What Materials Used in Drawing?

One of the great things about drawing is that very few materials are required. All one really needs is a pencil and a piece of paper to get started. Of course there are many different pencils, markers, grades of paper and other materials that can be used in drawing. These may include:

Paper - There are many different types of paper available, in different qualities, thickness and sizes. Some grades are most appropriate for pencil sketches while others are intended for use with water colors.

Crayons - These colored waxes drawing implements are popular with young children and special oil crayons are often used in more formal drawing projects.

Pencils - Pencils are one of the most popular ways of drawing. You can buy special drawing pencils with leads graded by a hardness factor express in letters. (Colored drawing pencils are also available.)

Inks - Pen and ink drawing is a somewhat unforgiving medium since mistakes cannot be erased. Normally sketches are accomplished with a fine tipped pen, often a traditional fountain pen since nibs can be held at slightly different angles to vary the thickness of the line produced.

Charcoals - Charcoals are rather like a combination of a pencil and a crayon. They create broad, bold strokes and are good for fast, rough sketches where shading plays a major role in the depiction of the subject matter.

Pencil sharpener - While many artists find a pencil sharpener to be a vital tool, some purists prefer to sharpen their pencils with a pocket knife and to form the lead into a desirable point by rubbing it repeatedly on a piece of scrap paper.

Eraser - The beginning artist needs to make sure they purchase an actual art eraser Most are soft and white and leave the paper absolutely clean. In addition to removing mistakes, they can also be used to lighten or to smudge areas of a sketch.

Tracing paper - Translucent paper is an excellent tool for tracing the outline of a difficult subject taken from printed material. The resulting rough shape can form the bare bones of a sketch in progress.

Ruler and compass - These are particularly useful for people who wish to have straight lines and perfect circles.

Blending tortillions - Also known as French rolls, tightly wound stumps of paper are used to blend given areas of pencil drawings.

Fixatives - These prevent drawings from being smudged and usually come in spray cans.

Easel - An easel allows the work in progress to be placed on a stand, which can be helpful when drawing something past the easel.

What Techniques Are Used in Drawing?

There are many techniques that can be used to create a finished work including:

• Linear Drawing - This approaches focuses on the lines and shapes of the picture.
• Contour Drawing - This is a basic technique where the outline of the subject is drawn without any shading.
• Tonal Drawing - This techniques looks at the light and shade of the picture.
• Blending - This technique, which is more subtle than tonal drawing, involves working shading into the picture and eliminating hard lines.

What Role Do Computers Play in the Drawing Process?

The traditional method of drawing is now being augmented by computer applications that allow the person to "draw" on their PC or laptop screens. Drawing software can be used to complete an entire work, to augment material that has been scanned into digital formal, or to print basic drawings for tracing and augmentation in a more traditional medium.

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