Studio Gear

Because people ask, here is a page listing what I use in the studio. Not necessarily endorsements — most of this stuff was not acquired after long testing and research. Often, I simply find something that works for me and stick with it. Remember: The tools matter and they don’t matter.

Analog Desk

(If you’ve read Steal Like An Artist, you know I divide my workspace into analog and digital desks. More about why in the book.)

Notebooks

Zequenz flexible notebooks. I hesitate to list these here, because they’ve been known to fall apart, but people always ask, so this is the kind I use for my diaries. (They sent me a bunch of them years ago, and I just kept using them.)
Moleskine Daily Diary. This is the notebook I’ve used to keep a daily logbook for over a decade. My logbooks are invaluable to me—easier to keep than a diary and way more helpful. I like the smaller hardcover, but you can also get a bigger hardcover.
Leuchtturm1917 pocket notebooks. These are small enough that they fit in my shirt and jeans pockets, and they take a beating. I carry one everywhere. (Pro tip: sometimes you can get the calendars this size on mega clearance — then I just scribble over the calendar part.)
5 Year Diary. Designed by the brilliant Tamara Shopsin. I write a quote in mine every day.
Aqua Notes. They might seem goofy, but I get a lot of ideas in the shower, and nine out of ten of them are bad, but that one that is good, well, it’s worth having something you can write it down on.
Rite in The Rain waterproof notebooks. I use these by the side of the pool.
Legal pads, sticky notes, index cards. No brand loyalty here. Get what’s cheap.

Pencils

In general, I like soft lead that can get really black.

Musgrave 600 NEWS. My favorite pencil for marking up books.
Blackwings. My second-favorite pencil. Great for sketching, perfect for making notes in books. Sometimes I like to just sharpen them and sit around and sniff ‘em.
Mitsu-Bishi 9852EW HB – I ordered these completely based on the case and now they’re my favorite for writing in notebooks. I like to saw/break one in half, sharpen the jagged edges, and wrap them in the elastic of my pocket notebook.
Prismacolor Ebony pencils. These things are chunky and thick and black. I use them to mark up books, but I also use them to shade backgrounds in my diary comics.
Carl. Angel-5 pencil sharpener. This thing gets pencils super sharp and it makes any desk more cheerful.
Derwent pencil extenders

Pens & ink

Pilot G2 Bold. My favorite overall writing pen. I’m a weirdo: I don’t like to write longhand with less than 1mm of ink.
Lamy Safari fountain pen. I avoided fountain pens for years, but I love writing my morning pages with this one. It flows.
Pentel Sign Pens. Thick lines!
Paper Mate Flair Pens. Ubiquitous, easily stolen from any office supply closet. Looks great on thin Moleskine pages.
Sharpie Fine Point markers. Again, ubiquitous. I go through a lot of these. (Here’s how to break them in.)
~~Sharpie Paint Pens. These are wild and unpredictable. What I use to letter the headlines in my books.~~
Posca Paint Markers. Much better than the Sharpies.
Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I draw and write in my diary every day with these. They are easy and elegant and they have refills and they last forever. (More about their magic and how I make CMYK colored brushes out of them.)
LAMY fountain pen ink. This is what I use in the brush pens. It’s nice and fluid and doesn’t clog them.
Pelikan Highlighter Ink. For yellows in brush pens.

Cutting, pasting, folding, etc.

Cutting mat. I keep one of these on my desk to protect my desk.
UHU glue sticks. Simply the best glue sticks. Perfect for collage.
X-acto basic knife set. Perfect for cutting up magazines for collages. Easy to swap replacement blades.
Fiskars bone folder. For the perfect crease!
Fiskars scissors.
Trodat Professional date stamp. If you read my newsletter, you know how much I love my date stamps. This one is big and heavy and makes a satisfying KER-CHUNK sound when you use it.
Rubik’s Cube. For sitting and thinking.
Cigarette pencil. For sitting and thinking.
Smith-Corona Galaxie 60s typewriter
Gosky Spotting Scope. For watching owls.
The American Heritage Dictionary.
Roget’s Thesaurus. A real one.

Digital Desk

Apple 27-inch Studio Display. Hideously expensive. Absolutely gorgeous to use. Has changed my digital life more than any other gear.
Apple Mac Studio. Again, stupidly expensive, but handles whatever I throw at it.
iPad Pro. Not really a real laptop replacement for me, but it works fine most of the time for travel, and you can plug it into the Studio Display if need be.
Rode Podcaster mic + Apple iPhone in a cheap ring light tripod with Reincubate Camo software for Zoom calls.
Apple wired USB keyboard. Came with some ancient computer.
Logitech wireless mouse. Cheap.
Epson Perfection V500 Photo. I bought this 15 years ago and it still works.
Brother 2070N wireless laser printer. 15 years old, still works.
Kindle Paperwhite. I love paper, but I probably do half my reading on one of these. (There’s also a new version for kids.)