We share five new - or updated - tools that will improve your life if you are an illustrator.
It's June! You know what that means? It's time for another round-up of my favorite illustration tools. You guys are probably too busy with a logo design or your latest mood board to keep tabs on the latest apps and tools, but that's why we're here here to help.
Some of these are completely new, and some are new to me. So without further delay, let's take a look at our best new illustration tools for June.
These soft pastel sticks will make your drawings pop. Available in colorful cardboard boxes, or hardwood boxes with brass hardware, these sets will have you dreaming about your work. If you're a pastel artist, I highly encourage you to take a look at this new item offered by Dick Blick Art Materials. Sets are available in half sticks or a mixture of half (30) and full sticks (15).
Here's one for the digital artists: a full-featured illustration tool for Mac and iOS devices. This vector drawing software includes bezier pens, pencils and brush tools. Not only can this software be used for illustrations, but it's a great tool for technical illustrators too. With Graphic's customizable grid and smart-alignment guides, you can create detailed technical designs, floor plans and schematics.
While this isn't technically a 'tool', I think it's crucial to recognize the importance of keeping your skills up-to-date. One of the ways I do this is by utilizing online learning. My favorite? SVSLearn.com, founded by Will Terry and Jake Parker. SVS offers two ways to learn: Live and Recorded classes. The classes are taught by a variety of teachers like Jake Parker, Lee White, Dave Malan and Denis Zilber.
This LED lamp offers three different lighting modes: cool outer lights, warm inner lights, or a combination of the two. The eco-friendly LED, which produces limited heat, lasts longer and is more energy-efficient than a standard CFL bulb. If you're looking for something to properly light your studio, this one works well.
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Any of the Livescribe 3 Pens are well worth it. They all work with Android and iOS, but my favorite is the Livescribe 3 Smartpen Moleskine Edition. With this pen, I'm able to write on the Moleskine pages and have it instantly appear on my device. Using the Livescribe+ mobile app, I can then tag and search my converted text. While it's not perfect (and might be a little buggy), it's definitely an option for those who like to write on paper.
Well that does it for this month's round-up. If you have any tools that you use or would like to recommend something, let us know in the comments.
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Tammy is an independent creative professional, author of Apple Game Frameworks and Technologies, and the maker behind the AdventureGameKit – a custom SpriteKit framework for building point and click adventure games. As an innovative problem solver and industry leader, Tammy enjoys working on projects from content creation – including books, tutorials, videos, and podcasts – to the design and development of cross-platform applications and games. For Creative Bloq, she has written about an array of subjects, including animation, web design and character design.
