Tina’s 2022 Tops and Flops

 

My top top: Uglybooks!

I always enjoy considering which products to put on my list of Tops for the year. (My blog stats show that this topic is also a reader favorite.) These products were not necessarily released this year but ones that were new to me or that I gained greater appreciation for during the year. Since 2018, I’ve also included fails and flops of the year in the same post. Here we go:

Tops 

Uglybooks: My top-most top was an easy pick: Uglybooks! It’s the type of product I would have put on my annual wish list if I’d thought of it! With boldly colored papers of a hefty weight with a nice tooth and in a versatile size, they inspire me to try new things. Any art material that does that is an easy candidate for this list.

The mini Sendak on location

Peg & Awl Mini Sendak: This versatile tool organizer and her big sister keep all my pencils and other tools in order and easily accessible. I’m currently in my ultra-slim phase and using a Rickshaw Sinclair Model R, but I’m not sure how long this phase will last (the lack of order in the Sinclair annoys me at times). When it’s over, I know the Sendaks will be waiting for me.

On top with new respect

Bic ballpoint pens: Whoever would have thought the pedestrian, ubiquitous Bic would ever make the “top” list of anything? Even though it’s not necessarily something I reach for every day, Bic ballpoint ink’s oily, gloppy consistency and ability to layer are still without competition. And as one of the cheapest art materials you can buy (or help yourself to at any hotel or bank lobby), it’s hard to beat in value.

Honorable mention (below): Although the Kuretake waterbrush has appeared on my Top 10 list from previous years, I don’t mention it much otherwise. Yet it’s probably the one tool I have used consistently for the entire time I have been sketching. (I don’t mean “one” literally; the brush does wear out, and I replace it when I need to – but not as often as you’d think. It’s an amazing value.) Neither new nor exciting, it remains faithful and reliable.

 

Honorable mention: Hard-working every day, my Kuretake waterbrushes
 have never let me down.

SuckUK multi-pen lives up to its name.

Flops

SuckUK CMYK multi-ballpoint pen: Such a great idea gone bad with execution. The good news, though, is that the idea can be hacked easily with the right inks!

Pretty... and pretty useless.

Karst Woodless Artist Pencils: Among the worst colored pencils I’ve used, Karst Woodless Artist Pencils redeem themselves only with their beautiful design – barely.

Tops and flops from previous years:

2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012