What pencil to use for drawing?
Susan stared at her You Tube screen, frustrated again. “What pencil to use for drawing?” she wondered. As a newbie just starting to draw she was addicted to video tutorials, but none of them started with the basics.
“I have no idea what kind of paper or pencils and eraser to use at all!” she thought.
What pencil to use for drawing cartoons?
It seems so simple, and it is! Fortunately for Susan, she asked her question here…
Since most of us gave up drawing as preschoolers and got our ‘pen license’ way back in primary school, we don’t have the freshest memories of what pencil is best for what purpose.
Using the right materials gives you a lot of confidence— or at least sets you up for success.
It’s best to keep everything super-simple when you are starting out
(and for a long time afterwards) so I suggest the simplest pencil and paper combination you can get your hands on. An old-fashioned HB pencil and a plain paper exercise book both suitable for a grade schooler are perfect. If you add a 2B pencil for making darker outlines in a softer lead, that will give you all the flexibility you need.
There are a couple of benefits to taking this pencil and paper approach, both of which lead to you drawing more, right now.
Avoiding drawing pencil roadblocks
Art supply stores would love us to believe that there is THE perfect material or accessory for everything that we want to do, and that if we are serious about “it” we will take the time to get the right tools. Sometimes we even embrace that delay because it puts off the fateful day when we have to take action and draw!
The good news is that for drawing cartoons, it’s absolutely not true. Anything that makes a mark, and takes a mark, is a good-enough combination.
Increasing your drawing volumes
Pricey art journals can slow your progress in two ways.
The first is performance anxiety which (once again) delays you getting started. Faced with the first page of a new, expensive journal, it’s human nature to want to fill it with a masterpiece… and to put it away till tomorrow because you just don’t have the time or ability to make a masterpiece today!
The second is sneakier — the subconscious Don’t Fill It mindset. When you are drawing every day (which I strongly recommend) you fill those pages pretty quickly. If you shell out a bundle for your art journal, at some level you’re fighting a reluctance to fill it because once it’s full, you’re going to need a new one.
What about erasers?
I recommend that you don’t use an eraser at all for the first 6 months. What you need when you are getting started is to embrace the process and enjoy the mechanics of putting pencil to paper. You also need to let go of the outcome. Erasers work against this because they reinforce a perfectionist mindset. They keep you focussed on ‘getting it right’ which is ultimately the enemy of progress.
But isn’t drawing worth some special rituals?
You may want to celebrate your drawing, and find ways to make it meaningful and enjoyable as a daily routine. If buying a beautiful art journal and a special pencil helps with that, by all means do it. Whatever gets you drawing and keeps you drawing is great.
What now?
If you’re not 100% clear about what pencil to use for drawing (or you have a question about something totally unrelated to this video), I’d love to hear from you.
Leave a comment and who knows? Your question could spark off an exciting new lesson series!