Drawing Supplies

Drawing supplies are also referred to as drawing materials.

It's a mistake to buy too many drawing art supplies to begin with.

If you have too much to choose from, you won't know where to start and you might give up.

Just choose a few necessary items and learn to use them well.

One of the best things about having drawing as your hobby is that it is inexpensive.

To begin with, you only need paper (or a sketchbook), some pencils, an eraser and a sharpener.

Read on if you want to find out more about your drawing materials...

Drawing Pencils

As a beginner artist, it's fine to use any drawing pencil and drawing supplies that you have available.

As you become more encouraged with your drawing attempts, you will search for pencils that give the best results in drawing.

This is where your drawings will begin to take on a new look.

When you are learning to draw, the best pencil is a 2B (that's the grade). This is a soft pencil, it can produce soft grays and strong blacks.

If you are doing small sketches, mechanical pencils with a fine point would be a wise choice.

Mechanical pencil leads come in a range of sizes with different grades.

I like .5mm (size) with 2B (grade), but you can experiment to discover which one suits you the best.

Mechanical pencils aren't suitable for larger drawings.

It would be time consuming and difficult to do a large drawing with such a fine lead. You would be better off using a wooden pencil with a thick lead.

The range of pencils available is wide and varied. I was given a 12 piece pencil set which contains a H pencil (Hard), F (Medium), HB, B (Black), and 2B right through to 9B. This set is ideal, it allows experiment with a good range of pencil grades.

This article in Wikipedia explains about pencils in more detail.

Once you become more experienced, you will be able to determine which pencil to use.

For example, you would choose a soft grade (B) to incorporate shading into a drawing.

Of course, you can use more than one grade pencil within a drawing, to achieve different effects. Everyone requires something different from their drawings.

Drawing pencils should be good quality and free of any grit.

Drawing Paper

Once you become experienced with drawing, your drawing supplies wouldn't be complete without the paper of your choice.

There's a huge variety of paper available to artists now.

Beginner artists can use Photocopy paper because it can sustain continuous use of an eraser without it becoming too damaged. It's a good thing that photocopy paper is not expensive.

Sketchbooks come in all sizes and grades, too.

You can buy sketchbooks at reasonable prices.

I bought 5 different types so I could experiment with them to find the best one that suits my drawing style.

You will decide which paper you like to include with your drawing supplies, simply by practicing and experimenting.

Erasers

At the start, you will be satisfied with just one ordinary eraser. It needs to be good quality because a bad eraser can ruin your drawings.

You should have a soft and smooth white plastic eraser.

With this type of eraser, you also have the option to cut it, to get at fine parts of a drawing.

Ink-erasers should never be included in your drawing supplies, they destroy the surface of the paper.

As you become more adventurous with your drawings, you will probably need a kneadable eraser. They are very clean to use because they don't leave any residue on your paper.

This eraser can be moulded into a point to access small areas of a drawing.

You only need to dab at the spot and the graphite will stick to the kneadable eraser. Once the surface of the eraser gets dirty, just fold it over to access a clean spot.

You can use erasers to obtain different effects in your drawings, too. That's a whole other story!

Blending Stumps

As you progress, you might want to include blending stumps in your drawing supplies.

A blending stump is a tightly wound stick of pressed paper. It is used to blend or smudge parts of a drawing, to produce gradations and different tones.

A tortillon is similar. It's a stump that is twisted to a point.

Here is a tutorial on how to make a tortillon. There is confusion about whether it is tortillon or tortillion. According to the dictionary, it is spelt with just "on" on the end.

If you don't have one of these, you could improvise and wrap a tissue over a pen. Just tape the tissue to the pen to hold it in place.

Try not to use your fingers for blending. Skin contains oil and, with time, it can ruin your drawing.

Pencil Sharpener

The last item you need in your drawing supplies, is a good sharpener for your drawing pencils.

It has to have sharp, straight blades so that the point of your pencil doesn't break. Inexpensive sharpeners waste a good pencil.

Another alternative is to cut your pencil with a craft knife.

Try not to make a sharp point, it will dig into your paper, and that will add to your difficulties when erasing.

A thin point snaps easily and needs constant sharpening.

You can also use fine sandpaper to hone the point of your pencil.

If you don't have any sandpaper, try using an emery board.

Summary

Just as we choose what drawing methods we like, the same applies to choosing drawing art supplies.

Whatever you do, don't miss the Hot Deals of the Week at DickBlick, there are some great bargains to be had.

Once you try drawing different effects and techniques with your pencils and paper, you'll soon develop a partiality for certain drawing materials.

You need to experiment and become the Master of the drawing supplies that suit you the best.