Resources for Creatives
The tools you need to grow your creativity and succeed. These are products or services I use personally or have tried and highly recommend.
Microphones
This is the home recording condenser mic I use myself. Its sound quality is superb. Its fantastic for its price as far as condenser studio mics go and its got a 'surround sound' recording feature so you can stick the mic in the middle of the room and have the band play around it and it picks everything up. Great for acoustic band YT videos on the quick and easy.
(AWESOME HOME RECORDING MIC)
This is a stage condenser mic so you can technically use it to record vocals for YouTube videos as well and still get a great result. You may need phantom power to operate this mic and its more sensitive than the other two listed BUT for jazz voices with no edge, this picks up your mid-tones like a dream. Its literally PERFECT for my voice.
The new 'standard' dynamic mic. A better version of the Shure 57. Sound is clearer, crisper and its just as sturdy as the original.
(MIDDLE OF THE RANGE MIC)
The original Shure microphone. Was the go-to industry mic for the last 20+ years. I still have one and its sturdy and reliable BUT the Beta 87A is sooooo much better.
(THE LOWEST IN QUALITY YOU SHOULD GO WITH MICS)
Drawing Supplies
Faber Castell Coloured Pencils – Good old fashioned colouring pencils that do a good job.
Faber Castell Graphite Sketch Pencils – for cool looking sketches with depth.
Faber Castell Pastel Pencils – My fave brand for pastel pencils. Go on smooth and don’t break when you sharpen them (well, much….)
If you need multiple Pastel Pencils in the same colour it is cheapest to get them HERE (for Australia) as they are around $3.80 per pencil for bulk buys when I checked last.
Prismacolor Pencils – Super creamy pencils for creating bold colour. You’ll love how them feel on paper. So smooth! I really love these - about the same as the Faber Castell Coloured Pencils... maybe a tiny bit more. haha.
Canson Pastel Matte Paper Assorted Colours – The best paper to use with pastels. Try different colours to see which one suits you the best. I still draw on white but drawing on a darker colour really makes the pastels POP! You also spend more time shading skin that way.
Canson Pastel Matte Paper Larger Size, Grey Tones – Same as above but larger in size.
Faber Castell Sharpener for Pastels and Graphite – Ok, if you use pastel pencils you will go through sharpeners like crazy (unless you sharpen with a knife, which I don’t). This one fits the pastel pencil range above and gets a super fine point. Just buy a million because they get blunt quickly.
Faber Castell Compass – If you invest in a compass, trust me, don’t get a cheap one otherwise it will move mid-circle and ruin the circle. This one is affordable and doesn’t move.
Faber Castell Eraser Pen With Refills – I use my eraser pen WAY more than a regular eraser because I do such detailed work. Faber Castell erasers don’t leave smudge marks and erase cleanly. There’s nothing worse than a crap eraser that makes more mess than it removes.
Faber Castell Regular Eraser – Good regular rectangular eraser that works and doesn't smudge.
PS: Yes I love Faber Castell. I’ve tried other quality brands but keep going back to them because they are just so good for a reasonable price.
Creative Classes
Domestika – For inexpensive tutorials focusing on one specific project at a time. I have done several, but my fave so far was the Mads Berg class on Art Deco illustration.
Other places you can learn how to do stuff for free include:
Adobe Behance Live Stream – Watch some amazing artists do their thing live.
Adobe Creative Cloud Tutorials – For learning how to use the suite of Adobe products (ie Photoshop…)
Tech
DJI Osmo Pocket 3 - My Vlogging Camera. Small enough to fit into any handbag, it has a gimbal for smooth videoing, a mini tripod you can attach and can film in both vertical and horizontal at 4k. It's AWESOME.
Microsoft Surface Pro – Drawing tablet for PC users. Bonus – it doubles as a backup computer if your main one dies. Con – Microsoft is new to the hardware space so there is much room for improvement, especially the camera (which sucks).
SiteGuru - An AI powered platform that easily syncs with your website and gives you all the SEO recommendations you need to rank top of Google.
ActiveCampaign - My preferred emailing software for email newsletters with advanced autoresponder capabilities and excellent email delivery rates.
SiteGround - The host I personally use for my website. It comes with easy rollback, security plugins and speed features.
Home Recording
Ableton Live (Intro version) - I've tried a few DAWS and my fave is Ableton because... you can use it LIVE (hence the name).
If you're thinking of gigging and want some electronics in your sound, use Ableton. It will make translating the electronic sound you want to the stage so much easier that hiring a synth genius. This intro verison gives you pretty much the whole platform for basic music making. You will grow out of it though if you want to get into production but its a great starting point.
Ableton Live (Full version) - This is Ableton's latest version with all the features you need for professional level production. I use this myself and its awesome. Takes a bit to learn it but there are heaps of free videos on YouTube to show you how.
Presonus Audiobox - A soundcard you'll need for home recording. You plug your mics into this and then plug this into your computer. I've had my Presonus Audiobox for 15 years now and its still awesome. I do believe they have now discontinued this one but you can get a newer but similar model here.
Disclosure: Many of the links provided on this blog are affiliate links. I will be paid a commission if you use these links to make a purchase. This is at no additional cost to you and helps to support me make more art content. I will only ever recommend products that I have used myself.