Tools for Drawing?

Question

Is it necessary to have good pencil and paper in order to draw really good? this sounds like a dumb question, but what are some tools that you would recommend for a beginner? I want to learn how to draw portraits, so do I need any kind of blending tool? or would I be able to do that with only a pencil? will normal pencil no.2 work?

Answer 1

get a set of pencils with different degrees of hardness, a gum eraser (works better than regular erasers) or a puddy eraser; a couple different sized tortilians (blending tool). You will need sand paper to sharpen the tip of the tortilian when it gets worn down. And buy a sketch book. Then you'll be all set. good luck.

You can find everything i mentioned at an art store, and they're not too expensive.

Answer 2

Is it necessary to have good pencil and paper in order to draw really good?

No. Talent, ability, technique and desire..without these things all the drawing tools in world are of little use.

what are some tools that you would recommend for a beginner? I want to learn how to draw portraits, so do I need any kind of blending tool? or would I be able to do that with only a pencil?

You'll find every artist is successful with something different. My personal preference is an HB pencile. The lead is not so hard that you cannot achieve nice darks, and not to soft so as to not control lines.

Some may suggest a blending stump. Personally I never use them. I do all my blending by controling the pressure I apply with the pencil lead.

Since you want to do portrait drawings, which is what I love to do, I strongly suggest you get an anatomy book for artist and spend some time drawing the bones and muscles of the head and face. This exercise will get you use to seeing detail in facial features. Eyes, noses and mouths - practice practice practice !

will normal pencil no.2 work?

If that is all you have, yes ! It is a softer lead so take care to not bear down real hard on the drawing surface...which brings me to my last point - experiment with different drawing surfaces. See what works best for you. I use a Hotpress Illustration Board for my drawings. But see what works for you.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

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Answer 4

You can surround yourself with the best of everything and do mediocre work. Technique and learning how to really see what you're really looking at will take you farther. Since you're a begginer sure go ahead and use a no2 if thats what you feel comfortable with. I would suggest getting a decent sketchbook though. Get something with a relatively smooth paper. You don't have to get a pro quality deal.

You can try a blending tool if you want to give it a shot. I don't use one, I think it's cheating (for pencil anyway, if you were using pastel or charcoal that wold be different.) That's where technic comes in and understanding what your using and using it properly. Most people will say it's a pencil, how else can you use it. You can manipulate the point and get different effects out of it. If you keep a piece of paper next to you to scribble on you can change the point. (It sorta "sands" the point.) Press down normally and flatten the point and you'll have a wider line profile that's better for shading (And it doesn't dig into the paper as much so you can press harder). For hair and other things you may want to go with a tighter line so you can change it to a finer profile, (Sharper point and it will dig into the paper so you may want to use a lighter touch at first until you get used to it.) See what I mean though? One regular pencil that if used right you can get great results. So until you get better just use what you know. Later though you may want to get into different leads. I only use three, (This is where touch and technique come in.) and get the same look as someone that uses more. Don't fall into the more is better trap. You rely more on the tools you use instead of learning to use what you have. Develope a better touch and you can use less. (Knowing how hard to press and getting the pencil to barley touch the page to the point that the lead's barely visable.) Developing touch goes hand in hand with developing your shading skills.

The biggest thing you have to do is really study the face and people in general. After all it's a portrait, it has to look like the person right? Do eye studies (Studies are drawings of a particular thing that shows different angles and types), nose studies, ears, mouths, study proportions, learn all you can. Watch how the skin reacts when someone frowns or smiles. It seems like a lot to do and it is if you want to be good at it.

I would also suggest you get a kneaded eraser. It's a gray flexable eraser that you can shape into points and stuff to get different effects also. The biggest reason though is it doesn't tear up paper and leave a rough spot like a regular eraser does. The rough spots an eraser leaves will always be darker and you can't really fix it.

You'll get frustrated at times but don't let it get to you. You have to work at it. Learn from the mistakes you make. Look at them and figure out what you did wrong then work on fixing it.

You didn't ask a dumb question. If you don't ask you'll never know. All totalled you can get what you need for 10 -20 bucks.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Well this is from someone who has to do a lot of _technical_ drawing, but anyway:

More than just one pencil, a good drawing requires a host of pencils to complete. Pencils of the range 6H to 4H are better for sketching the basic lines as they can be easily erased, while smudge effects and bold lines are best created through the 6B pencil.

Drawing shapes is an art in itself, and some utensils you might want to use include a flexible ruler (drawing curves), drawing triangles, protractors etc.

Paper also always plays a big part; paper weight, luminosity and color are all factors to be considered (if not pondered) . Your choice of paper can really add to or detract from your final piece.

Tracing paper might also be a useful addition.

Answer 6

A good set of artist's pencils can be had for little money at any art supply store or online at suppliers like Dick Blick or Jerry's Artarama. They are labeled with a number and letter system. The "H" stands for hard. These are lighter colored and used for lighter sketching and subtle shadows. The "B" stands for black, and applies to the darker colored leads. These are harder to erase completely, but they do smudge easily because they are much softer. You can blend with a tortillion, a kneaded eraser or your fingertip. For paper, I would stick with the larger and less expensive sketch books. Give yourself room to work. Try to stick with papers that are acid free once you get to the point where you start producing things that are worth keeping. Have fun and experiment with different materials. There are lots of different types available.

Your most important tool for learning portraiture will be practice and patience. The human form is one of the toughest things to draw really well, but also one of the most rewarding. It can take years to really master. If there are any arts organizations in your area, they may offer classes that can help jump start your studies. There are also tons of books around that cover the subject quite well. Best of luck to you.

Answer 7

With any of your pencils, try to make a grayscale bar with 8 squares from white to black. You may find you need some other harder and softer leads. Pencil medium is from light to dark. Sketch your proportion lines as light as possible. When that's to your satisfaction, evaluate and fill in one of the darkest areas.

Use a kneaded erasure, available at art stores. You stretch a kneaded erasure like silly putty to make it soft and it will blot up pencil instead of tearing the paper.

You can save a lot of work using colored paper as the middle tone and work both ways using an ebony pencil and white lead.

You can make very realistic drawings learning to mix color with a color pencil set. Start a drawing with the light blue for the shadows. Cover the blues you want to change with the white pencil and then the mixing color, say yellow to make a green. But again, learn the colorbar with the colors you work with. Avoid black. Make the shadows using the color directly opposite on the color wheel to make a mix for the shadow color.

Shadows are the aritists' best friend.

Answer 8

If you intend to learn how to pull an ideal picture all you need is time and Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide from here https://tr.im/bDzOd to be in the proper path.
The instructions from Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery guide contain 208 pages and a total of 605 illustrations.  The essential method used is that you start with a photo, pull a mild outline of the feature, and then tone it in.
Realistic Pencil Portrait Mastery is the perfect allied to really make the great draw.

Answer 9

Charcoal is a great drwing medium for portraits, and it will help you to paint later too.
Try not to use fingers or blenders as they are really crutches that don't really teach you how to draw, but rather try to blend using the charcoal and if necessary a kneaded eraser on strathmore paper.

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Answer 10

no
just a sketch pad
and a grapite pencil
also you can blend pencil lead with the side of your hand,your thumb,or a balled up tissue works