Pencils.
I like buying pencils. It's like nerdy retail therapy or something. Bit glum. Buy a pencil. Cheer up. Doodle with it. See what it does.
Had a pretty bad last couple of days, and I think it'll keep going for another couple. But I got an order of pencils in the post today, so I'm feeling pretty good right now.
Five Derwent drawing pencils to round out my collection. Difficult to describe, but they're like artist's coloured pencils with a bit of oil pastel thrown in. Waxier and looser than one, but harder and tidier than the other. I like them a lot.
Here's a little something I did with them.
A Derwent tinted charcoal pencil. White. How do you tint charcoal white!? I dunno. I'll see how it compares to white pastel or chalk, though.
Lyra red chalk pencil. A few companies do red chalk and sanguine pencils, but I haven't seen much of this brand. It'll help me play at being anywhere near the old masters, too.