How to Draw in Pencil: Materials 101

Greetings future artists! Whether you plan on making art a future career or just for the fun and relaxation of it this article is for you! Today we’re going to cover the basic materials that you will need. As well as why they are important.

1) To start, it would be in your best interest to break open that piggy bank and buy some basic tools including: pencils, a hard eraser, a kneaded eraser, and a sketch pad.Don’t worry folks you didn’t read that wrong I said tools. A writer can’t work without a pen, construction workers need hammers, and artists need pencils and paper! You can locate these items at various stores or online at places like: Hobby Lobby, Staples, A.C .Moore, DickBlick.com, Amazon.com, and more.

2) Pencils are most likely the cheapest and easiest tools you have in your arsenal, but in my personal opinion they are the most important. Graphite is incredibly flexible when it comes to hardness and value control and because of this the pencils give you the ability to draw any scenario you see.

3) Companies that produce art supplies have made it even simpler for you. Now you can buy packs of pencils that have numbers on them to show you the different graphite’s based on their hardness. Next to the number will be a letter H, F or B.This is the graphite density category. H means hard, F is somewhere in the middle, and B is soft.Now a B pencil can produce a very dark value while no matter how hard you press an H pencil the value will only go so far. See the example I have made below.This may sound confusing, but play around for a while when you first acquire your set and you’ll see for yourself the difference.

4) Paper is just as important as your pencils. The different types of paper quality will determine how the graphite works on your paper, and how well it will come off when erasing.When I started drawing I used what I could find. At the time, it was good old printer paper. While printing paper is cheap and easily accessible it is not good for drawing. All papers have a poundage that tells you how thick, course, and absorbent they are. Printing paper is made of low poundage which in turn makes it very flimsy. The graphite will not work into the paper making your drawing easily smear able.How to choose the right kind of paper is such a large subject it can be a whole new article in itself so for this one let us keep it simple. I would recommend for someone who is just starting out to use Strathmore Drawing paper at 80lbs. You can find this paper packet at the stores listed above.

5) Along with your paper and pencils you will need two good erasers. I’m recommending a hard white rectangular eraser for cutting in hard lines (I personally use Staedtler). Also I would recommend you purchase a kneaded eraser which can be twisted like putty into any shape. Making this product perfect for those hard to reach areas.

6) Other items you might want to add to your shopping list would be: a pencil sharpener and a spray fixative either workable or non-workable. Fixatives are used to keep your drawing in place after you finish. Otherwise you may find your work area covered in extra dust.

7) As a starting exercise try making a value scale from white to black. Draw ten squares leaving the first one white and gradually get darker until you reach a solid black. I’ve made an example for you to see. This exercise will be very helpful when you start to learn how to make gradients which are used to emphasize form resulting in a 3-D quality.