Drawing Tools
There are many tools available for drawing. Which tools you use is a matter of personal preference and previous experience. The only way to know what will ultimately work for you is for you to simply try them all. Once you've gotten some experience with them, you'll naturally gravitate to what works best for you. Here is a list of some of the most basic tools you'll need to learn to draw successfully.
Pencils
Pencils range from the very hard (designated by H) to the very soft and black (B). There are 10 grades between 6B and 4H, the average office pencil being HB. Pencil lead is a mixture of clay and graphite, and the greater the proportion of graphite the softer and blacker the pencil mark will be. It is useful to have several grades of pencil for use in one drawing. Hard pencils can be sharpened with a pencil-sharpener, but 2B and upward need to be sharpened with a knife. The point can be tapered or given a chisel edge (very useful for shading). Pencils should always be sharpened at the opposite end to that which shows the degree of hardness or softness; otherwise HB, 2B or 2H or whatever will be lost. Small pieces of sandpaper will keep the pencil point exactly as you want it; art shops sell these in little blocks.
There is also an excellent range of colored pencils in a multitude of shades, but there is little variety of hardness and softness, save between the products of the various manufactures. These should not be confused with pastel pencils.
Papers
Anything, which will take a pen or pencil line, can be used for drawing. Artists of the past showed a particular fondness for the backs of old envelopes. The traditional art-school paper is cartridge paper, sold in various weights, and best bought in sheet form and cut in two or four. Decent cartridge paper takes watercolor well, and is a good substitute for watercolor paper as well as being less expensive. Tinted papers, such as Ingres pastel paper, take pencil, pen and ink will, but almost anything can be used, though much depends on whether you are playing about with ideas, doing preliminary drawings, or intend to spend time on a finished pencil drawing good enough to frame.
Sketchbooks are very handy, especially for on-the-spot work outdoors, as they usually have a thick cardboard back. There are various smooth papers having trade names and sold in pads of different sizes, with perhaps the very best surfaces for pen-and-ink work.
Erasers
There are three kinds of pencil erasers on the market: the putty type, which can be very tiresome and crumble up into black pellets but which are ultra-soft and good for toning down blacks; the traditional office-type eraser; and the plastic type which has largely taken over from the second group as it is clean and very versatile.
Drawing Board
The best drawing boards are keyed, battened and proofed against warping and shrinking and all the other ailments wood is prone to. The most useful attribute of the drawing board is that it takes drawing pins, which alternatives such as a piece of cardboard will not. A drawing board of the traditional kind can be very useful in a life class where the drawing is on a vertical easel. A proper drawing board has just the right amount of give to pencil point; a substitute may be too hard and shiny. Some people prefer to tape their drawings to a board with adhesive or making tape (preferable, as it is easier to remove from the paper edge).
Easel
Often looked on as an optional extra, an easel, especially a small portable one, can come in very handy, even for drawing. In out-of-doors situations it is often a good thing to stand back from the picture to see how it is going. Some artists never use an easel at all, even for doing oils, so it is very much a personal choice. Drawing at a vertical angle is altogether different from drawing on the flat or on a slope.
A very useful easel is the tabletop type, which works on the ratchet principle, so that the angle of the drawing board can be altered to suit the artist. Some portable easels incorporate a fold-up stool. A fold-up canvas stool is better than a fold-up chair as, if the latter has arms; they tend to get in the way. An easel can always be improvised by using the back of a chair.