Q. Is your work digital or non-digital? What are your tools?

(Last updated September 16, 2019)

My work is sometimes digital, sometimes mixed media.

For my illustrations in SEA MONKEY AND BOB, written by Aaron Reynolds (Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers, 2017), I used my Pentel Pocket Brush for some of the line work, then adding color and texture digitally in Photoshop.

For my broken crayon drawings. Sometimes I just put a broken crayon on a piece of paper and draw around it. Sometimes I photograph the broken crayon (with my iPhone XS Max or Canon Rebel XTi with a macro lens), import it into Photoshop or Procreate, then add art digitally.

My illustrations in the I'M... picture books are all digital. I create the woodcut look by outlining in a thick line and then etching away bits:

Hardware:

I draw with an 8" x 6" Intuos 5 Graphics Tablet, and my main computer is a 27-inch iMac (late 2012, Processor: 3.4 GHz Intel Core i7, memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, 3 TB Fusion Drive). 

I like working with two monitors so I can move around different windows, easily view multiple images, etc.. My external monitor is a Dell.

In addition to a regular printer, I also bought an Epson Stylus Photo R2000 so I could start experimenting with printing black linework on watercolor paper, and then using real-life watercolors. It no longer prints yellow properly, and I haven't yet been able to figure out how to fix it and haven't had time to get it repaired.

I have an 11-inch MacBook Air for when I travel.

I also do some sketching in my iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.

Software:

On my iMac, I use Photoshop CC. I abandoned Corel Painter years ago when I found out it didn't have native CMYK, but have just recently started experimenting with it again.

On my iPad Pro, my favourite drawing program (using the Apple Pencil) is currently Procreate.

Non-Digital Tools:

Favourite sketching tool: Pentel Pocket Pen Brush. I discovered this during a David Small illustrator intensive at the SCBWI-LA conference. The ink cartridges don't last that long, but I just love the expressive line.

I'm starting to experiment more with watercolors and am currently using Daniel Smith as well as Winsor & Newton (both student grade and professional).

I'm also a big fan of fountain pens and do sketching with those as well. My favourite sketching pens include Desiderata Daedalus (fountain pen that uses a dip nib) and Lamy Safari (cheap enough that I'm not paranoid about carrying it out and about), but I also draw with other fountain pens as well (Pilot Falcon and Pilot Custom 823 give me joy to use for writing and drawing).

Last updated on September 16, 2019 by Debbie Ohi