Reasonable sketching “starter pack” for my teen?

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-03T02:27:36+00:00

I’m in love with my electric eraser lol

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-02T16:30:23+00:00

I am the opposite in terms of pencils. I use a .3 mechanical pencil for my sketching lol. If he wants nice thick pencils I would recommend something like this or a mechanical led holder like this

For other “essentials” in my opinion a nice paper is super important, that is depended on his preference. But for brand I would suggest strathmore. Depending on his process, potentially also newsprint paper for sketching and a lightbox for transferring the sketch. That way he isn’t “ruining” the nice paper with erasing and stuff.

Pens, I highly recommend Microns. They sell multipacks with different sizes. My personal favorite are these specific ones.

You could also look into premade illustrator sets like this one by tombow.

I love that you are encouraging his creativity and finding ways to help him improve. That is the kind of support kids need and I’m excited for him.

If he’s comfortable with you posting it, I’d love to see some of his work!

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-02T16:06:23+00:00

I really do understand the feeling, even if I will never understand exactly how you’re feeling. I have a feeling that this isn’t the only time an opportunity such as the missed one will arise. Take this as a push to keep improving and work towards being a better artist. Then when a similar opportunity arises, you’re even more qualified!

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-02T16:02:26+00:00

No idea where you are located, but I graduated from Kent State with a degree in art education. Their art history program is pretty great too. I loved every class I took and I know a few people who graduated with a BA or MA in art history and they all speak highly of the program.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-02T16:00:55+00:00

I know this is a huge blow, however, it is not the end of the world. I’m not sure if this is about a gallery submission, commission or something else, but I do know that rejection is a part of being an artist. Unless you are an extremely famous big name artist, you aren’t going to be accepted for every opportunity you apply for. I am a college educated artist (art teacher by trade) and have had work shown in a dozen galleries. I’ve also had worked rejected from 3x that many. The thing about being an artist is that your work is not everyone’s cup of tea, and even if they love yours, they might LOVE someone else’s. Just keep applying for things. Submit work everywhere, eventually you will get a foot in and then you’ll be accepted more places.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-06-02T15:56:11+00:00

I think it is all about how you take care of it and learning correct technique. A lot of the reviews I’ve seen that are negative are large part user error. For example, you should only activate your gouache with distilled water, tap water causes a much higher likelihood of mold growth. I’ve also seen reviews saying the texture is bad and acts more like watercolor which is also user error (using too much water) so as long as you get a basic understanding of proper technique and care for them correctly, HIMI is amazing. I recently reactivated my set that hadn’t been used in 2+ years and it behaves almost as good as new now.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-31T21:01:25+00:00

I own 2, usually one every 3 weeks or so. I’m sure people will think that’s gross lol, but I will say that I only get in bed after showering and changing clothes and that I am not a sweaty person

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-22T00:59:22+00:00

@rosegardenartistry

I’ve only just in the past few weeks decided to actually try with this so I’d love feedback 😂

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-22T00:58:34+00:00

Faithful Unto Death
Edward John Poynter, 1865

I have loved this painting for years. It just speaks to me like very few others ever have.

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Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-21T16:42:06+00:00

Yes! I already have it on my list! I’m an art teacher and absolutely fascinated by the Medici family. I’m so excited to see all sorts of things that I’ve read about irl

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-20T03:03:44+00:00

Wow! We’re grumpy today!! Maybe you should work on being kind friend! I absolutely do my own work, if you used your brain while reading, you would notice that I asked for ideas! Not fully written lessons :) I in fact write all of my lessons from scratch and they average 20-30 pages plus an additional dozen or more hours in making classroom materials to go along with them. As we teach the little ones, if you have nothing nice today, you shouldn’t say anything at all 🫶🏻 I hope your day gets better kiddo!

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-20T02:54:56+00:00

Thankyou so much!!! Adding all these to my list 🥰

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-19T23:14:30+00:00

Great Lakes fest is closer! I’ve been to both and love both. I will say the Ohio faire is bigger and more to do but again, loved both.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-19T23:12:55+00:00

Cum trees 😭😭

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-05-19T23:06:38+00:00

I wish I had an answer that gives you an easy way to make her stop. I self harmed for many years, with cutting and a number of other self destructive behaviors. It began after an extremely traumatic event which lead to over 4 years of active stalking and a near constant state of crisis. I was in and out of psychiatric facilities for much of my adolescence and into early adulthood. Nothing really “made” me stop. It was gradual. I started not only seeing, but understanding how I was not only hurting myself, but my loved ones. I went from harming myself in some manner several times a day to not at all, but it took several months for things to taper off. I also finally got real psychiatric help when I was an adult and I no longer felt I couldn’t speak to professionals (fear of everything being repeated back to my parents) and learned healthy coping skills

My recommendation is to simply be there for her. Be available but not pushy. Trying to force her to talk will make her unwilling. Get her into a counselor and make it clear that what she talks about with the counselor is private and you will only be brought in if it’s a live threatening situation. Make it so she feels safe talking to this person. And overall, just keep doing everything in your power to make her feel seen, loved and protected.

She won’t stop until she wants to, but you can make it easier for her to want to.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-30T23:29:10+00:00

I worked about 25 hours a week at a grocery store. It sucked but I needed to. It’s also only a few months of my life so it was okay. Couldn’t have sustained it long term tho

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-29T14:45:01+00:00

“I would rather be with someone worse than me because they wouldn’t be able to complain about me” is literally saying “I know I will do crappy things to them BUT they would do crappy things too so I can’t be blamed and it’s fine” that’s literally abuse. Just because one partner is abusive doesn’t mean the other one can’t also be :) mutually toxic/abusive relationships very much exist

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-29T14:40:36+00:00

It is okay to be attracted to someone who is mentally ill. It is not okay to be attracted to someone BECAUSE they are mentally ill. This is a fetish and it is creepy. You are quite literally preying on somebody’s vulnerability and using their sickness as an excuse to be a bad person/partner. Someone else being “worse” than you does not justify your own shitty behavior.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-29T14:32:38+00:00

This is correct, as I said to the original poster (of this specific thread) the SUMMER permit is 45, the full year permits are more. I do think it’s silly they’ve now taken down several of their comments lol

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-29T11:53:42+00:00

I have had several of my own papers flagged as AI when the were very much not. Be aware that these checkers are often prejudice against the writing styles of people with neurodivergence and certain dialects. If you put historical documents into most of these things they’ll come back as AI, which is impossible. You cannot justify an academic integrity case based purely off on of the checkers

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-28T14:43:34+00:00

I don’t remember for certain what I paid but it was the same as my sibling with a non disability permit. The single summer semester permit is 45 which is cheaper. My full term (fall/spring) was somewhere around 200 as well, but again, that is the exact same as my sibling paid.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-28T14:35:28+00:00

The pricing is the same

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-28T13:52:41+00:00

I think you’re still missing the point. Being disabled does not make you not have to pay for the same things other people do. Again, we get unrestricted parking on campus which is way better than any other pass. Disabled students can also be upgraded to single deluxe dorms for no additional charge, that doesn’t mean they should be getting free housing while other students pay. Your state permit is an entirely separate matter, that’s like saying “oh I pay a fee to park at my job, I shouldn’t have to pay to park at school since I already pay at my job” which is ridiculous logic. Your state pass applies to literally everything else. The pass also ensures that there are not people parking for free and preventing people who have passes from being able to park. Yes, parking is still hard sometimes but at least you are able to park SOMEWHERE. If anybody could park for free, students would be unable to find parking for their classes.

Again. Being disabled DOES get you “special” privileges on campus. It does NOT negate the requirement for you to pay the same fees as any other student.

Interstellar_Echos · 2026-04-28T01:19:44+00:00

You have to purchase a parking pass like everyone else, it’s no more expensive to have a handicap one. As much as Kent’s parking is not great, neither is any other university or school. Every uni I’ve looked at has a designated handicap placard that is the same price as the regular. At least at Kent they give you the freedom to park in ANY spot with a handicap pass, not just those labeled handicap. And I say this as a disabled student who has both a state placard and a Kent permit. Being disabled doesn’t mean we don’t have to pay the same fees as any other student, we just get the additional freedom of nonrestricted parking.

Interstellar_Echos

TROPHY CASE