You may be thinking to yourself, "It's a drawing. I just need a pencil and some paper, right?" If you're only going to do line drawings and basic illustration, you're not wrong - you are totally set! :) However, if you want to create a more realistic drawing, no matter the subject, you're going to need just a few more tools.
Blending Tools
Every realistic #drawing will have shading which, when done smoothly, blends to create the desired effect. I always say that, at least in my work, creating portraits is 90% shading. Do not underestimate the importance of good shading! To have good shading, we have to have good blending tools. Fortunately, these come in a variety of options. Here are some of my favorites:
Q-Tips Yes, those handy ear-canal cleaning implem
Make-up Sponges I cannot stress enough how smooth of a blend these create! Unfortunately, they do tend to pick up most of the pigment, so I only tend to blend with these when I feel that I've gone too dark with my values. But, they lighten wonderfully and create a smoother blend than any of the rest of the tools on this list.
Tortillions/Blending Stumps These are a must-have, especially when drawing small, shadowy details and facial features. The best part about tortillions is once I've used them to blend, I can then go back and use them as a drawing implement for details such as smile lines, dimples, and forehead creases. They come in a variety of sizes, which is especially useful and they take very little pigment off of the paper.
Blending Cloth For charcoal drawings only, you can't go wrong with a blending cloth. Like the make-up sponges, it takes a ton of pigment off of the paper so if you want darker values when using a blending cloth, you'll have to layer a lot. It does, however, blend very smoothly and the effects - when going for skin tone - are just out of this world. Downside? It's messy. But, then, if you're working in charcoals, I'm going to assume that doesn't bother you
Erasers
Erasers aren't just for mistakes! They're so much more versatile than you might originally think and are an important part of developing a quality realistic drawing. Having a variety of erasers at your fingertips is going to help you create the kind of shading magic that will take your drawing to the next level.
Kneaded Erasers These have many uses. Like putty, you can shape them however you want and therefore, you can use them to create highlights in a variety of shapes and patterns all with a careful stick-and-peel technique. They're invaluable for creating a wide variety of different textures and for removing pigment in overly-pigmented areas. Because they're so malleable, you can use them for big or small spaces and really concentrate on areas that would be difficult to do with other types of erasers.
Blue Sticky Tack Yep, the stuff you may have used to hang posters because it came off the wall without taking the paint with it - that stuff is amazing for art! It does all of the same things as the kneaded erasers, but it's just a little bit more sticky, so it does the job more aggressively without harming your artwork. I actually prefer blue sticky tack to kneaded erasers, myself.
Big Pink Eraser It doesn't have to be pink, but you get the picture. The big erasers that were always required for school: they're large, stiff, rectangular, and come in a variety of colors, pink being the most common. These erasers are excellent for clean up! After a drawing, there are almost always smudges around the subject. (I mean, this can be avoided using some precautions or proper hand placement, but I'm a mess and I seldom do what I'm supposed to do, so this comes in handy for me!) You can take out those smudges by using one of these large erasers around the entire subject in at least half the time that it would take you with a smaller eraser.
Tombow Mono Eraser There are other brands that make similar erasers, but Tombow is my favorite, so that's what I'm going to talk about, here. The Tombow Mono is a super small eraser that comes in a holder the size of a mechanical pencil and the eraser is inside of it in the same way that pencil lead is inside a mechanical pencil. You can click out however much eraser you need, which is so incredibly handy, and you can push back in the eraser that you don't need, when you're done. It's excellent at erasing in places where you need very fine highlights and details: hair, eyes, pores, lips, I could go on and on. This is, by far, one of my favorite erasers and I use it with nearly every piece that I do.
Pencils
Whether you are drawing in graphite or charcoal, you're going to need pencils with a variety of softness for several reasons. The harder the lead, the lighter the pigment. The softer the lead, the darker the pigment. In order to truly create the values that you want for your drawing, you will need a range of hard-to-soft pencils. While it's true that you *can* get a darker pigment by pushing harder with the lead, that dents the paper and ruins your drawing. Using a softer lead for darker pigment allows you to have a soft touch while getting the value depth that you're after. As far as harder leads, a standard number 2 pencil (also known as an HB) is actually a very dark pigment and no matter how light of a touch you use, you will still never get those super-light greys that you see when you use a hard lead (such as a 4H).
In my drawings, I use the following scale of pencils: 4H, 2H, H, F, HB, B, 2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, and 9B. To my knowledge, you can get pencils as hard as a 9H, but I've only found them to 4H and so far, that's been light enough for me and my purposes. Your mileage may vary. You can pick up a multi-pack of artists' pencils online or at your local craft store.
Paper
This really depends on how fussy you want to be about it and whether you're producing something for sale vs. something that's just for fun and practice. If it's the latter, really, use whatever you want! Obviously, you'll want something with tooth, so try to steer clear of those really super cheap sketchbooks that squeak when you run your hand across the page. Buy the really super cheap sketchbook next to it that doesn't squeak. ;)
For sale pieces, I use watercolor paper. You can pick it up online or at most craft stores. It's heavy and it has a lot of tooth, plus it frames well. For charcoals, I like to use toned grey sketch paper. It's thicker than regular paper and the toned grey isn't an absolute *must* with charcoal, but it really helps your artwork pop.
So, that's it. You're all set! Now, let's get to drawing!
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