You don’t need lots of complicated and expensive tools for drawings – many of them will be available within a good stationary store and the other more exotic tools can be bought from any art supplies store too.

Pencils: These are probably the most important tool for any artist. It is important to find a type of pencil you are comfortable with, since you will be spending a lot of time using it:

Graphite- These are you basic every day pencil. They are in available in a range of densities from the softest 9B to the hardest 9 H. Hard pencils will last longer and are less likely to smudge on the paper. Most artists prefer the HB pencil which falls in the middle of the density scale.

Mechanical- Also known as the propelling pencils, these have the advantage of not being needed to sharpen whenever they get “blunt” as at the push of the button the lead inside is pushed down, these are especially useful for thin, dark lines due to their constant sharpness.

Inking Pens: Sometimes, your work may need to have a bolder effect to it rather than just a pencil drawings, inking gives a sharp, bold and solid image to your work

Ballpoint pens- Standard ballpoint pens are ideal for lining your work. However, their quality varies, as does there delivery of ink. A good quality ballpoint pen will serve you much better than a collection of cheap not so good pens as it will have a more consistent quality of delivery.

Marker pens- Standard marker pens of varying thicknesses are ideal for colouring and shading your artwork as they provide a steady, uniform supply of ink and can be used to build layers of colour by re-inking the same area.

Fine Liners- These pens are the best for drawing precise detailed work. It is important not to make your lines to heavy or variable when drawings tiny bits of detail. They will help you maintain a consistent line weight.

Erasers: Everyone makes mistakes, even the pro’s. That’s why a good eraser is essential. There are 3 main types of eraser you can use, Putty rubber, traditional rubber and vinyl.

Putty rubber- The putty rubber is a kneadable rubber that you can shape to be used to erase large or small areas. Only problem is that due to their flexibility, there actually rubbing out ability is usually not the best.

Traditional rubber- This rubber is much better at erasing darker lines than the putty rubber but the problem with these is that after constant use they start to crumble and soon the whole area of the page is covered with rubber crumbs

White Vinyl rubber- These are possibly the best kind of rubbers as they provide the right balance between gentle erasing with minimal crumbling of the eraser or damaging the paper

Paper: The biggest part of making you work a true masterpiece is by having the right paper. Again there are 3 main types of paper, cartridge paper, art paper and watercolour paper.

Cartridge paper- This is the kind of paper you use in printers. It is not the best for using colours on as the colours are very likely to bleed but also not look as vibrant. But it is very cheap thus it is very good for laying out and planning your work

Art Paper- This type of paper usually comes in the weights of 90 gms to 140 gms, the heavy the weight, the more colour it can absorb thus colours will look more vibrant and colourful. Only problem is that it is more expensive than cartridge paper.

Watercolour paper- The most expensive type of paper but also the best kind of paper to hold colour with very little bleeding from the original lines. It comes in a range of textures from smooth to slightly textured to very textured.