Resources
this page is a work-in-progress and probably always will be
I like the idea of abolishing “secret recipes.” When we share the tools we use, the methods we follow, and the resources we’ve had access to, we expand the communities we value and invite the same transparency from others.
I believe deeply in demystifying process. I hope sharing the tools I use and the way I work will help empower others to make things themselves.
At the same time, I believe we shouldn’t elevate tools to aid gatekeeping. There’s almost nothing that can only be accomplished in a single way, and so experimentation and flexibility are core to my approach, too. You should never feel you can’t participate in something because you can’t afford a tool or resource - especially in art making. The resources listed here are not essential to anything I do - I just like using them - the only essential piece is us.
| Hardware | Notes |
|---|---|
| My Windows Computer, dubbed COMPUBOT: | Started life as a refurbished ACER N50-600 (very ugly) that I took apart and made into a cute yellow robot. PC’s Current Guts: - Intel Core i7-8700 - 32gb RAM (Corsair Vengeance, DDR4 3200) - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6gb) - Running Linux Mint (with a backup drive with Windows 11, when I need it) - 2TB M.2 SSD (Linux Mint System & Main Files) - 120GB SATA SSD (Windows Drive) - 10TB USB3 External Drive for Backup |
| Monitor | BenQ PD2700U |
| Keyboard | ZSA Voyager I use this split keyboard because I was getting pretty bad hand pain from using a Logitech MX Keys at home and a standard Apple keyboard at work. I also started typing using the Colemak layout which has been a huge help despite slowing me down. Qwerty is so uncomfortable to go back to now. |
| Mouse | Logitech MX Master |
| iPad Pro | 2020 12.9" Apple Pencil with the Astropad Rock Paper Pencil tip and screen protector. |
| iMac (at work) | 27" 2017 iMac |
| Software | 📝 Notes, 🖥️ Platform & 💸 Cost to me |
|---|---|
| For Art Making | |
| Affinity Suite | 📝 Photo, Designer and Publisher 🖥️ Windows 11, MacOS & iPadOS (and Linux via this helpful tutorial and scripts) 💸 $139.99 CAD (one-time fee, on sale at launch of Affinity 2.0) |
| Adobe Creative Cloud | 📝 Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects I still use Adobe for work, but I’m both finding the software becoming less and less stable and the company becoming less and less likeable. This is pushing me to use Affinity more, and makes me hesitant to ever invest as much time into a single software platform as I did with Adobe ever again. 🖥️ Windows 11, MacOS 💸 Paid for by my work (so free for me). |
| Blender | 📝 for 3D modelling, rendering, and animation. 🖥️ Windows 11, MacOS 💸 Free, Open-Source Software |
| Procreate | 📝 for digital drawing and painting - this has completely become my default way of drawing digitally. 🖥️ iPad 💸 $4.99 (one-time fee, bought in 2011 and amazingly still getting updates and support for free) |
| Rough Animator | 📝 for quick, simple hand-animation. It’s an ugly and versatile application. 🖥️ iPad 💸 $7.90 (one-time fee, bought in 2020) |
| For writing, note-taking and planning | |
| Obsidian | 📝 for notes, writing, project planning, moodboards and lots more. I’m using it to format the markdown text generating the tables I’m using on this page, actually! 🖥️ Windows, Mac, iOS, iPadOS 💸 Free |
| For IT or other “tech” needs | |
| FreeFileSync | 📝 Utility I use to manage backups and to keep files in sync. 🖥️ Linux Mint, Windows 11, MacOS 💸 Free, Open-Source (paid $5 to support the project) |