Top 10 Tools Every Artist Needs in Their Drawing Kit
Fig. 1 - Ten must-have tools and why they are essential for every artist.
Drawing is a skill honed through practice and passion. While natural talent gives some an edge, those willing to invest time and effort can learn to draw. Whether you are naturally gifted or diligently learning, a good drawing kit is vital — not just for beginners but for experienced artists and animators refining their skills. As this blog post argues, each tool in an artist's kit serves a unique purpose, helping an animator achieve a high level of precision, depth, and creativity. Let’s dive into the ten must-have tools and why they are essential for every artist (Fig. 1).
How a Quality Drawing Kit Transforms Your Art
The right tools don’t just make the process easier — they enhance your abilities, encouraging experimentation and precision. They enable artists to achieve effects that elevate their work, from realistic shading to vibrant compositions. Whether you’re just starting or are a seasoned artist, building a comprehensive kit tailored to your style is a step toward unlocking your full creative potential.
Invest in quality supplies and regularly update your kit to match your evolving skills and artistic goals. With these tools, you’ll be well-equipped to tackle any project and bring your creative visions to life.
#1 Pencils
Pencils are the foundation of drawing. They come in various grades, from 9H (hardest) to 9B (softest), each serving a specific purpose and offering the artist a different way of realising their image.
Hard pencils like 2H or 4H create faint, crisp lines, ideal for technical sketches and light outlines. Softer pencils, such as 6B or 8B, produce rich, dark shades, perfect for bold lines and shading. Investing in a quality pencil set like Faber-Castell or Staedtler ensures consistency and longevity.
Mechanical pencils — the ones with thin, replaceable leads advanced via some mechanism — are also useful for fine details, while graphite sticks cover larger areas for backgrounds and shading. And speaking of tech-advanced pencils, there's a stylus, a pen-like tool used to interact with touch screens, like those on drawing/graphics tablets and smartphones.
Nevertheless, the humble pencil remains foundational to the artistic craft, even as digital technologies are taking over the trade. Software does offer much more experimentation, convenience and precision; but even the most advanced tablets use the mighty pencil to emulate the tactile experience and spontaneity of traditional drawing.
#2 Erasers
Erasers are more than just correction tools—they add versatility to your drawings. A kneaded eraser can be molded into various shapes, allowing each artist to lighten areas without completely erasing them, making it perfect for adding in highlights and achieving soft gradients.
A vinyl eraser also provides precise, clean corrections without smudging or damaging paper, ideal for tight spaces or intricate details. For charcoal or pastel works, a gum eraser works best, as it removes marks without spreading residue. Keep a variety of erasers in your kit to better handle different media and techniques.
#3 Sketchbooks
A sketchbook is your creative playground. It is where you practice, experiment, and continually refine your ideas as an artist. High-quality sketchbooks with acid-free paper prevent yellowing and are suitable for a variety of mediums like pencil, pen, or light watercolor. Choose the size of sketchbook based on your workflow: smaller ones for portability and making quick sketches, larger ones for more detailed compositions.
Brands like Moleskine and Strathmore offer options with textured or smooth surfaces, catering to your preferences. For instance, a textured surface provides added grip and better control during sketching; likewise, sketchbooks with smoother finish are best suited when you’re looking for precision in detailing.
#4 Drawing Pens
Drawing pens are indispensable for adding detail, clean outlines, and precision. Fine liners, such as Sakura Pigma Micron pens, come in various nib sizes for different line weights. Waterproof pens prevent smudging, allowing you to add variations in color to your inked drawings.
Brush pens are another excellent choice, offering expressive, dynamic lines for calligraphy or stylized drawings. For consistency and longevity, invest in a set with archival-quality ink to ensure your artwork remains vibrant and retains its clarity over time.
#5 Charcoal
Charcoal adds a dramatic, expressive quality to drawings. It comes in multiple forms: sticks, pencils, and powder. Use charcoal sticks for bold, sweeping strokes and turn to pencils for fine lines or details. Powdered charcoal is excellent for creating gradients or atmospheric effects.
To prevent smudging, fix your finished artwork with a fixative spray. Charcoal is particularly effective for life drawing and quick sketches, as its rich tones capture depth and texture effortlessly.
#6 Coloured Pencils
Coloured pencils are perfect for adding vibrant hues and intricate details to your art. They allow for layering, blending, and shading, making them suitable for everything from portraits to more fantastical abstract designs. Opt for high-quality brands like Prismacolor or Caran d'Ache, which offer smooth application and rich pigments. Water-soluble coloured pencils can add a more reflexive painterly effect when blended with a damp brush, expanding your creative and imaginative possibilities.
#7 Blending Tools
Blending tools like tortilions and blending stumps are essential for achieving smooth gradients, shading, and realistic textures. These tools, made of tightly rolled or compressed paper, are used to blend, smudge, and soften pencil, charcoal, or pastel marks.
These tools help soften pencil strokes and create seamless transitions between light and shadow.
Finger blending is an option but can leave natural oils from your skin onto the paper. These oils may leave further marks or cause uneven blending, potentially making it harder to achieve a clean finish within/to the image.
#8 Rulers & Templates
Perhaps expectedly, rulers are indispensable for creating straight lines and accurate measurements, especially in architectural or technical drawings. Clear plastic rulers are versatile, while metal rulers are more durable and resist slipping on the page.
Geometric templates, featuring circles, ovals, and other shapes, simplify creating consistent forms in designs or patterns. These tools are especially helpful for perspective drawing and detailed illustrations, where precision is crucial.
#9 Proportional Scale Divider
A proportional scale divider is a game-changer for enhancing levels of visual realism. This simple, but extraordinarily useful tool consists of two adjustable arms connected by a pivot point. With one end, you measure the desired object, and with the other, you can scale the object up or down while maintaining its accurate proportions.
It is especially useful in portraiture and still-life compositions, where capturing precise relationships between elements is key. For instance, if (like Eadweard Muybridge and his late-nineteenth-century photographic studies of motion) you are focused on drawing a horse easily, a proportional scale divider can help ensure the body parts are perfectly proportioned, saving time and reducing guesswork. Beginners and professionals alike benefit from this tool, as it saves time and reduces the guesswork in scaling objects.
#10 Lightbox
A lightbox is invaluable for refining sketches, tracing, and working on layered designs. Modern lightboxes, like the LitEnergy A4 LED Light Tracing Box, are lightweight, portable, and feature adjustable brightness settings to protect your eyes during extended use. Artists use lightboxes for everything from transferring initial sketches to finalizing clean lines. They are particularly handy for animators, illustrators, and those working on intricate projects. Indeed, their history within animation goes back to the work of pioneers like Lotte Reiniger, whose cut-out silhouette animations were achieved through sophisticated backlighting to create the precise spectacle of her shadowplay.
**Article published: January 31, 2025**
Biography
Marcus Minch is passionate about photography, detective stories, knowledge, languages, and writing. Bookworm, night owl, and nature-lover. Consumed by wanderlust. Best friend to Leo, the world’s cutest puppy eyes.