Two years ago, the only art supplies I had on hand were modeling clay and crayons. You will guess that it is material intended for my 3 year old daughter… So, the first time that I seriously started drawing, I had to rummage in the bottom of my drawers to finally find an old HB pencil that I had since secondary school and simple white sheets of printer. Oh yes, I forgot! I didn't even have an eraser!
I must tell you that this did not prevent me from having fun at all, quite the contrary. I got the sting right away. Despite the rudimentary equipment used and the lack of technique, I arrived at a rather satisfactory result. I was quite proud of that! Two years later, I ask myself the following question: if I use more appropriate material for drawing and put into practice what I have learned so far, will it make such a big difference?
Does the art supply used really make a difference?
To answer this question, I decided to redo the same drawing. The image I chose is from Pixabay. I love this site! It offers thousands of free images that I always use as a reference.
Unlike last time, I intend to use artistic materials specially designed for drawing: graphite pencils (4H, 2H, HB, 2B, 4B and 8B), an electric eraser, stumps, a charcoal pencil, a white gel pen and a kneadable eraser.
Greyscale printing
The other thing I didn't do last time was to print the photo in grayscale. I also used the grid technique to help me (which I hadn't done the last time either).
In terms of technique, I find that putting the photo in shades of gray is very easy and sampling the pencils on the front side too. This allows me to obtain a fairly realistic result.
So, does it make a difference?
In conclusion, from the first pencil strokes, I must admit that I see a difference! It seems obvious to me that the material used, when adequate, makes a big difference!
For my part, I had not succeeded in such a beautiful blending the last time. The only result was stained fingers! Furthermore, the different shades of black bring a lot of depth. Also, the electric eraser allows me to add brightness so easily.
Is it absolutely necessary to have all this material? No, of course. I think if I had to choose which ones are the most useful I would choose the malleable eraser, HB, 4B and 8B graphite pencils and stumps. Don't forget, I am not an artist, nor an illustrator! I'm passionate, that's all! I give you advice that I learned here and there on YouTube and Skillshare.
Write me in the comments what topic you would like me to cover next time. It can be a technique, material, in short, surprise me!