(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best erasers & correction products

You're such a good friend! The best way to get a quality pack of colored pencils is through a coupon at Michaels. Michaels ALWAYS has a 40% off coupon on one regular priced item (I've never seen their colored pencils on sale, they're one of those companies where like half the store is always "40% off"). But anyway, go to the coupon section on their website, I believe you'll have to type in your zip code, find that coupon, and you'll be able to hold it up on your phone at checkout. Worst case scenario, ask them about this coupon at check out, or if they have any others you don't know about (I did this one time and got an additional 20% of my total purchase, sale items or not. You may also have to sign up to be a member for these additional ones, but the 40% of a regular priced item one is always there for anyone I believe)

And then you can get them a really nice set of Prismacolor pencils! If you want to get her a little basket of goodies that I think any artists would enjoy I'd suggest kneeded erasers , and then a quality pencil sharpener. If she works in colored pencils I bet she'd love a high quality sharpener, I believe Prismacolor sells some too. Or if you see a a heftier, steel looking one in that section, even if it's hand held it's nice to have.

When it comes to art materials artists can be so choosey, particularly about canvases and brushes. And I bet she'd also just love a giftcard. I love Michaels and Amazon for low to medium quality products I need, but I'm sure you have a locally owned art store that has the higher quality, more specific materials. I would die of happiness if someone gave me a giftcard to mine.

If you have any more questions dm me! Hope it goes well!

Well, heres some tools I like to use and/or think might be a good choice for someone:

For sketching and whatnot this
pencil set is good.

Also Erasers and Blenders are useful

Charcoal pencils are cool too, but maybe not the best starting point. heres a link anyway

Oh, and drawing paper

I realize all this is getting expensive so maybe its best to get her this drawing set. The quality isn't as high in these complete sets, but it does gives her a wide variety of tools to experiment with. (including coloring pencils) The paper sucks in this set, so I would still probably get that separately.

The same folks also make a beginners set of acrylic here. Which seems pretty cool. Again though, it would probably be a good idea to get more paper. I've used this acrylic paper and it seems to be pretty good.


Also, If you want, it might be better to go for watercolor over acrylic.
If so, here is some decent stuff:

Paint or Cheaper Paint

Brushes

Paper

Well, that's all that springs to mind. Let me know if you have any questions that I might be able to answer.

Everyone is different and the process of learning to draw can be arduous, this is just based on what I have found.....

Tools are expensive for drawing, "good" pencils will not help that face you're drawing look good if you don't have a conceptual understanding of line, value, light, gravity and composition. It will look even worse if you cannot draw with purpose... That means practising drawing lines a lot! I started out drawing at 21 from scratch, so that meant filling page after page with lines at every angle and length, I thank myself now because drawing a straight line is something I do every day now, it helps to do it without thinking. An hour of practise is worth more than the extra money you spend on gimmicky hardware that claims it will make you an artist just by picking it up. HB pencils are free from IKEA and biros can be stolen from work, as can copy paper.

That being said some really good tools to have for learning to draw:

• Mechanical pencil is always a good tool, it won't break in your bag and you don't need to dispose of sharpening mess.
  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001J8CI1Q/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_nMScvb17VY2XH
  
• A good eraser is perhaps the only tool I'd spend money on to begin with (though if you're learning leaving mistakes on paper is good because you can torture yourself with them and learn by them).Faber-Castell GRIP 2001 Eraser Caps (Pack of 4) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00JN5C7LS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_BNScvb08HQVTX
  
• sketchbook - you can spend a lot of money on a sketchbook. This is where your skill comes in to play, don't spend more than you need to if you're filling pages with practise. It should be smooth and sturdy to withstand erasers and don't bother with special bleed proof pads. Your medium should match your tools here. A4 - 40 Sheet Cartridge Paper Spiral Sketch Pad https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000N3ZYMI/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_cQScvb1ZE2JNB
  
• books. Read and understand these, you will not regret practising all the excersises in these books till you know them backwards. Good reading includes: Drawing on the right side of the brain - Betty Edwards, Figure drawing for all its worth - Andrew Loomis, Perspective for Beginners - Numerous, and any books published by artists you respect or like the style of.
  
• youtube is a great resource, check out https://m.youtube.com/user/Sycra and https://m.youtube.com/user/markcrilley
  
  I would suggest just finding a quiet spot, getting one of these books, a few scraps of paper a cheap pencil or biro, and practising til your fingers bleed. But I am a masochist with zero talent who needs to practise all day. If you can draw something better than you did yesterday you're progressing.
  
  TLDR: Get Drawing on the Right side of the brain - Betty Edwards and do the excersises on copy paper from work and a cheap pencil.

For pencils I recommend the Mitsubishi Uni pencils, they lay down smooth and the darks almost look like ink. They're a bit pricey, but I think they're worth it. The full set goes from 10H-10B.

Those are what I generally use for more finished pieces. For gesture drawings and more loose pieces I like to go in with a Prismacolor Ebony pencil or a 2mm lead holder. The lead holder is especially great if you have a hard time loosening up and being more gestural. It's fat lead makes it hard to go directly into small details and just lets you focus on the gesture. This is the one I use, but you can find cheaper ones in big art stores or online.

For erasers, I like using a Prismacolor Peel-Off Magic Rub. I'm not sure why they're so expensive on Amazon, but some art stores sell them for under two dollars a piece. I also like the Tombow Mono Zero eraser for small details like highlights on hair and eyes. And, of course, a kneaded eraser for effects like clouds, mist, texture, etc..

I'm still on the hunt for the perfect sketchbook. I'm more of a mixed media artist, so I need something that holds up to ink, acrylics, graphite, watercolor, marker and whatever random objects I find on the side of the road. I've tried several brands and types of paper, but nothing has given me what I want.

Congrats on the new job!

Idk about you but I love cute pens! And writing with them is such a treat. Here's a set of cactus ones if you're obsessed like me, erasable milk pens, and sleek pokemon pens! Happy working/writing!

I'm exclusively a 0.5mm lead user.

My preference is a 2B or a 3B for smoothness, and I use Pentel Ain Stein lead. (Got a multi pack from 2B-4B for $12) It tends to write slightly darker than a standard lead, however, it does get used up much faster. This for me is not an issue since the difference at least in my hands is so much smoother.

There are many notebooks to choose from, maybe check out /r/notebooks but be warned your wallet might hate you. I like the Semi B5 size since it is without margins and if you write small it approximates the similar writing area for my personal use since I never used the margins in the 5 star notebook types. The lines in the maruman are very light and easy on the eyes. The paper is very heavyweight and thick. I typically find it hard to see through the pages so you can write on both sides without seeing lines pass through. The covers are a heavy duty plastic material and great for long term use.

I got these notebooks for archival purposes. I use them to write down engineering formulas and notes on designs -- things that I need to constantly reference and have handy. I paid about $8 each notebook with tax and shipping. Highly recommend them!

Here are the particular items I got so you can take a look:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017BDDZ7I - Kuru Toga

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HODH9QI - Leads

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OPQA7SK - Eraser (Don't buy the multi pack the erasers suck, but the holder is awesome. I took a Pentel Hi-Polymer eraser, and cut it up with a razor blade to shove on the sticks this thing comes with. Best eraser you can use! I also have the Pentel clic but it's not as good as the blocks since it's a harder polymer so it smears and doesn't erase perfectly.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00SWVXZ5G - Maruman Notebooks in Semi-B5

Also, shop around. Prices vary greatly for these items. Amazon may not be the cheapest, and sometimes Jetpens can be a huge ripoff so shop around before you buy!

The EPROMs I generally get from ebay or aliexpress. Their prices have gone up since the china tariffs hit, but can usually still be found for less than $1 a chip, especially if you buy in bulk. I do not have a particular seller that I buy from, just whatever is cheapest.

The 27c322 SNES Adapter boards can be purchased from mrTentacle on tindie. This guy is absolutely top notch, everything he sells is great. His products ship from Sweden, usually takes about 2 weeks to get to me in the US. He sells the 74HC257 chips as an add-on for the boards as well, but they can usually be found for cheaper if you're willing to look. A word of warning, the adapter boards have a steep learning curve. they have to be very thin in order to clear an official SNES cartridge, so they are fragile, and they require removing the plastic from the header pins to fit. I junked two of them before I was able to get one to work, but now I have the knack for it and haven't had further issues.

The GQ-4X is still considered the gold standard for repros, but I actually do not have one. I have a TL866PLUS, with this adapter. It is not fantastic but it gets the job done. One thing you will want to invest in if you give this another shot is a UV EPROM Eraser. A lot of the time the cheap junk from china still has data on the chip, causing it to appear faulty. A pass in the UV oven or two will remove that, and you'll be able to reflash the chip. This is also invaluable when you mess up, which I do frequently. That's why the chips have the quartz window in the front.

Hope this gives you a good launching point about where to start. Feel free to reach out if you ever have any questions. Having a big stash of donors means you can make a lot of mistakes and learn lots!

Every time I post a drawing, I always get a couple of PMs with people asking me what I use to draw. For my le'reddit doodles, I keep it pretty simple:

• Pencil:Straedtler Mars 780 Technical Mechanical Pencil I use HB lead almost exclusively for sketching the layout before I go to inks.
  
  
• Pens: Sakura "Microns" These have been my go to inking pens for years, they're a tried and true champ and they're pretty cheap. There's a lot of milliners out there but these are my favorites by far. For the reddit doodles I really only use the 08, 05, and 01 for the really fine lines.
  
  
• Sharpies and other stuff: I use a lot of Sharpies because they're cheap, typically just to do the thick black lines and fill in the big black spaces. However I also use a Sharpie White Paint Marker for reverse inking and minor corrections as well as Presto Correction Pens.
  
  

Nah, daiso's great - they have sailor gels, which are super rare in America and Europe (outside of Japanese stores ofc); you could probably make a decent amount of money actually by buying a few sailor gels (their grip is used in a ton of mods) and trading up from there. They also have ballsigns, although those are pretty common elsewhere (might be cheaper at daiso though, idk)

My local daiso doesn't actually have anything else that's used commonly, but they do have these and this, which I've been meaning to experiment with (the first has already gained a bit of recognition since they look like clear, miniature comssas, although since they're thinner they can't be used in any of the same ways)

There's a Polymer Beige Correction Tape listed on Amazon (see the customer reviews for photos of the actual color in action).

There's PaperMate Liquid Paper in Ledger Buff, also on Amazon.

And JetPens used to sell an off-white correction tape from Japan. It isn't currently listed for sale, but they have a fantastic customer service department, who I'm sure would be happy to tell you who makes it.

I will give you a list of the stuff I use most. In no particular order.

Good mechanical pencil,
Clear gridded ruler,
L square,
Pattern weights,
Pattern notcher (not essential but I am really glad to have one),
Good scissors used for only paper,
Rabbit hole punch (also not essential, but, I hang all my patterns and this just makes it easier),
Marker for labeling patterns,
A good eraser (I use this kind https://www.amazon.com/dp/B011J1WV0A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oCYEzbZ4SMZ5B ),
Tracing wheel,
Chalk paper

I think that is everything I use. It's been a while since I have done much pattern drafting.

You also might want a longer ruler, a yardstick or a 42" ruler.

This is the funniest prank I've ever seen. Sorry if anyone already posted these items, I'm too tired to check -

• Fluffy princess pens
  
• Some pink paper clips
  
• A pair of cute pink scissors
  
• Some pink baskets to hold everything
  
• Pink staples
  
• And a little baby pink stapler
  
• Thumbtacks
  
• A high heel tape dispenser
  
• Minnie Mouse stationary
  
• A princess planner
  
• Princess pens
  
• Glittery pencils
  
• Pink highlighters
  
• A pink letter opener
  
• A pink white out pen
  
• Pink markers
  
• A bright pink dry erase board
  
• To decorate the office
  
• To stay nice and hydrated
  
• Some more adorable decorations
  
• Pink paper
  
• Hello Kitty stationary
  
• A hello kitty clock
  
• A leopard Hello Kitty notebook
  
  pink is the new black!

Faber-Castell is an excellent brand, no worries there. So they like pencils? Moleskine and Paperblanks sell nice sketchbooks. Fixative is a good idea. And erasers, like kneading erasers and pen erasers are useful.

I love these scented erasers which they also have in tea scent. And since I'm addicted to activity books, there's always the dot book which looks fun. I'm also obsessed with food and baking stuff like these amazing egg presses which I use to make rice balls or these squeeze bottles used to decorate cakes and cookies. I have more, let me comb my lists.

Strain gages are always going to measure normal strain in the direction of the grid due to a change in length in the direction of the grid. This is why the grid is very long in the measurement direction and short in the transverse direction (to minimize transverse sensitivity). When it comes to shear strain, think about it like this: shear strain is simply an angle change in the material - and the resistance change in the gage grid due to an angular change is going to be tiny since it doesn't elongate the grid much at all. It's so tiny, that most strain gages rarely list shear sensitivity (as opposed to transverse sensitivity) since it is incredibly low.

Where things get a little confusing is that they make grid patterns specifically for measuring "shear strain" - like the ones you linked to. These use a pair of gages (you'll need two measurement directions to figure out the shear!) with the elements oriented 45 degrees on the backing and 90 degrees to each other. This also assumes you know that you only want to measure shear and that you know the direction of maximum shear. So now you have to go back to your Mohr's circle and remember that in a pure shear stress state (like say, in an ideal torsional spring), the maximum principle (normal) strains are at 45 degrees to that shear strain.

So for your specific application, assuming the gages were aligned correctly with the shear direction, you are measuring the principle strains (or very close to them) in a pure shear application. Hopefully the two measurements are close to equal and opposite of each other? If they are not, check the alignment of the gages with respect to the spring. If they are close to equal and opposite, take the average of the two asbsolute values and you will get the tensor shear strain. Keep in mind the difference between tensor shear strain and "regular" engineering shear strain. Scroll down here for a decent run-down on the two:
http://www.efunda.com/formulae/solid_mechanics/mat_mechanics/strain.cfm

I'd go look up a spring in a mechanics of materials book. They should have an example that breaks out the max principle strains from the actual loading of the spring. That should give you a way to prove to yourself what you have measured, assuming you know the load on the spring and all the spring dimensions/properties.

To visualize the deformation in pure shear a bit better, look at the diagram under Pure Shear Strains here: http://continuummechanics.org/smallstrain.html

The blue diamond is how the material will actually deform in pure shear. Think of it like holding the bottom left corner and top right corner and pulling them apart. The red block elongates (positive normal strain) in the direction of +45 degrees and shrinks (negative normal strain) in the -45 degree direction. You are placing your gages to measure this elongation and shrinking along these directions. The key is you know ahead of time that you have a pure shear (or close to it) environment and what this direction will be. If you did not know this direction, you would need a three element rosette which can be used to derive the entire state of strain at a point.

Once you have a handle on all of that, look up info on transverse sensitivity corrections to eek out that last few percent of error....

Another fun way to visualize this is to take one of those long eraser pencils like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Eraser-Retractable-Assorted-ZE21BP3-K6/dp/B010CEFH2E/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1478658061&sr=1-11&keywords=eraser

Draw a small square in the middle of the eraser. Now twist each end of the eraser to put it in torsion and watch how your square deforms!

I'm a graphic design student and I'm running out of pencils and other things... Honestly, we're printing a lot and are having tons of files.

• 3.76€ / 4.07 USD - 3x Faber Castell Pencils 2B
  
• 12.30€ / 13.32 USD - 12x Faber Castell Pencils 2B
  
• 0.65€ / 0.70 USD - Faber Castell Eraser
  
• 28.90€ / 31.30 USD - Canon Ink PG510 + PG511 Multipack
  
• 8.83€ / 9.58 USD - Kingston USB 3.0 15GB
  
  I hope I did everything correctly. :) Here's my wishlist as well: http://www.amazon.de/registry/wishlist/21Y47OPF5FIIT

To me it is more about the use of retro technology and the lack of distractions from the modern computer environment. I used to write short stories back in the days before I used modern computers and operating systems. These days I write short essays or instructional guides on my typewriter as well as letters to my girlfriend. Maybe I should scan in and post one of the documents I made. I will probably re-type the one page so it scans better (I used a Ko-Rec-Type strip on it, I find using an eraser leads to better scanning/copying). Also I find that using an eraser is even more of an incentive to not make errors.

Speaking of distractions in the modern computing environment. I've tabbed off of this browser window three times at least while making this post (and probably a bit more for the section below)

My typewriter is a Smith Corona Coronet Super 12 Coronamatic in baby blue. It needs a new card holder, but there is a shop that I can call that might have it up in Johnstown.

My eraser is a Faber-Castell Perfection: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OZF13W

This graphite pencil is on my creativity wishlist and is really useful right about now!!

Halloween ♥

My thoughts exactly. If you use the right tape, no damage is done. It makes a pretty funny joke, if you ask me.

But yeah, keep it funny and do it just once :)

THIS pencil is actually an eraser, and I would love to try implementing it with my drawings.

It looks like it might be a UV EPROM eraser like this if the light inside is a UV light.

About $5: Alvin Stainless Steel Erasing Shield (3298) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HF6VK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Tep-ybK4R6ZX3

You could also consider an eraser pencil, which you can sharpen to a point for more precision: Faber Castell Faber-Castell Perfection Eraser Pencil with Brush https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OZF13W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_kgp-ybM1HV7ZP

Post It Cover Up Tape It's removable, and won't damage the paper.

Source: I work in a copy shop…

PRISMACOLOR Design Eraser, 1224 Kneaded Rubber Eraser, Grey (70531) (3 Pack) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FUUY4A6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pxImDbP8K3FNA

my bad, it's called a kneaded eraser. the prismacolor ones are excellent, you should be able to find these in a lot of brick and mortar stores if you can't wait for shipping.

Interesting looking gizmo.

Also, seems like a pretty reasonable customer. Admitted it was a rare item, asked for alternatives but didn't find anything suitable, got a bit frustrated, and left.

These days the wrong kind of light might cause your system to crash but in MY day you could erase the whole damn thing