HELLO FOLKS!

Some time ago I only post my work, but I thought and I have never revealed my instruments of work.

So here we are going to talk a little about the instruments needed to make illustrations, or at least the materials that I use in my work.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

First of all I want to clarify that what is written in this post is only from my perspective and that the tools I will speak about are the ones that work for me.

Each artist has different tools and they feel more comfortable with the ones they prefer!

THE TOOLS:

1. Papers
2. Pencils
3. Accessories
4. Colors

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1. PAPERS.

There are different types of paper, depending on the type of work you want to do.

Initially we all believe that with a common sheet of paper we can do wonders, and it really is true. But with the right paper we can make those wonders become a masterpiece.

I am going to mention some of the papers that I could use during my career as an illustrator.:

1.1 Opaque Drawing Paper

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The opaque drawing paper has a color that varies from white to yellowish, slightly bright and fine to coarse granular texture. It is composed mainly of cellulose, a material of vegetable origin that makes it easy to handle.

I used this type of paper in my beginnings, long before learning to make faces or work with realism, I drew comics, manga and some StoryBoards of fantastic stories. I used this paper for comfort when using Fine markers.

1.2 Corrugated Paper

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It is ideal for charcoal, pastel or graphite pencils; since it has a rough surface that will trap and retain charcoal, chalk or pencil. It also allows you to create a good shading.

Use this paper for a long time. The truth is that I did not feel comfortable, its corrugated texture is perfect for working with graphite but it did not allow me the freedom to work with brushes, that is, soften the texture. This paper is ideal for another type of work. That does not work for me, does not mean it does not work;)

1.3 Papers for Drawing

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This type of paper is the most common, it is used in various techniques, due to its general characteristics, which allows it to be molded without problem. In this type of paper there are two large representatives of Canson paper.

"C" A Grain Canson: it is a white drawing paper, with fine grain and with double gluing, ideal to draw sketches and sketches. It is available in Blocks with a 30-leaf spiral.
Applications: pencil, charcoal, Chinese ink pens.

Mi-Teintes Canson: it is a drawing paper with 65% cotton, gelatin, coarse-grained, with a range of 50 very solid colors in light.
Applications: pastels chalks, watercolors, washes, serigraphy and advertising printing.

The truth is that this paper is very good, but I have not taken advantage of it. I only used it when I was in school, my mom saw that I liked to draw and I bought them. Today I do not use them but it is a great tool.

I was trying a lot of Papers to feel comfortable, I ended up opting for Opaline Cardboards, These are soft and they allow me to do what I like that is to soften the texture with the brush. With a gramatura of more than 180G it is perfect to work with Graphite. Its only problem is that it gets dirty very easily but the rest gives a good finish!

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2. PENCILS.

Drawing pencils are the most important, with respect to which you use you will decide the type of paper to use, it also depends on the type of work you want to do.

The pencils of Drawing are classified in:

2.1 Soft Pencils :
B 2B 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 8B 9B. Heavy stroke, indicated for drawings with shading.

Hard Pencils:
9H 8H 7H 6H 5H 4H 3H 2H H. Fine strokes, indicated for line drawing.

Medium Pencils:
F HB.

This is a graph of the tone of each of the pencils:

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2.2 Mechanical Pencils

They do exactly the same function as pencils, their advantage is the comfort when using Leads Mines.

That is, there are Mines of 0.5MM or 0.7MM for example. These mines are ideal for drawing in those areas with many details where we need sharp mines. The advantage of these mines is that, they are so thin that we can always make the smallest details with them.

The 2MM Lead Mines are ideal to use their full potential. that is to say, being thicker we can use much more of the mine since they are stronger than those of 0.5, we can draw very well with them, I use this type of pencil because I avoid having to take sharpen at every moment and also It is much more comfortable for me.

2.3 Charcoal Pencils

These pencils became an addiction for me.

One of the big problems we have to illustrate "Black" with pencils, is that the graphite is very bright and is annoying since we can not distinguish the tones well when it is saturated with brightness. The carbon pencil is completely Matte, this allows us to appreciate and differentiate the grices from the blacks.

The only problem is that we can not adjust the tone with them, they are just black, but there are some techniques to work with them comfortably are having to use the graphite pencil.

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3. Accessories.

I call accessories to everything that complements us when it comes to illustrate, Drafts, Brushes, Diffusers, and any technique that helps us make a good illustration.

I will talk a little about the accessories that I use:

3.1 Erasers

There are different types, common erasers like school ones:
These are simple, it is an eraser that helps us to eliminate simple things such as not very marked text and simple lines, tends to mess a lot and being very hard can damage the paper.

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Electrics:
The Electric Eraser is Fascinating, it is a tool that helps us to highlight lights in those small places. By using a very thin rubber and with the power of rotation we can easily erase even the darkest graphite without damaging the paper. It works with batteries and is very useful for many effects, especially light.

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Moldable Eraser:
I like this one a lot.

It is an eraser similar to a flexible mass.
Of all the erasers I think the most comfortable, since we can mold it as we need it, to erase small details, delete in circles, make small points of light, among others.
In addition does not mess, is one of the drafts that helps keep the work clean, pick up all the dirty fast and without having to make several passes. For me is the best.

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These are the ones that I use:

3.2 Brushes:
The brushes help us to soften and blur a drawing, it also helps us to paint of course.

The brush next to the graphite powder is an incredible instrument for realism in graphite. It helps to use and distribute the right tones until we get the one we need, eliminates unnecessary lines and strokes.

There are different types of brushes, planes, rounds, eyeliner, fans etc ...

In my opinion, the most comfortable and practical for this job I give the Plans, Eyeliner and Bevel, with these I have managed to work very well. The size varies depending on the scale of your work so feel free to try the different sizes.

3.3 Diffusers

The diffusers are a very useful tool, they help to blur and degrade the tone of the graphite, that is, it allows us to make volumes, highlight, soften and dim the graphite.

They can also be used as smudges, cotton sticks soften very well and can degrade, but sometimes dirty a lot.

The Diffusers are a kind of pencil made with paper, you can make your own diffuser using paper, you can also use a piece of napkin to do this.

3.4 Pencil sharpener

Personally I use little Pencil Sharpener. Usually consumes very quickly the wood of the pencil and wear it, to other that by the form is not comfortable to work the drawings where we will need much more of the mine of the pencil.

To solve this problem I use other tools, such as a blade. This helps to cut the wood and expose the mine to where we need it, in my case I expose the mine enough because in many opportunities I need to draw with the lateral, this could not be if I used a normal Pencil Sharpener.

To sharpen the mine, and especially the Mechanical pencils 2.0mm, I use a Nail Polish, there are also Polisher for pencils, only I have not gone out to buy it xD.

The mine is polish completely exposed to get the sharpening we need, additionally this generates the Magical graphite powder which we do not waste, if not we use for most of our illustrations.

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4. COLORS

For those who illustrate with colors there is a great variety, Markers, Wood colors, Aquarelas, Oils, Etc ....

I, in particular, have dared very little to illustrate with colors. I have only used wood colors, I do not have a particular brand, I think everything is what you feel most comfortable with, the ones I use are these:

They are a little worn but believe me, they are practically new, they have been with me for so many years and I have done so few color drawings that are like this ...

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These are the tools that I use, of course there are many more such as the season of drawing, lighting, the perfect chair, some tips and tricks used by each artist to make their drawings. This is like being magicians, they never reveal all their secrets. Each artist is unique and uses their tools in their own way, there are those who use more than just a pencil and paper.
These tools and their use are practically the basics.

I want to clarify that many of the images I use, are not mine, so I wrote down the link for each one.

This Post is done under my perspective, not everything is the total reality, I speak about what works for me, and my point of view on these tools, if you have a different opinion I would like to share it with me.

I hope that knowing my materials and tricks will help you improve your level of drawing, or if you still do not dare to draw because you do not know what you need, this post is for you!

I invite you to check my latest Post:

Charcoal Drawing - Black Dragon

Charcoal Drawing - Cyborg

Thanks for visiting my Post. I hope you liked it!

Until the next time!