Walter Foster Creative Team - Complete Beginners Guide to Drawing Animals: More Than 200 Drawing Techniques, Tips and Lessons for Rendering Lifelike Animals in Graphite and Colored Pencil

Brush This inexpensive brush (A) works well to brush away eraser crumbs and other debris from the surface of the paper.

Stick Eraser A refillable stick eraser (B) is useful for getting into tight places. You may want to use it in conjunction with the erasing shield.

Pencil Extender Get the most out of your pencils! Use a pencil extender (C) to lengthen short pencils.

Blending Tools Tortillons (D), sometimes called blending stumps, are used for blending shades of graphite or charcoal and for softening edges. When the tip gets dirty, you can clean it by rubbing it on a kneaded eraser.

Kneaded Eraser A kneaded eraser (E) is a very useful tool. It can be shaped to get into tight places or can be flattened to lift graphite or charcoal from the paper, and it wont damage the surface of the paper. It also doesnt leave annoying crumbs.

Erasing Shield Use this shield (F) for protecting areas that you do not want to erase.

White Plastic Eraser Useful for erasing larger surface areas, this eraser (G) does a nice job of lifting out darker values. Use it with care so you dont damage the paper.

Sharpeners A hand-held sharpener (H) will give your pencils sharp tips. You can use the fine point for thin lines and details, and you can use the side for shading with broad strokes. A sandpaper block (I) gives you more control over the shape of the point. Gently roll the pencil tip over the block for a round, even pointor flatten the lead into a blunt, squared tip.

Pencils Pencils come in a vast array of options. You can try different kinds to find those that work best for your drawing style. Some of the types available are wood-cased (J), woodless (K), and mechanical (L). Pencils also come in varying degrees of hardness. H pencils are hard and are best for light sketches, and B pencils are softer and suitable for shading different areas of your subject. The higher the number preceding the letter, the harder or softer the pencil will be. For example, a 4H pencil is very hard and produces a light shade of graphite, whereas a 9B is very soft and yields a dark, rich mark. Note that hard pencils can dent your paper, so use them with a light hand. I typically start my initial drawing with an HB pencil, which is equivalent to a standard #2 pencil. The pencils I use most often are HB, 3B, 4B, 6B, and 9B. I can achieve a wide range of values using these pencils. Anything over a 6B should be reserved for the darkest areas of the image.

Watercolor You may want to add simple watercolor washes (thin layers of paint) to your drawings to give them some extra pizzazz. For this, youll just need a few paintbrushes (I prefer sable brushes), a tube of black watercolor paint, and a palette for mixing different values. You should also have paper towels handy for wiping excess water off the brush. You may want to try out some painting techniques on scrap paper before applying washes to your drawing.