Guide

How to make your drawing a success

7.6.2018

Translation: machine translated

Drawing is a form of expression that offers a great deal of freedom, but cannot do without tools. How else can you put on paper what the eye perceives? Pencils, pens and brushes are uncomplicated and you can always carry them with you.

Take your time to find the drawing tools that best suit your techniques and motifs. Over time, you will even develop your own "handwriting".

Drawing with pencils, coloured pencils and ink pens

When talking about pencils here, the wood-cased pencil is included because it is easy to use for a correctable shape drawing. The pencil hardness scale comprises two ranges: group 9B (Black) for very soft to medium hardness and group H to 9H for extreme hardness. The H group is for fine detailed strokes, while pencils with a B are for writing and artistic employees. The 2B, B and HB (Hard Black) pencils are suitable for shaping. [[image:14440312]]

Coloured pencils

This distinction does not exist with wood-cased coloured pencils. Within a brand, the leads have a uniform hardness, or more precisely a "soft smoothness", but are elastic due to their fat content and are easy to sharpen for intricate details.

The number of shades on sale is large - boxes of up to 120 shades are available - but you should limit yourself to the essential basic colours when starting out with pencils. Depending on your preferences, it will soon become clear which colours you particularly "like", use more often and therefore use up more quickly. You can start with 12 pens, with sets of 24 to 36 colours you are already well equipped. You can also buy the colours you need most and their closest shades, for example in the green area for colouring plants, individually at any time. [[image:14440409]]

Inking pens

Modern ink pens are handy and convenient to use on the go. They are filled with liquid ink and have a firm tip with a uniform line width. However, they are only available in a few colours. If you prefer to draw with a nib, you will need a separate ink pot. However, they produce more irregular strokes.

In addition to the pen, ink can be applied with a brush or pen. Brushes produce flowing, calligraphic strokes. Round brushes with a tip are generally used for drawing. Nibs have a very expressive stroke quality and can be used with almost all types of ink. Fountain pens with a tank are suitable for almost all drawing inks, but not for drawing inks with shellac. [[image:14440376]]

Reasons for drawing

The drawing background is decisive for the appearance of the colour tones. In principle, you can draw on any paper or cardboard. However, the result is very different. There are many reasons for this. At first glance, it is the structure of the surface, whether smooth, rough or even with a special structure.

Papers suitable for drawing differ in terms of the composition of the material and paper weight. Good papers are wood and acid-free, lightfast and erasable. If the paper weight is higher, it is referred to as half cardboard, cardboard (from 250g/m2) or cardboard (over 500g/m2). Attractive drawings are also possible on slightly tinted or coloured paper. You can also draw effectively on such paper with a white or light-coloured pen.

The colour absorption is lower on very smooth papers. The colour intensity decreases, the line is not "rasterised". On slightly rough papers, the luminosity is higher, the colour pigments sit in the indentations and on the surface. The pencil wears down more, so it has to be sharpened more often.

In addition to the substrates directly labelled as drawing paper, which are available as a pad, sketchbook, in large format as a single sheet or as a roll, you can also try out other types of paper. For example, different types of writing paper, photo cardboard, clay paper and others. You'll soon find out which paper you prefer to draw which motifs on - and what's best for your wallet. Don't forget: Good coloured pencils also require good drawing paper ;-)

Tip:
If you draw and experiment a lot, you can - as I like to do - also make preliminary sketches on good copy paper.
I cannot recommend watercolour paper as it is too rough for coloured pencils. Paper from a roll is awkward to handle. It has to be stretched and, if necessary, moistened beforehand so that it doesn't roll and stays flat.

Sharpener

Some artists claim that sharpening pencils with a knife is still the best method. But that's not for everyone. Only sharpen your precious coloured pencils with a sharpener that has a sharp blade and therefore shapes the lead well. Nothing is more annoying than breaking off the coloured pencil leads with blunt blades.

If you buy a can sharpener, please only buy one with a screw cap or hinged lid. It is important that you can replace any blunt blades.

The advantage of sharpeners is that you can change the sharpening angle. This allows you to customise the length of the lead.

Eraser

First of all: Erasing to correct a drawing is not a good technique. Erasing for design, on the other hand, is a method of creating streaks, points of light and the like and adding them effectively to the image. This works well with an eraser pencil, but only with erasable paper. After a little practice, special eraser knives with a sharp blade can also be used in certain situations. However, if the paper is damaged in the process, this will always remain visible if you overdraw.

The eraser can be really useful for lightening colours because it reduces pigments. A gently used eraser pencil helps to blend the strokes of different colours together over a large area. Some people also use paper wipers, so-called estomps, made from rolled paper for this purpose.

If you do want to make corrections, you will need both a soft and a hard eraser, which are commercially available in rubber and plastic qualities. You need the soft one for superficial strokes and the hard one for deeper strokes. Personally, I prefer a rubber eraser to the plastic model. You will soon realise: The line from the coloured pencil is not as easy to remove as that from the pencil.

Plasticised rubber is hardly suitable for erasing coloured pencils because, unlike other drawing media such as pastel or charcoal, the abrasion is only slight. However, it is possible to lighten the drawing afterwards with this mouldable rubber. However, I recommend eraser pens for this.

Fixer

Fixing with a spray can is particularly useful for rougher papers, when a lot of pigment remains in the structure or generally when drawings that are considered particularly valuable are to be protected. A second spraying is sometimes also useful for dense colour application. [[productlist:8371963]]

Good luck with your artistic employees with the various pens. =D

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Arbenita Jashari

Junior Editor

arbenita.jashari@digitecgalaxus.ch

When it comes to office supplies, I believe in form and function. From pens, scissors, paper notes to glittery glue and funky folders. That’s what I’m about at work. When I’m not busy checking out the latest desk accessories, I enjoy jetting off to remote corners of the world, lifting weights or taking an evening walk.