Technique & Tool: Chapter 4

Welcome to the 5th edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. The Pulse is a collaborative project that aims to introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals. More than 130 artists have answered a series of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented in a series of online posts which will run every Sunday.
Style File was the first project posted and links to all 12 posts can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The second project, Techniques & Tools, the second project, continues now...

Participants were asked: 'The one technique or tool that you cannot live without is... ' I have added links of my own choosing to each contribution below, sometimes to products, sometimes to videos, sometimes to the artist's own work, and sometimes to something unexpected. Even the contributors do not know what I will be linking to!----------------------------------------- Chris Miser
A must-do technique for me a lot of the time is gesso stamping and embossing under layers of paint so that the embossing is visible and adds texture and mystery. It can be done several times on the same piece and can look amazing if done with patience.----------------------------------------- Pam McKnight
e6000 glue.----------------------------------------- Art by Canace
I could not function as an assemblage artist without my trusty Dremel EZ lock cutoff wheel. Nothing is sacred once I've got that wheel in full gear. Buzzzzzzzzzz! ----------------------------------------- Marit Barentsen
Pens. Pencils. Markers...anything that writes! My work almost always has words in it. I can't do without the writing part! I recently got the opportunity to lay my hand on a set of posterpaint Sharpies (they don't sell those in the Netherlands) and I'm completely in love!-----------------------------------------Evie Zaccardelli
Painting layers and then scraping back to reveal the hidden.----------------------------------------- Pam Carriker
A pencil, that's it. Give me a pencil and I'll be happily entertained for hours.----------------------------------------- Marcia Beckett
Watercolor paints. I love to paint translucent layers.----------------------------------------- Denise Aumick
Being a somewhat fickle artist, this answer can vary at any given time depending on the medium I am working in, but I would have to say...modeling paste.----------------------------------------- debi lynn designs
Mine is actually "materials" -- metal, crosses, turquoise, leather. Sorry, has to be these four because these are my "branding"! But, if I had to decide on a tool, as a jeweler it would have to be my beading needles, as a mixed media artist -- tar glue.----------------------------------------- Barbara Kleinhans
My assortment of painting and palette knives. I have a favorite in the group so I'd be particularly sad if I no longer had that one.----------------------------------------- Cathie Parreco 
It's called a Lil' Chizler. My first one was a gift from the technician who installed window tinting on my car and he used it to tuck and smooth the material over the glass. I use it for so many things -- spreading glue, burnishing, scraping, scoring, folding, etc. Its edges are rounded and gentle on any surface I am working on. They are inexpensive and last forever. -----------------------------------------
Next 'Techniques & Tools' will be posted on Sunday, October 16th