Drawing Tools to Improve your Drawings
Jun 10, 2009 Drawing
Besides a pencil, there are a few other things that most artists consider necessary for drawing: erasers, a blending stick, a sharpener, paper, and a fixative.
Erasers
You will need two different kinds of erasers. You are probably familiar with the large white eraser, which is useful for erasing early mistakes and big areas of pencil. The other type of eraser is a kneaded eraser. These gray erasers are flexible and malleable, and come in rectangles wrapped in plastic. Before using it, you’ll want to work the eraser a bit to make it soft. Kneaded erasers are useful because you can form a small point to erase in tight spaces. They are also good for gently lifting graphite to create subtle highlights. If you can only have one, I would recommend the kneaded eraser as it is more versatile.
Blending is essential to achieving smooth shading free of pencil strokes. Many people start out by blending their drawings with their fingers, but the oils in your skin can be damaging to your work. Blending sticks, also called tortillons, can be made by tightly rolling a piece of paper, or bought. They come in varying sizes and what you will need depends on the type of shading you are doing. A large blending stick is good for large areas of blending, while a small one is good for tight, detailed areas.
Sharpener
Duh. This is pretty self explanatory, but I wanted to mention that a good, sharp sharpener is the best. A cheap one is more likely to break lead and ruin your pencils. I also want to add that if you’re doing a lot of drawing and you can work it into the budget, an electric sharpener is well worth the investment.
Paper
Paper can be a very personal choice and it’s best to experiment with a couple different types. Some people prefer to draw on watercolour paper, which has some texture. Other people like to work with a very smooth surface for crisper lines and smoother shading. Whichever you choose, get a heavier paper that will stand up to blending and erasing.
Fixative
Fixative is necessary to preserve the quality of your drawings. A fixative “fixes” the graphite and keeps it from smudging. There are many different kinds of fixatives, but a good one is Krylon Workable Fixative. This fixative allows you to draw back on top of it, but is also a good finishing spray.
Now that you’re familiar with the basic drawing tools, the next step is learning how to shade!
Related posts:
- Drawing Tools: How to Choose a Pencil
- Drawing on a Graphite Ground
- How to Shade Your Pencil Drawings
- 15 Tips for Realistic Shading
- Tips to Improve your Drawing: How to See
Tags: art tips, drawing tips, getting started, tools
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August 4th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
[...] Now I blend the entire drawing with my blending stick. Here it’s important to work from light to dark, and as your blending stick gets dirty, clean [...]
September 4th, 2009 at 4:35 pm
[...] the fun part! Use your blending stick to blend your pencil marks together. It’s important to work from light to dark. Start at the [...]
September 27th, 2009 at 6:20 am
[...] Now you can use your blending stick to blend together the different tones. Use short, regular strokes and work from light to dark so you [...]
October 1st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
[...] into your highlight area with a tortillon using the same wrist-flicking motion you used to draw the [...]
October 25th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
[...] your blending stick to smooth out your pencil strokes. If this is looking too dark to you, remember that the only areas [...]
November 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am
[...] use your kneaded eraser to lift out the highlights. Look for the lightest areas where the light hits the subject directly. [...]
December 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am
[...] a tortillon is a tool that you use when shading pencil drawings. Have a look at my drawing tools page for more [...]
January 10th, 2010 at 9:44 am
[...] Use a blending stick to create a smooth [...]
January 31st, 2010 at 10:14 am
[...] Erase your grid lines then, still with your 2H, shade in the values that you see. Shade in everything but the highlights, layering the graphite to get the shadows. Don’t press hard or you will indent the paper! Blend with your tortillon. [...]
January 31st, 2010 at 10:17 am
[...] get out your blending stick and start smoothing out your shading. Work from light to dark and make sure that you blend out any [...]
January 31st, 2010 at 10:17 am
[...] Now it’s time to blend out your shading using a blending stick. Blending causes your drawing to lose some of its definition and look a little bit darker. [...]
August 27th, 2010 at 10:44 am
[...] we have left are a few finishing touches. Use a kneaded eraser to clean up the highlights. You can also use a 4B or 3B to make the shadows even darker. The last [...]