Learning Drawing is a cool thing to do, and if you are passionate, it will also help you to make money. Drawing requires patience and lots of practice.
I started re-working on my skills to get better in it and then I will move to Digital Drawing and Illustrations.
I have purchased and tested various art materials and some of them are listed in this article I love and use in my drawings.
Sketchbooks
Brustro Medium Surface and Ultra Smooth surface papers are good-to-go drawing papers available in India. Brustro also has Watercolor Papers and you can get them in almost any size.
Anupam also offers a wide range of Drawing papers.
Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Vellum and Smooth drawing papers are professional drawing papers. I also prefer Strathmore 400 Series Toned Gray and Tan 9”x12” papers for Color Drawings.
Alternatively, You can also try Fabriano Accademia(also Toned) and Canson XL Bristol papers. Canson also offers Watercolor Papers.
Mechanical Pencils
I love Uni Kuru Toga and Zebra Delguard mechanical pencils. I use them with Pentel Ain Stein 0.3mm – 2B and 0.5 4B Lead.
For an affordable option, Tombow Mono Graph is one of the best mechanical pencils at the price of INR 250.
I also have Staedtler 925 and Pentel Graphgear 1000 mechanical pencils.
Graphite Drawings
Faber-Castell Castell 9000 Pencil Set – Pack of 6 at the price of about INR 350 is one of the best drawing pencils.
Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100G6 and Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black is the Best option if you have a budget of INR 600 for each. I would recommend going with the open stock of Staedtler Mars Lumograph 100G6 Grades 2H, HB, 4B, 6B, 8B and Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black 6B, 8B or use EE for darker Values.
Sonnet Graphite Drawing Pencils Set (2H-8B) can be a good alternative to the Faber-Castell at the price of INR 350. The quality of the pencil and shades are really good.
Kohinoor 1500 Professional Graphite Pencil Wallet Of 6 (8B-2H) is one of the best pencils at the price of about INR 250. 4B- 8B shades are much smoother compare to other grades.
While I use and prefer Staedtler and Faber-Castell. Sonnet and Kohinoor offer almost the same quality of result with little visibility of line strokes.
General’s and Cretacolor Brands are well known for their Charcoal products. So, if you are into Charcoal Drawing, you can’t go wrong with charcoal pencils from these two brands.
Color Drawings
Prismacolor Premier is what I love for my colored drawings. It is Wax-based colored pencils cost about INR 1200 for a Set of 12. It is recommended for portrait work. I prefer to buy their Portrait set of 24 or a few shades in Open stock.
Faber-Castell Polychromos is an Oil-based colored pencil and costs about INR 1300 for a Set of 12. It is great for detailed work. It is also available in Open stock.
Prismacolor Colorless Blender is also recommended to use for color drawings.
Watercolor Drawings
I prefer Vegan products however it is difficult to find them in the artist area. I love Zig Kuretake Gansai Tambi so I asked them if they are vegan or not. This is the reply from Kaoru Kondo of Kuretake head office in Japan.
“Regarding your question, we are pleased to inform you that the binder of our Gansai Tambi is not animal glue. However, we recently found that some animal ingredients are included in our Ganasi as moisturizers. So, we cannot say our Gansai Tambi is Vegan products.
I will look for an alternative but I am using this one. Faber-Castell Studio Watercolours can be a good option for those who are starting with watercolors.
Sonnet Watercolors are also good for beginners.
I use synthetic Brushes from Artyshils and Watercolor Brush Pen to work with Watercolors. Stationerie.co.in offers handmade brushes and Watercolor sheets at an affordable price.
for Expensive options – Daniel Smith, Sennelier, Schmincke and White Nights can be good options. These sets are not recommended because of the high price but if you still wish to get them, Remember to get the small set and make a color wheel.
Other materials
Kneaded Eraser from Faber Castell or Staedtler is a must-have item in your drawing material. Tombow Mono Zero Eraser or an Electric Eraser is also recommended. I also love Tombow Black erasers.
Staedtler double-Hole Metal Sharpener is one of the best sharpeners I have used. You can also go with Chrome 9506 electric sharpener.
More includes – Soft Brushes, Fixative Spray, Sand Paper, Tracing Paper, Tissue Paper, Washi tape, Cotton Buds.
All the mentioned art materials are tested by me personally and available on Art Material Stores.
Remember to start with some basic materials like Mechanical Pencil, Drawing Book, and a Set of 6 Drawing Pencils from Staedtler, Faber-Castell with a Dust-free Eraser.
