Art Supplies & Related

Some of these could fit in other sections too, but I want to keep all my art uses in the same section. Organization & All.

Digital

• Krita - My main art software since 2015 & I haven't felt a need to switch since.
• XP Pen Innovator 16 - My main drawing monitor. It has a few quirks and I have to fight with the cable sometimes, but I like the large screen real-estate I get.
• Canoscan LiDE 400 - Scanner. I got this model because i wanted to use the scan-to-PDF functionality for zine making, but I never ended up doing so. I guess it's there if I ever need it at least.
• EPSON Expression - Evil printer. But alas, it's useful for printing blue lines and stickers.
• Canon MF656Cdw - Technically the family printer, but I'm pretty sure I've used it the most at this point for running copies of my Zines & other printables I find. Far less fussy than my epson.
• Inkscape - Vector-based drawing program.
• Blender - A newer addition to my toolkit. I like making low-poly character models.

Traditional

• Yasutomo Sumi Ink - Prefered dip pen ink. I've had mixed-experiences with india inks & found this worked better for my usecase. Black out of the bottle, doesn't clog my nibs as much, and dries flatter & less shiny. I also use this a lot in my study sketchbook
• Zebra G-pen nib - Favorite nib
• Smooth Bristol (any brand) - Favorite type of paper for inkworks. Though honestly I like inking on smoother papers & boards in general.
• Assorted Ink Brushes - For blocking in larger areas. Still prefer pens for the brunt of my linework
• I don't have a prefered watercolor paper yet...
• Windsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors - Prefered Watercolor set. Though I don't use them often outside of studies these days.

Sketching

• Pentalic Pocket Journal 6" x 8" - Current favorite sketchbook, since it works well with my fountain pens and it's easy to shove in bags for travel.
• Fountain Pens: LAMY Safari, Pilot explorer, TWSBI Eco. The latter is my current daily driver.
• Parker Quink - Main ink. Very water soluable unfortunately, but as someone who tends to be forgetful I still prefer it in the event I forget about a pen (which happens more often than I'd like to admit...)
• 9" x 12" Mixed-media sketchbooks (any brand) - While I don't use them as my main sketchbooks anymore, I like to keep them at my desk for doing studies.

Figurines / Custom Toys

• Apoxie clays - Aves Apoxy Sculpt is my favorite, but I've also been using Milliput. Both brands adhere to plastic really well, though you have to plan your sculpting sessions around the curing times.
• Polymer clay - Prefered for stand-alone sculptures for flexible working times (Some people use them for figure mods, but it's risky & you have to baby your piece to make sure your base doesn't melt). Right now I use original sculpey, but once I'm done with my current stash I'll likely move to something firmer like super sculpey
• Craft paints (varied brands) - Honestly? As long as you work in thin layers these will go a long way for figurines. A solid alternative to model paints if you're willing to be more patient with more finnicky colors.
• Liquitex Professional Gesso - Not nessesary for basecoating, but faster for priming than regular paint.
• Flat & angled brushes for base coating, a liner for finer details. I don't have brand prefrences, but I generally stick to synthetic brushes and avoid the ultra-cheap ones (the ones you find in megapacks tend to shed bristles and break more often).
• Duraclear Matte varnish - I prefer brush-on varnish (had too many bad experiences with spray varnishes).

Software

• Kubuntu - My current distro of choice. Mainly because I like the look of KDE Plasma and want a more 'stable' distro for art creation. I'm open to distro hopping but honestly? It just works. I still keep my Windows partition, but I'd rather just stick to Linux at this point.
• Firefox - My primary Browser. It's showing signs of wear & I'm looking at forks, but it's the lesser of evils compared to Chrome.
• Obsidian - My main notetaking and writing app. I like the high level of customizability it has compared to others I've used.
• 11ty - The static site generator I use to build this site.
• Kate - The text editor I use to code my website! I only left it because of bugs on Windows, but it's back to my main on Linux. Outside of that, it's a text editor. Not much else to say.
• Syncthing - Means of syncing files over a local network. I use this for my notes.
• KDE Connect - Useful for quickly sending files & clipboard stuff too & from my phone
• Strawberry Player - Music Player, a continuation of Clemintine player more focused on local collections.
• Akregator - RSS reader. Just a no-frills tool I use to keep up with smaller websites & news for the software I use.
• Open Tablet Driver - Main tablet driver. I mainly use it for the ability to swap out tablets without having to purge the drivers each time... and then my intuos died (rip). Still using it though.
• Kdenlive - My current main video editor. I make them so rarely that it's not worth using a paid software for me, and so far Kdenlive's working out alright.
• Beatoraja - Preferred BMS Client. Way easier to set up compared to LR2
• Anki - The flashcard program I've been using in my Japanese studies
• Manga OCR - OCR tool for Japanese optimized for Manga. Copies scanned text to the clipboard so you can use a texthooker + a pop-up dictionary with it.
• Yomininja - Another OCR tool optimized for games & hard-subbed content. Overlays text & makes it selectable onscreen.

Hardware

• Lenovo LEGION 5 - My main laptop. 2021 ryzen 7 5800H / nvidia RTX 3050 model
• Royal Kludge 60% Keyboard - Especially with my current set-up, having a smaller keyboard is helpful when I have to move things around. Having a smaller one seems daunting, but it's actually pretty intuitive once you get used to the shortcuts.
• Samsung Galaxy S10e - I'm clinging on to that headphone jack for as long as I can
• Sony Walkman (Forgot the model) - My DAP. Having a dedicated device for music has a lot of perks. I don't have to drain my phones battery to listen to music on longer trips, and I don't have to fuss with streaming services. Plus, I get to listen to HQ audio on the go.
• Gamo2 Phoenixwan - For BMS Play. I'll note down the configuration another day but I secured it in late 2024 with me wanting to continue with 7key games.
• Audio Technica M50xBT - Main headphones for home use. They have bluetooth support, but I mostly use them wired. (I've been dealing with bugs when streaming audion w/bluetooth on linux)
• ZST Earbuds - Main IEMs. Though I only use these on the go. Also handy for rhythm games (given they have an aux port or aux port mod)
• Nikon Coolpix - Camera. I only use it to film LPS videos these days. Not the most optimized for video making, but it keeps 10+ gigs of raw footage from clogging my phone.
• Modded 3DS XL - While it's not a device I use frequently (moreso whenever I fixate on a 3DS game for a month) I think it's neat to have on hand.

Other Recommends

Things not a part of my main uses, but I still recommend.

• Notepad ++ - Text editor I used for a breif period on Windows due to having issues with Kate there. But outside of that, it's a text editor, not much else to say.
• ShareX - The screenshotting tool. Gives you far more functionality like clipping gifs & some basic screen recording.
• Musicbee - The best music player I've used. Soundcloud support, plays tracker files, web radio all in one spot. There's no equivalent that I know of & was a hard one to let go when I moved off Windows.
• StartAllBack - Custom Windows taskbar. Lets you make the start menu useful (aka. bring back the win7 start menu)
• PowerToys - If you're stuck on Windows, PowerToys makes using Windows 11 slightly more tolerable with a few added features, like bulk image renaming & resizing, rebinding keys, and a 'spotlight search'. Why Microslop keeps this a separate program you have to install is beyond me.
• Netpass - 3DS service that lets you get streetpasses online. Handy during the post-3DS era. Requires a modded system. Not active anymore, but I usually hang around the arcade & train station.
• Blender - Learning. I think it'd be useful to have another non-illustration medium in my toolkit.