Art Supplies for Drawing: Better to Buy Cheap or Expensive?

As an artist, it’s important to make sure that you have all the necessary art supplies for drawing, painting, sculpting, etc.

However, it should be noted that no matter what kind of art you specialize in, developing a solid foundation in drawing is essential for refining your art education.

That’s why, in today’s article, I’m breaking down the best hobbyist and professional drawing supplies so that you’ll be able to:

• Know whether it’s better to invest in cheap or expensive art supplies
• Make better purchasing decisions that fit your personal budget
• Invest in the best affordable art supplies that will aid in your learning

By the time you’re finished reading, you’ll have a good idea about which products and supplies to add to your collection. Best of all, you’re likely to find drawing and painting inspiration!

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What Supplies Do I Need for Drawing?

As a beginner artist, I spent a lot of time researching brands and products because I wanted to spend my money wisely.

As a result, the following art supplies for drawing and sketching are my recommendations which I believe offer the best quality and value.

Just keep in mind that the quality of your art supplies can have an impact on how quickly you can improve your art.

After all, higher-quality products are easier to work with and usually provide superior results, whereas cheaper supplies tend to be harder to work with and break more easily.

1. Canson XL Mixed Media Pad

As an artist, you need to own a sketchbook so that you can practice freely, do multiple studies, and practice techniques.

As well, sketchbooks comes in handy when you’re struggling with art block because it’s easy to brain dump all your ideas into one book.

For this reason, I recommend the Canson XL sketchbooks because they are affordable, lightweight, and they come in multiple sizes.

I also love these sketchbooks for a variety of practical reasons:

• The book comes with 60 pages that are 160 g / 98 lbs
• It is ideal for mixed media artwork including graphite, coloured pencil, ink, gouache, acrylic, and light washes of watercolour

2. Staedtler Mars Lumograph Graphite Pencils

I’ve tried many art supplies for drawing over the years, and I’ve determined that the Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils are my favourite graphite pencils.

Some of the highlights of this product include:

• The sets come with a wide variety of pencils ranging from H (hard, light graphite) to B (soft, black graphite) which can create tones of tonal variety and contrast
• The lead is reliable and therefore won’t break very easily
• The hexagonal shape of the pencils fits nicely in your hands

As such, these graphite pencils lay down smoothly and blend well with blending stumps or tortillons. In this way, these pencils are easy to shade with and they’re perfect for cross-hatching.

3. Faber-Castell Kneaded Eraser

Most kneaded erasers are similar in their capacity to erase well. However, I enjoy the Faber-Castell kneaded erasers a lot because:

• The eraser is super subtle and pliable
• Unlike rubber erasers, this kneaded eraser is gentle enough that it does not tear the paper
• Pencil strokes and lines erase very well

Overall, I find kneaded erasers are wonderful additions to any art supplies collections because they are very flexible and convenient.

Oh, and they’re fairly cheap, too!

4. AFMAT Electric Pencil Sharpener

Honestly, I’m not very picky about sharpeners. As long as they sharpen the pencils to a fine point, I’m happy.

But my personal preference is to own an electric sharpener because they’re super fast and efficient to use compared to if you had to sharpen a bunch of pencils manually.

Bonus: this pencil sharpener is not too noisy, so you can sharpen your pencils without being disturbed by loudness.

5. Norocme Blending Stumps and Tortillions

Let me tell you something…

Not all blending stumps and tortillions are made equally. I’ve bought many over time, and I find the Norocme sets are the best.

Whether you’re using graphite, coloured pencils, or charcoal, these products will smoothen the look of your artwork and reduce the grainy textures left by the pigments.

6. OTraki Drawing Gloves

This particular art supply for drawing isn’t a necessity, but it sure comes in handy. See what I did there?

Investing in a drawing glove might interest you because it reduces smudging.

As a left-handed artist, I know this pain far too well.

Moreover, you can wear this glove when you’re drawing on any digital device so that your hand can glide over the screen more easily.

So if you are interested in protecting your work, check out the OTraki Drawing Gloves.

7. Copic Multiliners

I know many artists swear by the Sakura Pigma Micron pens, but I personally don’t enjoy them because I find their nibs wear away too easily or the ink dries up too quickly.

So, as an alternative, I recommend the Copic multiliners because:

• The ink is a dark, black, and permanent
• The ink is waterproof and smudge resistant
• You can buy a set with a variety of nib sizes to give you lots of variation in your linework and artwork

As such, these multiliners are perfect for an assortment of art styles including comics, anime, and ink and watercolour, to name a few.

8. Pentel Pocket Brush

If you’re a novice or advanced artist, you may want to opt for the Pentel Pocket Brush instead of the fineliners because it’s much more convenient.

Although the learning curve might be tricky for beginners, this brush pen is a fantastic addition to your art collection because of all the line width variations you can create with one brushstroke.

Therefore, if you find switching between fineliners is annoying, then investing in this refillable and portable brush pen is a better option.

9. Faber-Castell Polychromos

When I first started adding colour to my artwork, I used the famous Prismacolor Premier pencils. The pencils work exceptionally well and I do indorse them. However, the downside is that the leads are prone to breaking if you don’t use an electric sharpener.

So, if you don’t plan on investing in an electric sharpener, you should opt for the Faber-Castell Polychromos instead. I love these coloured pencils because:

• The colours are so vibrant and lovely in their intensity
• The pigments lay down smoothly and blend easily
• The oil-based pencils are strong and therefore they don’t break nearly as easily as wax-based pencils

Yes, these coloured pencils are a little bit more on the expensive side. However, they are worth the investment because cheap coloured pencils will not lay down and blend nearly as well as these bad boys.

10. Winsor & Newton Cotman Water Colour Sketchers Pocket Box

As an alternative to coloured pencils, you can invest in a limited watercolour palette so that you can do colour studies and practice colour theory in your sketchbook.

There are many reasons why this palette is desirable, including:

• The palette consists of only 12 colours, which makes it ideal for learning how to mix colours
• The colours are richly pigmented and they blend smoothly together
• The palette is small, lightweight, and portable

What’s more, this watercolour palette consists of paint pigments that are really excellent quality for their affordable price! Therefore, this set makes learning how to paint with watercolours much easier.

What Does A Beginner Artist Need?

If you’re a beginner artist you should invest in a few fundamental drawing tools and equipment including:

• A good sketchbook with many pages (for studies and daily practice)
• A nice set of graphite pencils (for drawing and sketching)
• A kneadable eraser
• A sturdy sharpener
• A decent set of fine-liners or inking pens

These are the art supplies for drawing that I believe every artist should own at the bare minimum.

Do You Need Expensive Art Supplies to Make Good Art?

Before we begin, I want to make something clear:

Owning the most expensive or best drawing supplies on the market will not make you a better artist. Practice, passion, and dedication will make you a better artist. Nevertheless, higher-quality supplies can aid considerably in the learning process compared to cheap, lower-quality art supplies.

If you’re getting into art as a hobby, there’s nothing wrong with purchasing cheaper art supplies to first see if art is a hobby that you’re willing to pursue regularly.

However, if you plan on becoming a professional artist, then investing in higher-quality art supplies is preferable.

For more information on the drawbacks of cheap supplies vs the benefits of quality professional supplies, check out this article by Vanillaarts.com.

How to Choose Art Supplies for Drawing?

Now that you have a fairly good understanding of some basic art supplies for drawing, I’d like you give you a few tips that will help inform your purchasing decisions.

The next time you go to the mall or order art supplies online, consider the following questions:

• What is your budget?
• Which is more important to you: saving money or investing in quality art supplies?
• What are your artistic goals?
• What kind of artwork are you planning to make with the supplies you intend to purchase?
• Are you realistically going to use the art supplies you want to buy? If so, invest in good products. If not, reconsider.

If you’re a beginner artist who would like a more detailed breakdown regarding the qualities of common art supplies and tools, check out this article from Medium.com.

Conclusion

There you have it: a comprehensive list of basic art supplies for drawing and sketching.

Personally, I don’t believe that you need a massive collection of products and supplies. Investing in a few high-quality art supplies works just as well, especially if you’re a beginner artist.

Whatever you decide to do, keep these art supply recommendations in mind the next time you order online or walk into an art store.

For more specific art supplies and product recommendations, feel free to check out any of the following:

• 19 Exciting Gift Ideas For Artists (That They’ll Love)
• Top 10 Watercolour Painting Supplies You Need to Buy
• Shop My Faves

What are some of your favourite drawing art supplies? Leave your recommendations in the comments below!

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