A Sample of
Drawing Tools
This is a sampling of the many tools
that are available to use in drawing.
The items presented here have proven
to be indispensable to artists. In this
section, you will learn each tool’s dif-
ferent applications. Take special note
of how the tool is used differently by
each artist in the gallery sections
throughout this book, and practice
what you see.
GRAPHITE PENCILS
Graphite pencils are probably the most common drawing tool. They are
available on a scale from hardest to softest. The scale ranges from 10H to
9B, where H denotes hardness and B indicates softness (the B refers to
black). An H pencil makes a sharp and precise line. As the H number
decreases, so does the sharpness. With the B range, the higher the num-
ber, the softer and more blurred the line becomes.
You can also buy water soluble graphite pencils. You draw out your image
with the pencil, and then paint over areas with a brush that has been
dipped in water to soften passages of tone, or line. This will give your
drawing a more “painterly” look.
Note:Graphite can be easily erased, as long as you don’t press really hard when
you draw. A jar of graphite powder (see the photo on page 36) is excellent for cre-
ating a ground, or tone, on your paper. You’ll learn more about tone in Chapter 4.
Various Mediums
CHARCOAL
Charcoal is available in sticks as willow or vine charcoal. Both charcoals
range from soft to hard and are easy to use to create tones. Charcoal can
be messy but produces a velvety, rich, dark tone on the paper. You can
sharpen the end into a point with some fine sandpaper or a small sanding
pad. You will use a lot of it, as it wears down quickly. Charcoal can be very
easily erased, and so it must be made permanent, or “fixed,” with a fixa-
tive. You can buy fixative in an aerosol form to be sprayed onto the sur-
face of your completed drawing. “Workable fixative” is also available, and
as the name suggests, you can spray it onto your drawing and then go
back and work into it again. It is therefore not permanent.
Note:Fixative is extremely harmful to inhale. If you apply it to your drawing,
always do so in the open air, and never indoors.