Everyone's got their own simple pleasure. Mine just happens to be a super inky, versatile and smooth brush. When it comes to brushes that are fun to use, Sakura's Pigma Professional Brushes just really hit the spot! With the ability to create an amazing variety of lines, the drawing possibilities are endless— that's why I created my top five favorite things to do with these super fun brushes.

1. Blind Contours of Your Friends & Family

Drawing blind contours of your friends and family is the perfect, most hilarious way to fend off boredom. All you have to do is grab a pen and draw someone for a minute without looking (or two to three minutes if you really want a challenge). The results are always guaranteed to make you cry laughing. I love using Sakura's Pigma Professional brushes for this because of the variety of lines I can create without even trying.

2. List Making

Since I can remember, I've been obsessed with list making. I find it can be a really cathartic and sometimes really interesting way to organize my thoughts. As I write this blogpost, I'm in my childhood home in Los Angeles for the holidays. Inspired by many other artists that love list making, including Nigel Peake and Lisa Hanawalt I decided to make a doodled list of all the odd-ball things that decorate my parent's house (otherwise known as tchotchkes). I love how the finished list came out, it reminds me of the work of the amazingly talented illustrator (and former contributor to Illustoria) Nina Chakrabarti.

Hello Nature by Nina Chakrabarti, published by Laurence King

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Making your own random list is easy as can be! Just try observing your surroundings for similarities, for instance five strangely trimmed hedges in your backyard, or all the bald men you've ever met. Or, catalogue your own favorite collection of objects!

3. Draw a Comic!

Of course, you can draw a comic with any kind of pen or pencil but illustrating with Sakura's Pigma Professional brushes is just so much fun! Since Thanksgiving is just a day away, pie was definitely on my mind when I was coming up with this short story. Try writing a comic about your own wacky invention!

4. Practice Calligraphy

In hindsight, it was a questionable decision.

Because Sakura's Pigma brushes respond so instantly to changes in pressure and have such a lovely continuous ink flow, they are arguably the perfect brush for letter-making, specifically calligraphy. I am by no means a calligraphy professional, but this little drawing was great practice and I highly recommend giving it a shot if you consider yourself a novice (or highly experienced!) letter-maker.

5. Draw on the Walls!

Didn't see that one coming did you? I'm definitely not suggesting you give your kid a brush and let them go willy-nilly on the lovely clean walls of your home! BUT, if you happen to have a wall you're about to paint or space designated for a mural I highly recommend trying out the pigma brushes. They're archival and can draw on pretty much any flat surface with ease. Just as a clarification, this wall as drawn by my sister (and super talented doodler) Lilly Astrow many years ago in Sharpie, not Sakura's Pigma Professional Brushes. But Sakura's brushes would work equally, if not even better on a similar project.

Well, these are all the tips I have for you this time. No matter what project you're working on with Sakura's Pigma Professional Brushes though, you're certain not to go wrong. And even more certain is what a great time you'll have using these super satisfying drawing tools!

We're so delighted to have Sakura sponsor ILLUSTORIA's issue #5: The Motion Issue, which is on shelves and available now. Hope you enjoyed my top 5 projects, and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!