I use a graphite pencil,ruler,and my mind lol..what do you use or what are some good supplies?

many, but (specially for traditional artist) the most important one is a proper table. A drawing desk can save you from some awful back pains in the near future.

Like Locoma says - a decent table and a good angle to work at, so you don't ruin your back.

Lately, I've been working 100% digital (my scanner is acting up, so I'm using my tablet), but when I do work on paper, I use any old pencil I can find (something medium range, preferably - HB-2B), printer paper in A4 size (since that's the biggest my scanner can handle in one go) and a ruler. And an eraser, naturally - my sketches are filled with scribbles, which need to be removed. I ink everything digitally, but on the rare occasions that I do ink them by hand, I use nib pens and Windsor&Newton Calligraphy Ink. When I ink, I usually use sturdier paper, too, to avoid it warping.

Hmmm

For most comics, I use a mechanical pencil. I just don't like working with regular pencils, I just can never keep them sharp. Plus they get messy :/.
I use microns and fiber castell pens, and of course, the ever trusty sharpier, for alot of inking,
then either markers or photoshop 7 and a tablet. <3<3
I would suggest getting a tablet if you have the funds. amazing tool, seriously.

Almost all artists use something different and disagree - politely, though - regarding the nature of the necessities. For myself, although I have a fairly well equipped amateur's room dedicated to art, that is filled with about everything one could reasonably need in order to produce everything from paintings to clay models I am fairly primitive in my needs when it comes to cartooning. I don't know why.

Although I am about to change things around a bit, currently I am roughing out my sketches using 8.5 by 11 inches graph paper and 7mm thickness leads in mechanical pencils. Those two items and, occasionally a ruler. As for my drawing surface, a flat table usually suits me just fine.

I do my inking after scanning the work into the computer. With this set up I have been producing my current cartoon, and I wouldn't change up at all except that I am considering returning to hand inking my work.

If I do this - and I probably will in the near future - then I'll put aside the graph paper and use 110lb card stock instead. This is literally the stuff used for your basic greeting card and so its surface will handle ink well. It is neither as thick nor as expensive as the more traditional inking surface for cartoonists but it is generally of higher quality than most bristol you can get your hands on nowadays, it's cheaper, and you can find it in most office supply stores and sometimes even in grocery stores.

Anyway I'll still use the HB grade 7mm mechanical pencils because I like the narrow leads. I'll use one sheet of card stock paper per panel. So if I have a four panel sequential art page - which I do - then I'll wind up using four sheets of 110 pound card stock paper to produce one finished page. Oh, the way I do this is to scan each page into my computer and then combine all four panels into one long page using my computer application. But that would be after the inking in this case.

Once I have refined my original rough work so that I think it's a keeper, I'll erase all my lines until they are barely visible and then I'll ink the lines that I want to keep. Any large areas I'll wait until I have the partially inked worked scanned into the computer and then I'll use my software application to add the large areas of ink, and/or any gray scale effects. I'm not adding any color to my finished work.

That's both how I'm doing things now and how I will probably begin doing them in the future.

What I would recommend for any beginning artist, however, is that he or she use an angled surface on which to place their paper before beginning to sketch. I also recommend that they experiment with many different types of pencils and get a feel for lead/graphite grades from soft to hard. I also recommend having a good light source nearby. I break most of the rules but I learned and applied those rules for many years before I started selectively breaking them.

Hmmm... I use:

Paper (a couple different kinds, but my favorite is Paris bleedproof because it's heavy with a really fine surface that's good for erasing pencil and inking),

Pencils (3mm mechanical pencil with HB lead for the fine lines, 5mm and 7mm mechanical pencils in HB for slightly thicker lines and a couple normal pencils in varying degrees of B for shading),

White plastic eraser,

One of those flexible graph rulers,

Various drafting templates in lots of fun shapes that I probably abuse,

Lots of photographic references, most of which I take myself,

Big masonite board and a big clip for the paper so I can draw curled up on the couch or in bed (pfft, forget desks),

My precious light box,

Scanner and laptop with ancient Photoshop,

and, uh... well, my mind?

Let me see, it's changed over time by I got a pretty good system down now.

Usually I pencil and ink traditionally and then eithe "re-ink", tone and colour in photoshop.

My traditional supplies include: plain old computer paper (as I draw a lot and screw up a lot), a michanical pencil with .5mm led, and the copic multiliner pens for inking (and good ol' sharpie pens for filling in the bigger black spaces). I use to use the micron pens but I found I was buying them by the box full because the tips would get destroyed so easily. Since getting the multiliners last christmas I've drawn tone and not had to replace a single nib or refil of ink. I also of course have a ruler on hand. I use to have one of those elipse template dealies (I can't remember the proper name for them at the moment) for word bubbles but I do that all digitally now.

In photoshop I used to ink manually but lately I've been loving the pen tool (not impossible to use in photoshop, infact quite fast once you get in the grove of it). I tone with either just various shades of gray and then apply textures, or just patterns I find around the internet. (I can give you some good links if you like). Colouring style is a discussion in itself.

I have a good table, but I always keep a folder with papper and pens around so that if I get the urge to draw and I have a spare moment, I don't waste the inspiration (I've been doing that since high school and now have a job with lots of free time). Random inspiration is the best tool I know of.

And idea, paper and pencil, erasers, rulers, ink pens and gray copic markers.

I use a table (desk at work or drafting table at home).

Canson Pure White Drawing Paper - 9x12 size.

C-Thru 10" gridded triangle

HB lead and holder

Kneaded and white erasers.

Dip pen and india ink

tablet and photoshop CS2

I generally use a mechanical pencil with a 7mm lead and Pentel click erasers for pencilling. I will use any type of Bristol pad or card stock paper...I'm not too picky.

I also use a lightbox on my drawing table--not for tracing anything, but for mirror imaging my pencils by turning the paper backward. This helps greatly with proportions. However, as a technique goes, you should not overdo it. It's possible to remove too much character from your art by making it overly symmetrical. Faces are rarely 100% symmetrical in nature.

I prefer to ink with a German technical pen called a Rotring Rapidoliner. However these are hard to find so I usually substitute a Mars Staedtler, which is a sort of hybrid between a technical pen and a marker. It works pretty well.

I also usually do some inking, depending on the size of my paper, with a dip pen and Higgins Black Magic india ink.

I do my colorization in Adobe Image Ready and CA Paint. I paint with an optical mouse, rather than using an electronic tablet.

I know that you are a professional artist TitanOne. I love it when the professionals lay some tips on the rest of us because it's always pure gold. I had totally forgotten the flip the paper over on the light table technique for ensuring symmetry. Professionals don't have the luxury of forgetting important 'how to' tricks of the trade and so you are great learning and reference sources for the rest of us. Thanks!

TitanOne
I do my colorization in Adobe Image Ready and CA Paint. I paint with an optical mouse, rather than using an electronic tablet.

i remember before i got my tablet ad i had to do all my colouring using my mouse, i cant say i preffered it over my tablet but i think the tablet and pen just helps me work faster because a pen is so much more familiar to me then a mouse.

eventually i plan to get one of the high quality proffessional tablets that project the computer screen right on the tablet drawing surface.

as for non digital imaging i usually just use a variety of different pencils (usually not mechanical pencils) and for inking i usually just use whatever ink pens i can find that are cheap, but thats just becase my budget sucks right now.

Photoshop CS2 and a Wacom Intuos3 9x12 tablet. I do all my work digitally, so there's no overhead for things like ink and paper. All my costs are one-time (tablet - $300, photoshop - free student edition) and the tools are irreplacable. I can accomplish so many things using my digital media that i would never be able to do traditionally.

Also, ctrl+z.

CharleyHorse
I know that you are a professional artist TitanOne. I love it when the professionals lay some tips on the rest of us because it's always pure gold. I had totally forgotten the flip the paper over on the light table technique for ensuring symmetry. Professionals don't have the luxury of forgetting important 'how to' tricks of the trade and so you are great learning and reference sources for the rest of us. Thanks!

Well, thanks, you're very kind!

Like I said don't overdo the image reversal, or you may end up looking anatomically stiff, like Jim Lee. Jim Lee is a great artist, but I think he'd be even better if he was less chiseled in his proportions, and more organic-looking. I saw his early stuff in the pages of the Punisher, and I think it was slightly better than his post-Image work, because his people looked a lot more diverse in their facial proportions.

You are welcome TitanOne. Yes, I know that an artist can refine his work to the point where it actually begins losing visual impact. This is one reason that I am experimenting with a variety of rougher looking rendering techniques. I used to be addicted to tracing paper and light table work and finally refined my stuff to the extent that it lost much of its appeal to me.

Now, of course my art work just looks rough and sloppy - well, it is rough and sloppy, actually - but at least it still retains that 'organic' look that I like. I have yet to strike a happy medium between refinement and liveliness, for want of a better term.

These are my "tools". They aren't too professional XD. I just use things that'll get the job done:

1. An 8.5 x 11.5 sketch book to draw each page in
2. A mechanical pencil to sketch the page out. I don't really like regular pencils anymore...too much sharpening.
3. A magic rub eraser. You know, the white rectangle ones, these are THE BEST erasers.
3. I draw pretty straight lines, but I like to have a ruler handy.
4. Pens to ink. Currently, I'm using Faber Castell brand pens that come in four sizes - Small, Fine, Medium, and Bold. But, they've run out of ink pretty fast, and the tips...well they kind of suck. I'm in need of new pens.
5. My scanner
6. Photoshop CS2, I love this program. I color in PCS2 with my laser mouse; no tablet here.

I guess having a smooth surface is great, but sometimes I draw some of my pages at school, sitting on the floor outside of my class or outside waiting for a ride. A smooth surface isn't really a big deal to me; if I make a mistake I can always clean it of photoshop.

It all depends on what you're aiming for, um, I would suggest a mechanical pencil, a good eraser, ruler, copic pens/markers, maybe even Photoshop.
A light box is a good thing to have as well as plenty of references.