WORKING HANDS: Andy Busc

As a stationery brand, we are always curious how and what people use our stationery goods for. With this blog series, focusing on the hands at "work" and beyond, we ask five questions about the usage and meaning of the stationery tools to our friends in Los Angeles.

For the 19th Working Hands, we got to visit a LA based illustrator, Andy Busc at his studio in Glassell Park neighborhood.

Laptop screen showing a black-and-white cartoon character illustration in progress on a white canvas.

Q1. What do you do with your Nähe Dry Bag?

I love my Nähe Dry bag so much. It’s super lightweight, portable and compact. I carry all my daily essential items in there. Wallet, phone, keys, small sketchbook, pen, pencil, and most importantly, my snacks on the go.

Black shoulder bag with keychain charms hanging on a white wall beside a red Craftsman level, ruler and brush.

Sometimes I have my Nintendo Switch controller in there, which fits perfectly in the front pocket. I carry it on the go whenever I play games at my friend’s loft.

Hand placing a black game controller into the zippered pocket of a black shoulder bag.

Q2. In our online / tech driven world, what does it mean to do things by hand to you?

Most of my finished artworks are cleaned up and drawn digitally but the first process in developing an idea is always drawn by hand. There’s something really therapeutic about seeing the ink pour onto paper as you press the tip of a pen against it. It feels more satisfying to start my drawings by hand and not rely completely on technology. It’s so easy to click undo on a computer whenever I make a mistake but when I draw my ideas on paper, I have one rule. Keep going and don’t erase. I let my hands run loose as I experiment with my ideas.

Hands drawing a small detailed illustration in black ink on the grid pages of an open notebook.

Hands drawing a small red and black character sketch with a pen on an open grid notebook.

Andy is drawing with Ohoto Multi Function Pen 2 + 1 in Black.

Q3. Pencils or Mechanical Pencils?

50/50. Pencils for looser and rougher drawings but Mechanical Pencils for cleaner lines and finer details.

Artist Andy Busc leaning over a white desk drawing under a lamp, surrounded by artwork pinned to the wall.

Ceramic cup holding pencils and markers on a desk, with a blue cat figurine and yellow boxes behind.

Andy keeps his drawing tools in the Marble Pen Stand in Ivory. Also we peep the Permanent Writer Pen here.

Hightide Cargo Bag in M / Black filled with mural painting tools, paint trays, cardboard and orange container.
Great fit for Andy's mural painting tools in Hightide original Cargo Bag in M / Black

Q4. What’s in your pen case, if you don’t use a pen case, how do you organize and store your stationeries?

Pens, No. 2 pencils, mechanical pencils, Apple pencil for my iPad, Sharpie markers, USB, a tiny pencil sharpener, and an eraser.

Black pen resting on a kraft-paper notepad beside a black pouch and a small black container on a white desk. Black and white sticker of a spiky-haired character sitting on a toilet looking at a phone, in a clear sleeve.
The sticker Andy designed for Homebody. We did a WORKING HANDS visit with the shop owner Philips in the past.

Studio corner with two black-and-white face cutouts on the wall, an articulated desk lamp and a black storage case.

Q5. What is your most favorite stationery?

My favorite stationery item right now is my Hightide Pistachio Notebook B6. I like it because it says LIFE Pistachio on the cover. Life is all about eating a good pistachio.

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Andy Busc is a visual artist based in Los Angeles who works across several mediums in illustration, art direction, and graphic design. He runs his own independent design studio, ATOC Projects, with projects focusing on character design and hand drawn typography. His work has been recognized by Adobe, Communication Arts, BOOOOOOOM, It’s Nice That, and Pictoplasma, the world’s leading platform for contemporary character design and art.