Traditional Artists

I was wondering for the traditional artists out there or people that like to draw or doodle. What type of pencils and papers do you prefer or like using?

For black and white i use faber castell HB,H2,B4,B8 and a mechanical pencil for more details and for coloring i use faber castell polychromos they are simply amazing i have the 120 collection they are expensive but worth it

I'm a traditional artist as well for an architecture student, I've done black an white and painted canvas and I do not really use any fancy tools. I use Fabercastell and other brands like: Mars-Lumograph and Artesco (gotta love all the ranges from H4 to B8, they work wonders for blueprints) Mongol is best HB. I also use Tombow markers and recently want to buy the portrait ones, I use landscape and greyscale. For ink I use fabercastell PITT, Artline and Pelikan(this last one is cheap as fuck). I use normal erasers (NATA) but I modify my own sharpeners (normal deposits, good steel). For colouring I do not use colors because where I live they are impossible for me to get yet I sometimes give a bit of life to my artworks using colors like red, blue or whatever I have at hand be it Kores, Papermate or Prismacolor. I paint canvas using oil, my brands as I tell you aren't fancy (Maries, Pointer) but I love the mixing tool, cat tongue pencils, spatules, and obviously the basic colors black, white, yellow, blue and red (if so add magenta or an unnatural green). I don't really have other recomendations than to use what you have at hand. Sometimes you don't need anything that great to do the blendings or textures! I use sponges, my hands, another paper sheets, etc. You just have to let yourself go, improvise and make great artworks! I have old works on my gallery and I also have them on the art threads (called These mine but these are digital) if you want to see references and ask. Dunno if this is the objective but if it is not then you know how we do when economies collapse.

Usually I like Fabre-Castel I'm really keen on pencils that shade well. I'd go to the high end of the art store and see what the quality was like. But since I moved and am not familiar with brands I went for a set of copic drawing pencils and markers which I really like. They are a decent quality for what I am using them for. I don't really have any good paper at the moment but I tend to look for thicker paper for water colors or thick paper for drawing with pencil that has a texture to it. I don't tend to concentrate on the brand but more the quality of it.

I don't draw traditionally as often as I used to, but when I do I use mechanical pencils. (aka I'm too lazy to sharpen #WOMP) (and I hate the mess!) That and anime drawings tend to favor simple line work and don't require varying values or anything fancy (my drawings, at least...). In short: my traditional pieces are primarily sketches and drafts, while my digital artwork would require a certain amount of rendering and color. If you want realistic or more variance then definitely go with different grades of wooden pencils or charcoal sticks. The above comments seem like good recommendations. When I DO draw traditionally, I only use the cheapest of papers! CANSON XL MIX MEDIA PAD!!! Art stores literally give these blue-babies away! Seriously, last time I went it was like a three-pack of the largest variant for like $5-$7? And they handle inks, too. Not much tho... You should test them out. If you use water colors then you'll probably ruin the paper, but if it's very light washes or markers then that paper is a good starter-kit. You learn lots of techniques from cheaper materials, in my opinion. Like something that limits you but in a good way. My mechanical pencils aren't cheap tho... but in terms of my favorites, I use Platinum Pro-Use Original and "II", and Pilot S3 and S10. I really want the S20 since one of my favorite manga artists use it for her drafts and it inspired me to use mechanical pencils in the first place, but at this point I have too many mechanical pencils and it's still like $33 (#WOMP) (okay it's relatively inexpensive for a god-like pencil but I'm trying to make conscious budgeting decisions here!) My main lead is pretty basic: Pentel Ain Stein in .03 or .07, though I prefer ultra fine so I go with .03. In terms of grade, all HB. Never had a need for anything else (THAT BEING SAID, I do have a .05 4B lead and it's hella fun to draw with but it depletes too quickly!) (aka the darker grades have softer lead, I think) (that and I really hate smudging...) I'm kinda curious what you use, OP :3