Paper

For figure drawing I prefer having a hard cover A4 sketchbook with big spirals. For white drawings I use high-quality acid-free paper, mostly the smooth heavyweight paper of Daler-Rowner (220 gsm). It is durable and has a very professional look in case you want to sell your originals at some point later in your life. My favourite one is grey toned paper because of the possibility to have special white highlights. I use The Grey Book of Hahnemühle (120gsm) in light grey. 

Sketch

For my sketches I use the Pentel GraphGear 1000 which is the silver pencil on the picture. I tried a few others before, but none of those were that durable and comfortably sitting in the hand. I prefer the 0.5mm lead size, but the pencil is available in lots of other sizes.  The Pentel pencil is made out of brushed steel which lets it appear valuably. A great advantage is that the metal lead sleeve retracts completely to protect lead and sleeve, you only have to press down the pocket clip.

Ink Work

For inking I use pens from Pigma Micron by Sakura. I prefer the 005 size for details and lighter shading. When it comes to darker shading and outlines I use the 01 size. Micron pens have a very smooth ink flow and even the thinnest ones have very durable nibs when you aren’t stippling that often. Pigma Micron has accompanied me on my art journey ever since the first day. 

White Highlights on grey paper

For the highlights in my grey artworks I use the Gelly Roll White pens of Sakura. In the 1980s Sakura was the first brand producing a gel-based ink and invented the gel pen. The Gelly Roll pens have a brilliant white and a very smooth ink flow like all Sakura pens. I normally prefer the 08 medium size for most of my drawings. I can strongly recommend trying out toned paper combined with those white Gelly Roll pens. You can see it in more detail in the picture shown when you click it.