-Surface Painter's Tape with PAINTBLOCK is that PAINTBLOCK technology plus how sticky it is while also being very easy to peel off without taking bits of my projects with it. The PAINTBLOCK tech means that when moisture makes contact with the FrogTape's edge, the adhesive expands (barely noticeable to the naked eye) to block that moisture out. That means you get a really clean line of paint with very little to no seepage. 

For paintings where the green color might interfere with the piece's color palette while I'm painting, I use white PRO Artist Tape, but for most other things I like to use FROGTAPE.

I could be mistaken, but I think my Isabey Isacryl Synthetic Brush, 8 Filbert has been with me since the very beginning. I’m talking about it being ONE OF THE FIRST professional artist brushes I bought for myself (my parents bought for me) when I landed my first paid apprenticeship at 15 years old, and it’s been over 20 years since then! Granted, I take very good care of my brushes–96% of the time. It is showing its age now. There’s a little bit of paint stuck at the very bottom of the bristles, making it much stiffer than it used to be, and I’ve wrapped some Frog Tape around the handle where it meets the metal tip that holds the bristles to keep it from falling off. But the brush still holds its shape pretty close to what it originally was and I use it for instances when I don’t need to be too careful or blend very smoothly. After more than 20 years, I’d say it’s still going strong so it’s a no-brainer to recommend others try these out too!

• Ideal for oil paint and heavy body acrylics

These are MY FAVORITE mechanical pencils! I’m not kidding. I’ve been seeking out these Pentel Twist-Erase EXPRESS Mechanical Pencils since I was first introduced to them over 2 decades ago. Yes, there are more fancy artist mechanical pencils out there, but these just can’t be beat for the price, feel, durability, and functionality!

There’s a new model available, but I haven’t tried them yet so I’m hesitant to give them too much attention. Instead, I’m featuring my tried and true.

I’ve used Prismacolor Dual-Tip Markers for years, and I love them. Their colors are vibrant, deep, and blend together very well. Since they are alcohol based, these ink will not run easily with water. For blending, try using an alcohol like isopropyl (not wine), or Prismacolor Colorless Blending Markers.

Blending markers will make your life so much easier!