Drawing Materials

We’ll start with pencil drawings, which require just a few simple materials:

SURFACE

Bristol paper with a smooth finish makes an excellent surface for fine pencil work and withstands some erasure without roughening the paper surface. You can also use hot-pressed illustration board, which has slightly more texture than the bristol paper and can also withstand erasures.

PENCILS

Use a no. 2 pencil for your preliminary underlying sketch, whether you’re sketching directly on the bristol paper or transferring your sketch with tracing paper.

For the final drawing, use ebony pencils. They are jet black and smooth to work with because they are softer and denser than ordinary pencils. This also makes them easier to blend with a stump.

KNEADED ERASER

The kneaded eraser is best for pencil work as it erases cleanly and can be formed into any shape for detailed erasures. Also, you can easily clean the eraser by kneading and working it around. You can use a kneaded eraser to lighten areas that have gotten too dark by repeatedly pressing the eraser lightly onto the area until it is the right tone.

BLENDING STUMP

Similar to tortillions, stumps are made of soft, tightly spiral-wound paper. They are a good tool for smoothing and blending and give a softer look to some areas of your drawing than can be achieved by the pencil alone.

PENCIL SHARPENER

It’s important to have a good pencil sharpener, preferably electric, so you can quickly sharpen your pencils to a fine point. It’s a good idea to sharpen several pencils at once so when one gets dull, you don’t have to stop to sharpen it.

SPRAY FIXATIVE

Spray fixative stabilizes drawings so that the penciling won’t smudge or smear if it is accidentally touched or rubbed. Workable fixative is best since it provides lasting protection, yet you can still rework the drawing if you decide to make changes. Apply it in a place with plenty of ventilation, placing the drawing on a larger piece of scrap paper or cardboard so you don’t get the spray onto anything else. Cover the surface uniformly but without drips.

Gather Your Supplies

Here is what you’ll need for your pencil drawings: a surface (bristol paper or illustration board), a no. 2 pencil, ebony pencils, kneaded eraser, blending stumps and spray fixative. It’s also useful to have a good pencil sharpener and tracing paper for transferring your sketch to the surface. Drawing supplies are relatively inexpensive and easy to order over the Internet.