Paper, pencil, & ergonomic basics

Drawing angle, paper, the correct pencil, drawing at an angle

Sketchifer Says,

“The next step after purchasing ‘The 9 essential tools for learning how to draw’ is knowing what to do with them!

Drawing angle

Drawing on a flat surface is bad

  • It will create perspective distortion in your drawing

  • It’s bad ergonomics, and will hurt your neck

Drawing on an angled surface is good

  • No perspective distortion

  • No neck pain

 
 

The correct pencil

Pencils come in a range of hardnesses and can be useful for creating a variety of values.  

Pencil hardness

  • Pencils are mostly grouped into two categories - “B”, and “H”

    • “B” or “black” pencils are softer, and draw darker

    • “H” or “hard” pencils are harder, and draw lighter

  • The higher the number, the greater amount of darkness or lightness

    • So, 9B is the darkest pencil, and 9H is the lightest pencil

  • “HB” stands for “hard-black” since it’s in the middle. “F” is for firm, and it’s also situated about the middle of the scale

However we will never need the nuance of every single pencil in a single good drawing. One, a few, or at most, several will do the job just fine.

So which pencil should you use?

For now only the 2B pencil! We’ll introduce more pencil hardnesses into your process as you go!

 
 

Paper types

 

The inordinate amount of paper on the market varies by size, weight, texture, color, value, absorption, and more! Let’s compare these two:

Ideal for cranking out lots of practice drawings

  • Inexpensive

    • $10~ for 100 pages = 1~ penny per page side

  • Off-white in value

Perfect for finished drawings that take hours to complete

  • Heavyweight 

  • Archival, will not turn yellow over time

So which paper should you use?

Newsprint is the way to go for getting a lot of practice under your belt. Later on when you’re ready to put your skills to the test, we’ll bust out the nicer paper!

 
 

Digital drawing

 

Digital drawing can reinforce some bad habits

This is becuse it’s such a powerful tool. Even great digital illustrators learn using traditional methods. Tradtional materials limit what you’re able to do, and therefore enforce good form.

You may certainly use these tutorials with digital equipment, but the lessons are designed with traditional art in mind!

If you’re not yet enrolled, take a class with us, and become a master artist