Drawing Tools: Find out What Supplies You Need

Whether you’re a seasoned artist or just starting, having the right supplies at hand is crucial for creating art that you’re proud of. The world of drawing tools can be overwhelming, with so many options available.

In this article, we’ll take a look together at some of the most common drawing supplies and their advantages and disadvantages. You’ll get some tips on how to choose the right tools for your artistic needs, and I’ll introduce you to my favorites.

So sit back, and let’s dive into the world of drawing tools.

Basic Tools for Drawing

If you’re just starting in drawing, you don’t need a lot of tools: good pencils and a sketchbook are all you need as a beginner.

A pencil set with different degrees of hardness allows you to work with different shades right at the beginning. If you use only one pencil for your drawings, they will lack depth and this can lead to false conclusions, such as that you are not good enough and the drawings, therefore, do not look good. The pencils you use have a big impact on your artwork.

Pencil sets are also relatively inexpensive, even those from good brands. My recommendation goes out to my two favorites: pencils from Faber Castell and Rembrandt. You get a good selection of different hardness levels here and the pencils are pretty sturdy. As a rule, you should never drop pencils on purpose, of course, as this can break the lead, but if it does happen, in my experience the leads of these two brands don’t break so easily. However, if you want to keep your expenses as low as possible in the beginning, a cheap pencil set is also sufficient.

A sketchbook is extremely important for any artist. It is the place where you can experiment and learn. Allow yourself to make mistakes, because you can learn best from them. Always treat the sketchbook like a learning companion, not a portfolio of perfect artwork.

You could of course also learn to draw on individual sheets of paper, but with a sketchbook, you have the great advantage of being able to take your entire learning progress with you practically everywhere.

I recommend you buy a sketchbook in A4 format for the beginning so that you have enough space to work. If A4 is too big for you, please use at least one in A5 format. Anything smaller than that is too small to seriously learn to draw and sketch.

Drawing Paper and Drawing Pads

When it comes to drawing paper, you should first ask yourself what exactly you need it for. If you only want to use it for quick sketches or studies, you can use inexpensive, thin paper and even printer paper. However, thin paper wrinkles very easily when you use an eraser and the pigments of pencils generally don’t stick to it well, so it’s not the best choice for proper drawings.

For time-consuming drawings, I recommend you use specialized drawing paper. This paper has a slightly rough surface to which the pigments of the pencils stick much better.

Colored Pencils for Your Collection

Anyone who has done a little research online about colored pencils will certainly have heard of the Faber Castell Polychromos. These are artist-quality colored pencils that have a much higher pigment density than conventional colored pencils. As a result, the colors are not only more vibrant but they can also be easily blended on the paper.

Another big plus for artists who want to hang or exhibit their work, or even sell the original, is the lightfastness of Polychromos. This means that the colors do not fade even after weeks or months.

However, due to the high quality, the pencils are also a bit more expensive. I would therefore recommend purchasing them only if you are sure to use them.

Little less expensive brand of pencils that I like very much and also often use, are the watercolor pencils from Faber Castell. When dry, they can be used like colored pencils. However, if water comes into play, you can paint watercolor art with them.

If you are interested in painting as well as drawing, I would recommend getting watercolor pencils. They make the transition from drawing to painting very easy, and if you decide that drawing is more your thing, you won’t have any unused watercolor paint lying around.

If you’re not looking for brand-name pencils with special features, but just want to get a reasonably priced, well-balanced colored pencil set, there is of course a good alternative for that, too.

Eraser

Erasers can be very helpful for making guidelines disappear or for touching up mistakes. However, I would not recommend beginners to stock up on erasers, as there is a risk that you will find every single stroke to be flawed and be more concerned with erasing than with actually drawing. Especially as a beginner, it is important to make many mistakes to learn.

If you have already gained some experience in drawing and are reasonably confident, I would recommend a very regular eraser, as well as a kneaded eraser and precision eraser.

Blending Stumps

A blending stump is always used when you want to blend the lines of a pencil and create particularly smooth transitions. It is not a necessary drawing tool, because, with a lot of practice, you can draw soft transitions without it, but many artists and hobbyists find it very handy.

Blending stumps are not particularly expensive, so if you feel like it, you can try it once and then decide whether to add it to your tool kit in the long run.

What drawing tools do you want to get next? Let me know in the comments!