Drawing

The drawing supplies here range from a simple graphite pencil, eraser and sharpener to artists' pastels, Copic alcohol markers and cotton watercolour papers. They cover dry drawing in pencil and charcoal, colour work with coloured pencils and pastels, precise lines with technical pens and markers for paper, fabric, glass or porcelain. Sketchbooks and papers come from Canson, Clairefontaine, Arches, Hahnemühle and other brands, with pencils and pastels from names such as KOH-I-NOOR and Faber Castell. Schoolchildren, beginners with their first sketchbook and illustrators looking for a specific shade, tip or paper weight can all put together their drawing kit here.

Graphite, charcoal or coloured pencils: where should you start?

Graphite pencils are the foundation of any drawing. The letter on a pencil indicates the hardness of its core: pencils marked H are harder and produce a light, thin line for sketches and technical drawing, while pencils marked B are softer and darker, making them suitable for shading. To start, all you need is a trio of HB, 2B and 6B, an eraser and a sharpener.

Charcoal gives deep black tones and can be blended with a finger or paper stump, making it popular for portraits and quick figure studies. Coloured pencils differ in their cores: Faber Castell Polychromos have an oil-based core that layers well, while KOH-I-NOOR Progresso are all core with no wood, so you can also draw with their broad side. Watercolour pencils draw like ordinary coloured pencils, but you can blend their marks with a wet brush for a watercolour effect.

Markers for paper, fabric or glass?

Markers make up a large part of the range, and your drawing surface determines which ones to choose. Copic alcohol markers are used by illustrators and comic and manga artists because their colours blend without streaks and the markers can be refilled with ink. Uni Posca acrylic markers cover even dark backgrounds and write on paper, wood, stone or glass. Fabric markers are designed for T-shirts, bags and trainers, while glass and porcelain markers are for mugs and drinking glasses.

For outlines, hatching and lettering, use technical pens with a precise tip, such as Sakura Pigma Micron, whose ink is water-resistant once dry. Check the tip width on all markers: a fine tip for detail, a broad one for filling areas and a brush tip for calligraphy and hand lettering. You'll find the full range in the felt-tip pens, markers and highlighters category.

Dry pastels, oil pastels or PanPastel?

Dry pastels are pure pigment pressed into sticks. They blend easily into gentle transitions, making them suitable for landscapes, skies and portraits, but the drawing remains dusty and needs protection with a fixative. For details, add pastel pencils such as KOH-I-NOOR Gioconda, while complete sets such as KOH-I-NOOR Toison D'or give you dozens of shades straight away.

Oil pastels, such as Sennelier or Van Gogh, are oily and richly coloured, don't produce dust and can be layered and scratched back in a similar way to oil paint. PanPastel is pastel in shallow pans that you apply with a sponge like paint, so it quickly covers a large area and produces little dust.

Which sketchbook or paper should you choose for your technique?

When choosing a sketchbook, paper weight and surface matter most. For pencil and quick sketches, paper around 90 to 160 g/m² is enough; for alcohol markers such as Copic, choose smoother, thicker paper, because their ink easily bleeds through onto the next sheet. For pastel, you need paper with tooth, such as Clairefontaine Pastelmat, which holds the pigment even in several layers. For watercolour pencils and wet techniques, choose paper weighing 250 to 300 g/m²; cotton watercolour papers from Arches, St Cuthberts Mill or Hahnemühle buckle less when wet than ordinary paper. Cream paper softens a drawing's contrast, while white pencils, pastels and acrylic markers stand out on black paper.