- Here are the results from my artists survey on alt.fan.furry.
Updated June 25, 2002
I have received a total of 40 responses (including my own). The numbers do not always add
up, because some artists use more than one kind of each item.
- 1. What kind of pencils do you use?
There was such a wide variation, that it defies categorizing. Mechanical
pencils beat out wooden ones 25-13 (some artists didn't mention whether they used one or
the other, and some use both), and most use HB leads. 5 artists use non-photo blue
pencils.
2. What kind of technical pens do you use?
Micron Pigma - 16
Rapidographs - 10
Staedtler - 6
Brush & Ink - 6
Fountain Pen - 5
Pilot - 3
Rotring - 2
Rapidoliners - 2
Grumbacher - 1
- Expresso - 1
- None - 2
3. What kind of markers do you use?
None - 19
- Prismacolor - 7
Design 2 - 6 (Note: no longer in production)
Tria - 2
Prismacolor Scholar - 1
Tombo - 1
Pantone - 1
- Chartpak - 1
"whatever" - 2
4. What kind of colored pencils do you use?
Prismacolor - 25
None - 5
Derwent watercolor pencils - 3
Staedtler Aquarelles - 3
Rexel-Cumberland - 2
Faber-Castell Polychromos - 2
Spectracolor - 2
Supracolor Aquarelles - 1
Kodak - 1
Pedigree - 1
Laurentien - 1
Prang Professional - 1
Caran d'Ache Pablo - 1
- Stabilo - 1
5. Do you use wax crayons (i.e. Crayolas, etc.)?
No - 36
Yes - 3
6. What other media do you use?
White-out, airbrush, acrylics, watercolors, turpentine w/ colored pencils,
wax crayons w/ turp., oils, computers, brush & ink, oil pastels, metallic pens, epoxy
putty, chalk, charcoal, conté, gouache, watercolor crayons, cloth, SuperSculpy, and
Zip-a-tone, were mentioned.
7. What do you prefer to use to color a picture?
Colored pencils - 15
Computer - 10
Watercolors - 5
Markers - 5
Markers & colored pencils - 4
- Acrylics - 3
Colored Ink - 2
Color Pastels - 2
Colored pencils & turpentine - 1
Oils - 1
Regular pencil (no color) - 1
Oil Pastels - 1
Watercolor & markers - 1
Watercolor & watercolor pencils - 1
Watercolor crayons - 1
8. What brand of paper do you use?
(I gave up trying to categorize them by type and went with brand instead)
Strathmore - 14
Canson - 8
- Any generic art paper - 5
Crescent - 5
Hammermill - 3
- Pearl - 2
Mead - 1
Bienfang - 1
Anything archival - 1
Wausau - 1
Duro - 1
Georgia-Pacific - 1
Epson - 1
Paris - 1
Eaton - 1
- Springhill - 1
Pentalic - 1
Dessin - 1
- Xerox - 1
- Letramax - 1
9. Are there any brands or media I should avoid?
(a "short" list of suggested warnings)
1. Non acid-free paper (turns yellow)
2. Alvin Tech-Liner Drawing Pens (change color)
3. Markers containing Xylene (Toxic)
4. Pensticks (change color)
5. Pilot pens (change color, and can bleed)
6. Brushes sold in packs of 2 or more
7. Parker refillable pens (takes too long to dry, easily smudged)
8. Purple pencils (may be harmful to your eyes if used too long)
9. "Student Grade" (usually poor quality)
10. Sharpie pens (change color)
11. Expresso pens (change color)
12. For inking work, any paper less than 30# (too thin)
13. Hilroy brand sketchbooks (have a yellow tinge that ruins scans)
14. Dr. Martin's watercolors (not colorfast)
15. Multi-use white-out. (doesn't work very well)
16. Don't use Design 2 markers around finished wood (dissolves certain finishes)
17. Pentel mechanical pencils (the button to advance the lead is easily broken)
18. Paints containing mercury, antimony, lead, or barium (all highly toxic)
19. Paints containing soluble chromates (can cause skin cancer)
20. Dye-based markers/ink (may fade over time)
21. Charcoal (very messy, very difficult to preserve without smudging)
22. Newsprint (turns yellow very quickly, and doesn't hold media very well)
23. Water based markers (react with sweat on the fingers, and can smear)
My thanks to all the artists who've participated in my survey.