Tools of the Trade

   Wondering what I use to draw? It's really nothing terribly expensive or special. :) Just some random art utensils. Here are my "weapons of choice", hope you enjoy! :D :
     
     1) My favorite drawing pencil. I use it mostly for final lines or to draw dark hair (which I draw a lot of 8).  And the small eraser is great for removing unwanted lines or marks in tight spaces. It's a mechanical pencil so I like how I never have to worry about sharpening it. X)
   
     2) Primary layout pencil. It's like a H2 or something so it draws super light lines. I like using it for the sloppy/scribbly first lines that I make when I'm just getting the idea down onto paper. Before my Grandpa gave me all these nice H2 pencils I had been using regular HB ones. With HB, it's a lot harder to erase and often I would be stuck with a 'ghost' in the background. Now I can almost leave the primary lines in because drawing light is no problem with this pencil!
 
    3) This is my 'random pencil'. During college I didn't like to carry around my pencil case so I would just use a regular mechanical pencil for shading or fine lines. I also use a pencil like this to do my random doodles or quick sketches.

   4) The blending tortillon (not quite sure how that's spelled :/ )! This is a must for anyone who would like to draw smooth textures, from skin to flowing material such as the metal of Jango's Westars. It also comes in handy when one wants to draw, faint, almost marker-like, shadows. An artist can even use  it to draw an entire picture--all you need is some graphite or charcoal on your tortillon. As you can see, my tortillon is darker on one side than the other (since it is sharpened at both ends). This is for when I want to blend either dark or light areas I would use the corresponding  end so that the additional graphite on my tortillon won't make the shading too dark when I want it to be light. (Kinda confusing, sorry. :/)

   5) Dark line graphite. This is the pencil I use to do thick or dark lines in a background. It would probably also work for drawing quick, scrawly sketches. Like a background I use it to draw large dark objects as well. Ones that don't have a lot of color or texture discrepancy that would require precise details. A good example of what I would use this pencil for, other than backgrounds, is things like space or Batman's cape.

Whatever drawing utensils you use always remember to choose ones that feel right in your hand and that you are used to handling. A good drawing doesn't require one to have expensive art materials, rather a plain old pencil and an imagination. :) Good luck on whatever you may endeavor to draw! :3