The Most Reliable and Affordable Set of Drawing Supplies for Beginners
Jun 30, 2022When you’re just starting out with drawing, finding the right materials amongst a seemingly endless array of options can seem intimidating, and appear expensive. However, we’ve narrowed the list down to the most reliable and affordable basics you’ll be able to find online or at virtually any art store. While the materials you need will depend on what project or medium you choose to explore, this guide makes it easy, supplying you with advice and suggestions covering all the basics you'll need to create beautifully drawn images.
DRAWING: Covering the basics from pad + pencils to pastels!
- Drawing Pad: Canson Mixed Media Pad ($12.79) -- The Canson Mixed Media sketchbook takes the cake for its versatility and quality. The Canson pad features 60 sheets micro perforated paper, making it the perfect texture to sketch and draw on. The sketchbook is comprised of thick 98lb paper, meaning that it is durable enough to also handle wet mediums (acrylic paint, light washes of watercolor, ink). It is also a great book to create collages on top of.
- Graphite Pencils: Faber-Castell Creative Studio Graphite Pencil Set ($8.50) -- Faber-Castell is a well renowned brand in the art world, and for good reason. This set contains 6 high quality pencils (2H, HB, B, 2B, 4B, 6B), making it a great beginners set if you want to get into graphite drawing/shading. If not, any HB pencil will work fine for sketching. Ticonderoga pencils work particularly well, and come with relatively good erasers.
- Want to improve your skill life drawing skills? Register to check out BREAM's class in Still Life Observations.
- Erasers: Prismacolor Eraser Pack ($2.86) -- While erasers may seem trivial, with a little experience, one will learn that a low quality eraser can easily ruin an art piece, and a good one can make the process substantially easier. This Prismacolor eraser pack contains both a kneaded eraser (that helps clean small areas) and a regular high-quality plastic eraser to erase larger areas. It also contains an ArtGum eraser meant to clean up dry media and absorb graphite.
- Colored Pencils: Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils, 24 Count ($17.07) -- Prismacolor colored pencils are the gold standard when it comes to artists looking to explore the medium. They are soft and blend-able, laying down rich, smooth color on paper. The 24-count pack includes all the basic colors needed to start making stunning color pencil art.
- Oil Pastels: Pentel Arts Oil Pastel Set ($3.97) -- This affordable Pentel set of oil pastels includes 24 assorted colors that are vibrant and saturated. Soft and easy to blend with fingers or a napkin, these pastels are a great option for beginners.
- Want to get into Pastels but don't know where to start? Follow BREAM's excellent Cubism Revolution class with teaching artist Adrian Arias! Register through our website
- Markers: Ohuhu Markers ($19.99) -- This Ohuhu marker set comes with 60 water based markers in unique colors, making each marker roughly 30 cents! These markers are dual tipped, containing a brush and chiseled tip, making them perfect for coloring, calligraphy and drawing.
