
Starting a pencil can be overwhelming at first, but having the right tools will help you start on the right foot. This cohesive list of the art supplies will help you build a pencil drawing kit that is ideal for your future projects.
Please note that some of the art supply links in this article are Amazon Associate links. You can help support Hike And Draw by using these links.
There’s more to a pencil drawing kit than one would suspect. At minimum you’ll need a decent mid-range pencil to help you get a wide range of light values, a good quality paper that won’t show signs of wear and tear while you’re drawing, and a good eraser that will help keep your work clean without creating pink smudges on the paper.
Remember those yellow No. 2 pencils from school? They might be handy for filling in a multiple choice bubble, but they aren’t the best for drawing. Artist pencils come in a wide variety of thickness, graphite cores, and even colors, each with its own special function. In fact, here’s a handy scale that helps illustrate that point. A good pencil drawing kit is more than just finding the right pencil for your work, however. In this article, we’ll dive into the different elements that make a pencil drawing kit versatile and effective.
Everyone knows that the hero’s job is to save the day. The same can be said about the indispensable eraser. Erasers obviously come in all shapes and sizes, but what material is best?
The Kneadable Eraser
"You can use a kneadable eraser to add incredible textures to your work, soften hard edges, and create smooth gradients."
The Micro Eraser
The Electric Eraser
When it comes to drawing with pencil, never be underestimate how much your work will be effected by the quality of the paper. Newsprint is the cheapest quality paper on the market, which is why it’s sold in massive quantities to art students for the purpose of rapid charcoal studies. Printer paper is slightly better and ranges in quality, but has more limitations than benefits. If you’re not making detailed drawings in the great outdoors, here are a few suggestions for much better home studio options.
Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Illustration Board
Bristol
A good drawing pencil is the foundation of your drawing and field sketching kit. Depending on your objective, you may require only one kind or many. Here are some recommendations based on the pencils I use in my professional work.
2B Pencil
8B Pencil
9B Graphite Powder
I arrived lated to the game where blending tools are concerned. Now they are a crucial element of my kit that help me take my pencil drawings to a higher level.
Blending Stumps
Brushes
I hope you found this article helpful! Your next step is to experiment. Subscribe and you’ll get access to one of my pencil drawing tutorials for FREE.
This digital drawing tutorial is for artists who want to learn how to convert their physical sketches into beautiful digital drawings. We’ll begin with a pencil sketch and finish a nature themed drawing using a digital drawing tablet. https://youtu.be/WTPsg3RH4Uc Drawing with a tablet can be a touchy subject among artists who would otherwise consider themselves…
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