Every artist, beginner or professional alike, requires quality art supplies. Substandard tools may damage their work or even lead to injuries that lead to further problems for themselves or the artist.
These six essential art supplies for beginners can help you explore new techniques, develop skills and discover your artistic voice. Read on for more details of these vital supplies for artists starting out.
Graphite Pencils
One of the essential drawing tools for any artist is a good graphite pencil, but not all pencils are created equal; finding one with outstanding features may determine your success or otherwise in creating art pieces.
Graphite drawing pencils come in various grades ranging from hard to soft, which allows artists to explore a full spectrum of values. These grades are determined by the ratio between graphite and clay content – an increased ratio produces harder and lighter drawing materials while lower clay content results in softer and darker pencils. Artists mark these grades on pencil casings using an alphanumeric code system; for instance, an H marked pencil indicates harder lighter drawing materials while an HB denotes softer darker tools.
After choosing your grade of drawing pencil, it is also important to evaluate its comfort and performance in your hands. Look for something with an ergonomic shape, grip, size and size so you can draw comfortably for extended periods. Also observe whether or not sharpening and blending are easy – ideally without needing sharpeners or erasers!
Blending is of utmost importance when working with graphite. Blending can soften pencil lines and create the illusion of form, so selecting a good quality graphite pencil with high-grade lead is crucial. Pressing too hard against paper may damage or scratch it and ruin its surface; for best results it is recommended that an up-and-down, back-and-forth application of tortillion should also be employed to avoid smudging.
Charcoal Pencils
Charcoal is an easy and natural medium that produces deep tones with subtle value variations and gradients, perfect for creating richly dark images. Use dry for opaque marks or add water for washes of lighter tones; furthermore it can be smudged or blended for soft value changes and gradual transitions between values – experiment with various blending and smudging techniques until you find one that suits your artistic style!
If you want to try your hand at charcoal drawing, start by finding quality lightfast paper that has texture. This will enable the pencil to grip the surface more tightly while leaving a more even finish on your paper surface. Most manufacturers provide tooth or texture ratings on their papers; touch them and feel them before purchasing your material.
Charcoal pencils come in various forms. You have several choices when it comes to selecting one: compressed charcoal pencils are denser and provide more consistent lines, while vine charcoal sticks can be lighter and frailer, offering greater scope for smudging or smearing easily for looser lines or gradients.
Experimenting with how you hold charcoal pencils can greatly alter the mark you create. Try holding it sideways or laying it down on its side to produce larger, painterly masses of charcoal; or rub the pencil against itself to produce hatching (when thin lines are drawn parallel).
When sharpening charcoal pencils, beware not to use regular pencil sharpeners as this could damage them easily. Instead, use a knife or sharpening pad (small squares of sandpaper that you rub against to form an ultrafine point) instead. You could even purchase sandpaper sharpening pads to achieve even finer points!
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils are indispensable tools for realizing an artist’s creative vision, and colored pencils are no different. From tinting a drawing with light strokes that let the paper’s color show through to creating dense layers of pigment with dense coverage, colored pencils offer artists versatile and easy-to-use creative tools.
No matter your level of artistic experience, having high-quality colored pencils that will produce excellent results is essential to creating beautiful artwork. Pencils with soft leads produce smooth and blended hues while hard ones may cause undefined edges that look dry or rough – choose a set that offers different hues to accommodate different artwork styles.
Pencil size and texture also play an integral part in shaping how your drawings turn out, with hard-tipped pencils being better suited to detail work while soft-tipped ones excel at shading. Furthermore, the type of binder used can affect how long-lasting colors stay true over time; wax-based binder offers easy blending while oil-based options tend to outperform due to greater durability against smudging.
Consider investing in a set of specialty erasers such as kneaded or sandpaper types that will assist in erasing colored pencil marks without leaving unwanted smudges behind. A highlighter can help add bright highlights without disturbing the surrounding white area of your artwork.
If you are serious about colored pencil art, investing in professional-grade options like Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils could make all the difference in how your finished piece looks. Although more expensive, investing in these pencils could make all the difference in its quality.
Sketchbooks
Sketchbooks offer artists a safe place to experiment and discover new techniques without feeling pressured to produce work for any specific goal. This freedom enables artists to expand their artistic voice while honing their skills. As a beginner artist, it may be worth investing in thick paper that can handle multiple layers of paint or wet media.
Many artists utilize sketchbooks to capture observations of the world around them or express ideas they’ve been having in their minds onto paper. Both observations and invention are vital skills necessary for an artist to flourish; each must be developed for optimal success.
Sketchbooks are also an invaluable way to record and celebrate artistic growth. By encouraging experimentation and learning, sketchbooks create visual memories which can then be shared among artists or displayed publicly at exhibitions or shows. Thus, sketches often make up part of an artists portfolio.
Ultimately, paper quality should be of prime concern when purchasing a sketchbook. When selecting your paper source, look for acid free archival paper which resists yellowing over time. Also important when purchasing your sketchbook are its binding options: hard backed or spiral bound binding will do nicely, while selecting one with at least five pages is ideal.
Sketchbooks are essential tools for any aspiring artist, encouraging exploration while offering a safe space where mistakes can be celebrated as part of the creative process. Sketchbooks serve as an essential training ground and toolbox, equipping artists to reach their artistic potential on “game day.”