SEO requires that I mention my keyword “artist tools and resources” in the first sentence, so now that’s done we can begin properly!
Let’s just state right from the beginning that some, (but not all!) of the links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click on them, I’ll hopefully receive a teeny tiny kick back or commission. Or to put is as Amazon so eloquently do: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Affiliate marketing has always icked me out a bit, (as does marketing in general 🙈🙉🙊) but I figured if people are asking me what I use often enough, it would probably be easier to put everything on one page and then I only have to do it once!
Side note on feeling icky about marketing, if that resonates with you. It becomes a whole lot less scary when you realise it’s just a fancy way of saying “telling people about what I do.”
So I guess affiliate marketing is really just “telling people about what I use.” Or at least that’s what it should be. All too often it is “telling people what I got paid to say I use.” It’s not the getting paid part that’s the problem; it helps keep the iPad charged, after all! It’s that a lot of the time we see big influencers telling us about some barely on brand product that they now can’t live without and it just feels fake. It’s not the type of conversation I want to be having with you in my YouTube videos or my Instagram posts. We wouldn’t chat like that in real life. If you and I were sat in a coffee shop doodling on our iPads together over a latte or two, I wouldn’t be sat there telling you to go buy everything I was using!
However, you might at some point ask me where I got my cool drawing board or screen protector from, or if you were hanging out in my office, the first thing you’d probably say (because everyone does!) is “where if you get that cool chair?!” And then I’d tell you. So if you’ve ended up on this page, it’s probably because we just had either of those conversations in the virtual coffee lounge that is Instagram or YouTube!
Rest assured there are hundreds of products/services/tools that I use/have used and could have shared links (affiliate or otherwise) for here, but if they haven’t lived up to the hype, aren’t genuinely useful, if I’ve ended up replacing them, if I don’t love them or if they were just one of my ADHD impulse buys that didn’t stand the test of time (hello ADHD Tax!) then you won’t find them here!
Lastly, if it’s a book I’ve mentioned, go check your local library first! That’s where I get the majority of my books from unless I know I’ll want to keep it forever (I’m talking about you, The Complete Book of Flower Fairies!)
Libraries are awesome. Fact.
Most have apps where you can search and request books and lots also have audiobook apps too! Free books = ❤️
Artist Tools and Resources: Making the Art itself
Procreate
I’d like to say I was an avid sketchbooker and show you a pretty stack of my notebooks, but the truth is I almost entirely digital these days! All the art I make starts out in Procreate. Why do I love Procreate so much? Well firstly it’s the only software I’ve used that doesn’t feel like software! It genuinely feels like drawing in a sketchbook to me and I think that’s why I ended up not using my real sketchbooks anymore! Secondly, as they themselves proudly boast, they are not a subscription based software and that is something to be applauded and cherished these days!
iPad Pro and Apple Pencil
I’ve been an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil user since 2016 (I think!) and I can honestly say it changed my life! Back then I was running a calligraphy and hand lettering business and it was a complete game changer being able to switch Tombows, stacks of paper and hours spent cleaning up scanned artwork for drawing digitally in procreate with the Apple Pencil!
My current iPad is an M1 12.9″ iPad Pro and I use the Apple Pencil 2nd Generation. I have the 1TB model so that I can take advantage of the extra RAM and therefore higher layer limit in Procreate. For example on a 6000x8000px canvas at 300dpi you can get 34 layers. On my previous iPad Pro I would have to split large illustrations over several different canvases and flatten parts as I went.
iPad Case
Tech that’s not in a protective case scares me, like, a lot! I have not and wouldn’t ever not have my phone and iPad in protective cases (and a glass screen protector on my phone!) at all times! That said though, sometimes a big flappy case on your iPad can be a bit annoying. I have this one which comes with a slimline protective case for the iPad which you can detach for drawing or filming. It attaches to the outer folio case with magnets. You can have it stood up either way which is something I really like and it all folds up nicely to keep your Apple Pencil and screen safe when you’re stashing it in your handbag!
Astropad Darkboard
I’ve been a big fan of Astropad since 2019 when I used their Luna Screen mirroring usb-c attachment to transform my iPad into a drawing tablet. When I’m drawing at home I use my iPad with an Astropad Darkboard. It’s kind of like one of those foamy iPad cases that are made for kids, but a lot bigger and made specifically to make drawing on your iPad more comfortable!
I love sitting curled up on the sofa to do my drawing, but I do get a lot of neck ache with my head tipped down towards my iPad for hours on end. Just having it lifted up a few inches to a better height for drawing makes such a big difference. Do what I did before I bought it: Sit down with your iPad in your drawing position, then use both hands to lift your iPad about 4 inches higher up and feel how much lighter your head feels on your neck and how much more comfortable it is! Your head weighs about 4kg and the less it is tilting downwards and forwards, the more comfy you will be! That was all the convincing I needed to purchase this!
Your iPad will sit flush with the board so you have a much wider space to rest your drawing hand. I also find I don’t need to use my other hand to hold the board, whereas with just my iPad only lap, I’d need to hold it to keep it steady. It comes with a stand to use it at a desk either at a low angle for drawing or upright for typing. I’m in the UK, so the shipping fees put me off a little bit, but when I compared it with buying it from Amazon, it was actually cheaper to get it direct from Astropad and there were no potential hidden customs charges which Amazon couldn’t guarantee. Packages are shipped to the UK with a delivery service with covers all customs charges, so no hidden surprises. I also got Astropad’s Rock Paper Pencil Screen Protector and Apple Pencil ballpoint tips, but I haven’t properly tried those yet so I can’t say whether I like them or not! I do know that I love my Darkboard! (Even if my Gen Z daughter laughs at me for looking like an overgrown iPad Kid with it 😂)
Artist Tools and Resources: Drawing Gloves
These are a life saver for me in summer! When it’s all hot and humid and your hand is sticking to the iPad screen it’s really difficult to draw smoothly! The pretty ones I use in my videos are actually made by me! I got a 48 square cheater quilt in sport lycra from Spoonflower and used my old glove to make a template and sew my own!
Amazon doesn’t sell the one I have anymore (made by Mudder), but it’s basically the same as this one by Huion although I’ve not personally tried that one.. If you have smaller hands (like me) then one without finger tips on like this one (again, I’ve not tried that one!) might be better for you if you don’t want flappy extra bits on the end of the fingers! Drawing gloves are suitable for both lefties and righties, and should be worn on your pinky and index finder, NOT on your thumb and index finger like I have seen someone do before (as a joke, I’m hoping!)
Brushes and Textures
Obviously I’m going to give my Pattern Maker Canvas a shout out here! The brushes in this set are pretty much all I use for my digital art and every pattern I make uses the diamond canvas to get it sketched out.
Another creator whose brushes and canvases I love is Lisa Glanz. I love her Nitty Gritty Brushbox and Aqua Real sets so much! Those aren’t affiliate links, I just really love them!
Other Software
As much as I am morally opposed to the concept of Software as a Service, I am a slave to Adobe Photoshop for processing all my digital artwork, creating mockups and creating print on demand assets. I also use Adobe Illustrator for creating graphics for my website and social media and Premiere Pro for editing my videos.
One little gem I want to make you aware of is GIMP. It’s kind of like a less fancy version of Photoshop. I survived with just GIMP and Inkscape (a free vector art software for desktop) for a long time before I was ready to shell out on Adbobe products! A feature the GIMP has which I LOVE (and that Photoshop doesn’t have!) is that it’s perfect for making seamless textures to use in your surface pattern designs. I’ve got a tutorial on that here if you want to find out more!)
Artist Tools and Resources: Social Media/Marketing/Productivity
It’s a sad truth that a big portion of making a living as an artist isn’t actually making the art itself! In an ideal world we’d all make enough to be able to afford to hire an assistant to do this part for us so that we could make even more art and even more money but that’s not realistic for most of us (we can dream though!)
However, although we might not be able to afford to outsource just yet, there are a few services/tools which you can use that almost make things feel like they’ve been outsourced for a fraction of what it would cost to pay another human to do them for you!
Tailwind
My main marketing strategies are Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. My life saver for streamlining most of this process is Tailwind.
I’ve been using it since 2018 and I honestly credit my reach and success with Pinterest to it! It’s like having a marketing assistant! Its the best method I’ve found for scheduling Pins and Instagram posts, I use it to create graphics for my website in seconds and it even has an Ai ghostwriter which I use to help me with a rough draft for descriptions for my YouTube videos. I did have a period of about 6 months where I tried using Planoly instead because it was cheaper, but it didn’t do half of what I needed, took longer to do it, and I ended up going back to Tailwind even while I was still paying for the remainder of the unused subscription with Planoly. I don’t think I’ll ever cheat on Tailwind again!
Email Marketing
If you’re just getting started on building an email list (and I strongly recommend that you do!) then I suggest starting with an easy to use, free service like Mailchimp. Getting started for free is always a good thing! I used Mailchimp to get the hang of email marketing until I hit the 500 subscriber limit and up until that point I was very happy with it.
When I then had to either upgrade or find a new provider, a thing that I didn’t like was that I was going to have to keep upgrading (paying more) every time I hit a new subscriber threshold, and after a while it would get quite pricey!
I looked at other providers who either weren’t as easy to use or also had various subscriber thresholds with costs that slowly added up over time.
I decided to go with Flodesk because it’s a beautiful platform with gorgeous templates, it has a simple and uncluttered interface (read: neurodivergent friendly!) and best of all its a one tier price plan with no subscriber limits. I got 50% off my first year (Thanks, Jenna Kutcher!) and you can also get 50% off your first year with this link.
Artist Tools and Resources: Content Creation
This is where it gets meaty as this whole area requires a lot of stuff to get the content made! It’s also probably the ares in which I have wasted the most amount of money over the years on products that didn’t live up to the hype! I wish I’d had someone to tell me all the things that *didn’t work* before I spent my money!
The first thing I wasted my money on was a DSLR camera for filming. I thought I’d get better/more professional looking footage with one, but I found myself going back to my iPhone! Admittedly it’s a pro max model, but it’s so much easier to use and records better video than the DSLR! It’s also loads lighter and easier to attach to tripods for top down filming. Which brings me to my next waste of money.
Phone Clamps for top down filming
Those bendy gooseneck clamps for timing top down shots with your iPhone. Mostly they are going to be attached to the table you’re working on, meaning that every little wobble and movement in the table get’s wobbled up to the phone too. Also, if you’re using the iPhone mic for sound, all those vibrations travel up the arm too! This can be minimised by attaching it to something other than the table you’re working at. My preferred tripod for top down filming though are these sturdy metal ones from Amazon.
I use one for my mic and one for my phone. The arms are designed for mics not phones, so I use these male to male adapter screws to that I can attach my phone to it using the holder from this set. I have several cheap iPhone holders kicking about the house and they all fit on to this using the standard size 1/4 inch screws.
These are also my preferred mic holders. I find that if I have mic on a stand that sits on the desk, vibrations and a background hum are picked up in the recording. But when I have it in this stand and off the desk, there’s no background hum.
Lighting
Space, price and versatility were governing factors for my lighting! I don’t have space for huge lights or the budget really. I also want to be able to use the sea lights for filing talking heads and top down iPad tutorials. The Elgato Key Light Mini ticks all these boxes for me. I can attach them magnetically above my iPad (to an Ikea Sunnersta rail + metal shelf, although sadly I think these are now made of plastic) for top down filming.
They also attach to tripods and with the male to male screws I previously mentioned, I can add fix them to my phone holder and teleprompter for filming talking head videos too. Talk about versatile! I currently have two, but I am considering getting couple more for side lighting my top down shots since my office is now so dark with the new blinds that we have (to stop the dog spotting cats out of the window and growling at them all day! 🙄🐶💙)
Microphones
I think the voiceovers for all my Youtube videos and all but the very first Skillshare class I made were recorded with my Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic. I’m really happy with the sound quality and don’t intend on upgrading it.
Mine is upside down here in the photo, just because that’s how I use it in the mic arm that I use it with. It does come with a mini tripod stand that you can stand on the desk, but as I said, I find that hum and vibrations travel up through the legs, so any mic is better off the desk, especially if you have a whirring computer or laptop on it.The mic arm that I use it with comes with an adapter that will allow you attach the Blue Snowball to it and also a pop filter and mic cover which are deigned to fit this mic too.
Lapel Mic
You might have seen me use a lapel mic in some of my YouTube or Skillshare videos, but I’m not recommending it here! I don’t use it anymore because the sound quality just isn’t as good as the Blue Snowball. So that’s the one I use for everything now. I’d rather have a big mic in shot and have better sound!
iPad Screen Protector
For me these are a necessity when filming. I plan on writing a whole separate post on these, but long story short, I prefer drawing without one, but if I film without one, I end up getting that glare/screen flicker thing happening. A textured screen protector will help by slightly diffusing the light coming out of your iPad and minimise reflections too. Top Tip: Try to avoid black dark screens/backgrounds while filming as these will reflect your face/camera the most. You know what Im talking about… those shots where you lean too far over and get an unflattering up your nose shot reflected back in the iPad screen. White/light backgrounds will help minimise this. I try to always make sure I use Procreate with the light interface when I’m filming! The screen protector I currently use for filming is this magnetic one. Like I said, I don’t love it and prefer drawing without a screen protector, but it is good for filming which is why I’m recommending it here in the content creation section and not in the making art section! I have recently bought a Rock Paper Pencil Screen Protector from Astropad which comes with some special ballpoint Apple Pencil Tips. I am hoping that this would be nicer to draw with and therefore cover both bases. I haven’t tested it out yet, but I’ll update this section when I do.
Teleprompter
OK, this is probably the single biggest game changer for me in terms of going from hating making talking head videos to actually quite enjoying filming them. I struggle with parallel processing. I just physically can’t keep the next line of a script in my head or even ad lib at the same time as worrying about what expression my face is making, what my hands are doing and whether I’m even looking at the camera while I speak. Before I got my teleprompter it took me almost a whole day to film a quick intro video, one line at a time. Hideous! But, with a teleprompter, I can look right at the script I have planned, read it and feel 1000x more relaxed about it. Admittedly, it doesn’t make for such a good blooper reel, but I’m fine with that! I’m not the only one who feels like this. Loads of other Skillshare Top Teachers rave about their love for teleprompters any time we talk production in the Slack group!
I use the Glide Gear TMP100 and I like it because it has an attachment to film with either a smartphone or DSLR. I use my iPhone for filming but it’s nice to have both options for if I was ever fancy enough to be able to hire a videographer with a fancy camera! There are screws on the side that I can attach my Elgato Key Light Mini to, so no need for separate tripods for those when I film. It’s quite a hefty setup so I recommend a sturdier tripod for this. I use an old, seawater damaged one that my dad gave me (previously used for bird spotting!) It’s a solid metal one and there’s no risk of it tipping over. I do have a light weight tripod which I use when I only have my phone on it, which if I was using that with the teleprompter, I’d add some extra weight to the base to give it a bit more stability. Most tripods have a hook you can hand some extra weight to for this exact purpose!
The teleprompter app that I use is Prompt Smart Pro. (Not an affiliate link, it’s just the best one I’ve used!) I’ve used a few different free ones which work kinda ok. There are some apps that will film you with the text on screen so you don’t need the physical teleprompter equipment, but they don’t make use of the iPhone’s full camera depth/cinematic mode, so I wan’t happy with those really. Things I like about Prompt Smart are that it’s a one time payment app (although there is a premium upgrade subscription, but I don’t use that.) And that it has a voice activated scroll. So if you go off on a little tangent while you’re talking, it will wait for you to get back on script and then carry on with you. Handy!
Music
I use Uppbeat Premium for all the music in my videos. (Very occasionally it’s music I’ve made myself using Garage band, but that’s only for fun creative animation projects like these!) I like Uppbeat because you can get started for free if you only need a few tracks per month and want to see what it’s like. You can get an Uppbeat credit to add to your video description to avoid claims. If you have a premium account you get unlimited downloads of music and sound effects and can get your Youtube channel whitelisted against any claims. My favourite artists are All Good Folks, Andre Rossi, Tobias Voight, and Soundroll.
Artist Tools and Resources: Other things I use Every Day
My Magic Spinny Chair! aka Pipersong Meditation Chair
I’m not gonna lie I bought this chair purely on the recommendation of Peggy Dean saying it was great for ADHD fidget sitters! And the is 100% correct. I am a person who can’t sit still, loves to sit cross legged at the table and move from side to side. This chair has me covered! Yes it’s pricey, I won’t deny that but I can quite happily sit in hyperfocus mode at my desk for 4-6 hours so a comfy chair is a good investment for me. You can get the chair either direct from Pipersong or sometimes it’s available from Amazon which is where I got mine.
External Hard Drives
I’m a BIG believer in backing up your work in several different places, especially if you rely on it for your livelihood. I’ve got a video here which shows how I connect my external hard drives directly to my iPad for backing up my Procreate files or opening old archived files when I’m somewhere with no internet connect (I have 3 altogether now!) and I use this cable to connect them to my iPad and also my iMac which only has USB-C ports PAXO 0.5m Nylon USB C-MICRO USB 3.1 (USB 3.0) Hard Drive Cable, 5Gbit/s, USB HDD Cable, Data Cable, Charging Cable black, USB C male to Micro B male These work with the iPad/iMac that I have. PLEASE CHECK THAT THEY WILL ALSO WORK WITH YOURS BEFORE PURCHASING! You will need to use/one time borrow an iMac to format the hard drive before you can use it with your iPad.
That’s all I have for you for now! If you can’t find the link for anything you were hoping to find here, then give a shout in a DM over on Instagram!
