my favorite analog & digital creative supplies

the pens, pencils, notebooks, apps, and art tools i actually use almost every day

a tiny desk tour 👋

here is a list of supplies i use all the time! none of these are sponsorships or affiliate recommendations. these are simply the things i’ve reached for again and again while journaling, sketching, illustrating, designing, and generally making stuff.

welcome to my desk!

✏️ analog desk

ah, yes… here we are again, at notebooks. the tried and true… the dependable… moleskine. 🥹

notebooks

Moleskine :: i have been using “Moleskine” brand journals for my entire liiiiifeee, i love them so much the pages are the perfect color not too bright white. They’re like a slightly yellow like a vanilla color. They’re not yellow, but they’re not white and it’s not cold toned paper.

i am so obsessed with these notebooks my instagram username got a while was @moleskinesandmania hahahahaha. my favorite is their A5 size that they call Large size. the softcovers and hardcovers are perfect depending on if you’re putting them inside a cover/traveler’s notebook system. (if it doesn’t have a protective cover i usually opt for their hardbacks, those things are a brick!)

pens

Pigma Micron :: i’ve been using pigma microns for like 20 years lol. but only recently got hooked on the “PN” (plastic nib) versions of them.

i love the bouncy feel to the plastic nib, it’s like a slightly more structured felt tip pen! love it. pigma microns replaced sharpie fineliners when I originally found them... i didn’t know about archival ink back then. :’)

Zebra Mildliners :: i have been using zebra mildliners for two decades as well, through my whole bullet journaling and book annotation journey.

pencils

Blackwing :: i’ve very very recently seen the light on Blackwing pencils. i didn’t understand until i actually used one. then it was the only pencil i wanted to pick up! i used to be a diehard mechanical pencil girlie to sketch and draw with but no longer! Blackwing (or pen lol) girlie for life!

i even have their dumb fancy pencil sharpener. why am i this way, it was like $30 for no reason. but i love it and the weight and metal make me sensory happy.

using a pencil in general/at all and adopting analog art again, not only being digital-only. sketching in pencil first encourages me to start rough, messy, and imperfect!!! it takes the pressure off, such as when i start with pen or go straight to digital art with no sketch.

💻 digital desk

tools that changed me though? my ipad and apple pencil changed my life for my art! it became so fun for me with these tools, and i even used to have the fancy Wacom 21UX graphics tablet hooked up to my old HP microsoft computer. it pales in comparison to an ipad!!! (retina display screen foreverrrr!)

iPad + Apple Pencil

M1 iMac & Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, Photoshop

app honorable mentions: Canva (app and web-based graphic design), Pixaki (pixel art), InShot (video editing).

why these?

a quick section explaining what each tool originally replaced for me, way back when.

mmm… i never really used to be a brand snob and then i found something my neurodivergent brain liked and then never stopped buying it lmao.

• Sharpie Fine → Pigma Microns

• cheap ass neon highlighters → Zebra Mildliners

• spiralbound or composition notebooks → Moleskine journals

• mechanical pencils!!! → Blackwing pencils

• big ole Wacom tablet → iPad + Apple Pencil

that’s the tour ✨

i’m sure these favorites will change over time, but this is the current state of my desk.

if you’re curious about anything i use that i didn’t mention here, let me know and i’ll happily nerd out about stationery stuff + tech accessories with you. 🤓