Artist Resources

You want to see what tools and supplies I use? Check out the list below. These are all my own experiences with the items, which I personally use for creating patterns and illustrations as well as for running my business. I hope you find this helpful!

Some links are affiliate links, which means, once you purchase an item through this page, I'll receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Thana Friel's

Supply

Recommendations

Tech Supplies

Apple iPad Pro

Tablet

One of my everyday work essentials: the newest addition to my equipment family is the 13” iPad Pro M4 2024, which is brilliant for creating illustrations or pattern designs.

Apple Pencil 2nd generation

Stylus

When it comes to illustrating, for me it is a must have using the Apple Pencil Pro along with my iPad Pro. Please keep in mind, that this Apple Pencil is only compatible with the newest M2 or M4 iPad models.

tablet and laptop stand from ugreen

Tablet/Laptop Stand

I use the Ugreen stand mainly when drawing on my iPad. It feels more comfortable and overall it's a great experience.

Macbook Pro 16 inch

Laptop

My loyal companion since 2019: 16-inch Apple Macbook Pro.

External hard drive from crucial

External Hard Drive

Having your files in the cloud is good. But for me it is indeed crucial storing all of my files on an external hard drive additionally.

iPhone 13 Pro

Phone

The camera lens of my iPhone 13 Pro is very impressive. That's the reason why I also shoot videos or take pictures with it when I'm not using my Canon.

iPhone case original Apple leather phone case

Phone Case

I cover my iPhone with the original Apple phone case. I got this as a gift and I'm totally happy with it.

Phone screen protector

Phone Screen Protector

My phone gets dropped so many times from time to time. So, this screen protector is my everyday savior.

Apple Headphones Airpods

Headphones

I've been using them for many years now: Apple Airpods. But now I'm thinking of switching to Apple Airpods Pro or Airpods Max.

Filming & Photography Setup

Canon 40D

DSLR Camera

Portraits and mood pictures are shot with my Canon 40D. I mostly use a Sigma 35mm 1.4 lens, which I get amazing results.

Tripod K&F Concept

Tripod

The K&F Concept tripod is pretty versatile. I use it with my DSLR cam as well as with my iPhone.

Smartphone gimbal DJI

Smartphone Gimbal

I'm new to the gimbal game and still practicing. But I'm absolutely loving it already, what possibilities you have with the DJI Gimbal.

Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art Lense

Lense

My everyday lens used to be a Canon 50mm, the "nifty fifty", which I'd still recommend, if you're starting out. But then I switched to Sigma 35mm F1,4 DG HSM Art Lens.

Software/Apps & Hosting

Drawing App

You guessed it – like many other artists, my number one app for drawing on my iPad is Procreate.

Adobe Creative Cloud

From the Adobe Creative Cloud I mostly use Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom.

Online Graphic Design Tool

Canva is my main tool for social media work, where I put together my templates and organize anything that has to do with posts, stories etc.

Hosting & CMS Tool

One of the best CMS tools I've used so far is webflow – it comes with a hosting and it is super known for the in-browser design tool that gives you the ability to design, build, and launch responsive websites visually without having any coding skills. I really like the automatic site backups (versioning) and staging URLs if I need to test anything without going live via my own domain.

I'll be updating this page whenever I got new stuff. So, feel free to check it from time to time for more info on my resources.

Frequent questions
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Do you only use digital tools or also traditional ones?

I mainly create my art digitally, but I also consider drawing and painting traditionally more often in the future.

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Besides Procreate, do you use other graphics editor apps on the iPad?

As for now my favorite app is Procreate! What I sometimes miss though is a good alternative to Adobe Illustrator to create vector art on the iPad. So, I just got started out using Adobe Fresco, since it is able to create both – raster and vector files.

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