RadhaKaimal

Welcome to my art blog! 🙂 If you’re interested in getting a portrait made for yourself, kindly mail me at radha.kaimal90@gmail.com

Click here to read a small intro about me.

Which sketching tools do I use?

The cretacolor ultimo drawing set is my favorite. It has everything you would need to make a good drawing, ranging from charcoal pencils, wood-less monolith pencils, leads, pastels, paper stump and kneaded eraser. Aside from these, I also use an electric eraser, HB, 2B, 4B, 6B and 8B pencils, a mechanical pencil (0.5mm), black pens (0.05mm, 0.1mm, 0.3mm and 0.8mm) and a signo white pen.

2B, 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B, 7B, 8B, 9B are the darker variations and 2H, 3H, 4H, 5H, 6H, 7H, 8H, 9H are the lighter variations; 9B being the darkest and 9H being the lightest.

For my sketches, I start by outlining the portrait with an HB pencil. I would recommend an HB pencil or lighter (2H to 9H) for outlining because it doesn’t leave a heavy mark on erasing. I then start layering my portraits with the darker variations (2B to 9B) in order give it that depth and realistic finish. Of course, I am not perfect yet 🙂

Another essential tool in my list is the kneaded eraser. This is very useful for creating highlights in eyes or hair. You can knead the eraser to any shape you like, which makes it easier to create highlights. It is a must have for all artists!

A paper stump is the best tool you can find to blend your graphite. However, if you don’t have it, you can always use soft tissue or cotton swabs.

In conclusion, I would recommend you to at least have the following for your sketches: HB, 4B, and 8B pencils, kneaded eraser, paper stump or soft tissue.