I received such great feedback last time, so I thought I should open my bag of tricks and share more of my favorite art supplies for tackling fashion illustration. First up; colored pencils. I know there's no big shocker here, but since people have asked I thought I should share with you the brand I prefer, Prismacolor.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPxb_RFuPOcvpysShrUHcUsEmzpeDAVKYXeyEimWkHuFiHTmebfTypP4BSbRBK1v1DJZ1CvmMu0E4elc-dF9o_g3ecNjFIsn3GnzZDVNbIcJZDDT8QqY1n-3EuO4vk8Mv-SKVXgFM4Dug/s400/Brooke+Hagel-illustrator-tools.jpg)
In my previous secret weapons post I told you about the importance of cool gray 90%. Other colors I have on heavy rotation are white,blush pink, peach, dark brown, cream, and cinnamon. I try to be delicate with these pencils and store and carry them separate from your markers. A little "tip": if they get banged around a lot then the inner lead breaks and its practically impossible to get a good point on them. I keep my most frequently used colors in my new penguin pencil holder from Duck Drake Studio. After assembling my holiday gift guide I had to have it! It's ceramic with a white matte background and shiny glazed penguin and inside. ![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmCmSoUVAQRlcZo32vzMP-1XFjlHYCvD6G0HMB3BJT5QlJW22l6GpTBJ4KNz35qxOJfl-JbFH18DqWDtSpqOi51NDrKinhsi5G2DnLgw5FLbXwC27KzDqLrH-2TKLPK8UM9qOoitvoMU/s400/Brooke+Hagel-illustrator-tools2.JPG)
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Prismacolors are on the soft side, which I like when drawing but the down side is that they need to be constantly sharpened. This brings me to the next vital weapon in my arsinal; the electronic pencil sharpener. After going through a few of them over the years I've settled on this Panasonic battery opperated one. It gives a nice long point and has a good amount of power, especially for being battery operated.
Micron pens are essential for intricate details. They come in a few colors and many sizes but the one I have to replenish the most is the 005 in black. This is a superfine tip, only 0.2mm line width of waterproof pigment ink. I often use this pen to render lace, as you can see here on Audrey II and for line drawings, like my lined ladies.
And last but not least, eyeshadow. Yes, eyeshadow. I have a few different uses for it, but mainly I use it for poufy/curly hair (as on Blair here), fluffy feathers (like the ones here on Marie), and to render fur, which I softy add faint pencil lines to. Unfortunatly I don't have any illustrations handy with fur, but I promise I use it and it works brilliantly. The best shadows to use are the cheapest ones your drugstore has, like Wet'n'wild or N.Y.C. They come in a million shades, can be as cheap as a dollar, and come with the mini spounge tipped applicator wand which is the ideal tool I use to color directly to the paper. I recently did a big cleaning of my apt and threw mine out figuring I'll just buy new the next time I need it. That's why the shadows pictured here are a little fancier that the drugstore ones, but I promise the junkier ones work better. Hope this helps everyone, happy drawing.
I love when you share your tricks.
could you show us some tricks on how to draw denim? maybe a jean jacket?
thanks for a great blog!!
Hi Brooke, I read your story on BYW class and thought I'd swing by to check out your blog & lovely shop. I LOVE your illustrations, they are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing what art materials you use. Its always so interesting to read about the process.
thanks again for sharing... i am surprised about the makeup but it actually makes a lot of sense. if you get a chance, can you let us know what colors you use for skin tones? thanks bunches!
Thanks everyone!
For skin tones I most often use the Copic sketch markers in #31, #50, #34 and #E55 for a darker tone. I used to use Charpack Buff, which is great as well, however Charpacks are a wide tip and sometimes difficult to use for smaller detailed areas.
I use the micron pens mostly to outline, but I am trying to stray away from them and use the gray more. I love the look the gray and peach and brown have on my drawings. Thanks, Bridget
I never would have thought to use eyeshadow in a drawing! But I can see from your wonderful illustrations that it works quite well. your post makes me want to break out my own prismacolors and micron pens... It's funny I was thinking of doing a similar post as this week's BYW homework, but maybe I should rethink.
Ok, off to check out your etsy shop now :-)
Thanks for sharing your secret weapons.
Just found your secret weapons! very interesting and helpful!
thanks! do you ever use the Inktense watercolor pencils?
cathy g
Thanks Cathy, nope I've never tried Inktense.
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