Drawing starter kit checklist
Four grades of pencil do everything a beginner needs. A fifty-pencil tin mostly buys duplicates of the four you'd have reached for anyway.
14 items
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
The items
- 2H pencilFor light guide lines you'll draw over and mostly erase later.
- HB pencil×2The one that does the most work and the one you'll snap first.
- 2B pencilSofter and darker, for the lines you actually mean to keep.
- 6B pencilFor heavy shading — the grade a starter set usually skips straight past.
- Kneaded eraserLifts graphite without smearing it, unlike a standard rubber dragged across a soft line.
- Standard eraser for hard, clean edges
- Metal pencil sharpener rather than plasticPlastic ones crumble a soft pencil's point instead of cutting it.
- Blending stump or tortillon×2
- Sketchbook with reasonably heavy paper, over 100gsmThin paper buckles under an eraser and shows every stroke through to the next page.
- Ruler
- Clipboard or a portable support for drawing away from a desk
- A short list of simple objects to copy firstA mug, a shoe, a chair leg. Faces and hands are the two things beginners jump to and get discouraged by fastest.
- Timer for short sessionsThirty focused minutes teaches more than an occasional three-hour sitting that ends in frustration.
- Fixative spray, if a final piece needs to stop smudgingOptional, and not needed for practice sketches.
Makes your own editable copy. No account needed.
Questions people ask
- Do I need a full pencil set to start?
- No — four grades (2H, HB, 2B, 6B) cover the full range from light guide lines to heavy shading. A fifty-pencil tin is mostly duplicates you won't reach for.
- What paper actually matters?
- Weight, not brand. Thin paper buckles under an eraser and shows every stroke through to the page behind it.
- Should I buy a sketchbook or loose sheets?
- A sketchbook — a bad drawing sits next to a better one rather than getting binned along with whatever it taught you.