JustBeginning
Beginner's guide

So you're getting into pencil drawing

Drawing with pencil is the foundation every other visual art builds on. The barrier to starting is almost nothing — a pencil set, a sketchbook, and the willingness to put down bad sketches until the good ones start appearing. What separates beginners who improve from those who stall is daily practice with the right materials. Here's what you need.

By The JustBeginning Editors · Published May 8, 2026
Also from us Your first weeks of pencil drawing → Pencil drawing has a shorter ramp than most people expect. You don't need to learn to 'draw from nothing' — you need to learn to see. The skills that unlock everything else are observation and mark-making, and both improve fast with regular practice. Here's what your first weeks actually look like.
person holding white and black bird print card

Photo by Jill Dimond on Unsplash

The 60-second version

If you only buy 3 things to start:

  1. Staedtler Mars Lumograph Drawing Pencil Set, 12 Grades — The standard pencil set for beginners — 12 grades from 6H to 8B, covers every shading technique you'll learn.
  2. Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad, 9x12 inch, 100 Sheets — The sketch pad art students actually use — fine tooth, acid-free, takes pencil and eraser well.
  3. Pentel Hi-Polymer Block Eraser, Large, White, Pack of 4 — The eraser that actually erases cleanly — no smearing, no paper damage. Cheap and essential.
Budget total
$45
Typical total
$75
Drawing is one of the cheapest creative hobbies to start. Low end: Staedtler pencil set ($20) + Strathmore sketchbook ($15) + erasers ($6) + KUM sharpener ($8). Typical adds Faber-Castell pencils and blending stumps.
Before you buy anything

A few things worth knowing first

Paper quality matters from the first session. Good drawing paper (like Strathmore 400 Series) has a tooth that holds graphite evenly, erases cleanly without ghosting, and doesn't pill when you make corrections. Printer paper and cheap composition notebooks fight your pencil in ways you won't be able to diagnose. Buy one decent sketchbook before deciding you can't draw.

You need multiple pencil grades — not just a #2. A typical drawing uses three to six different hardness grades: hard pencils (H, 2H) for light guidelines and construction lines; middle grades (HB, B) for outlines and mid-values; soft pencils (4B, 6B, 8B) for deep shadows and expressive marks. A set that covers 2H through 6B gives you everything you'll use in your first year. A single grade is not a substitute.

The most common beginner mistake is trying to draw from imagination before learning to draw from observation. Observation drawing — looking carefully at a real object and drawing what you actually see, not what you think it looks like — is the skill that unlocks everything else. The brain has strong, wrong opinions about what objects look like. Drawing from life overrides them.

The gear

What you actually need

brown Stylrite pencil on brown wooden table

Photo by David Perkins on Unsplash

Pencils

Drawing pencils are graded on a scale from hard (H) to black/soft (B). Hard pencils make light, precise marks; soft pencils make dark, expressive ones. A set that spans from 2H through 6B gives you the full range you need to practice every technique from tight architectural line work to loose gestural shading. The two sets below are the industry standard — one for beginners, one for people who want professional quality from day one.

Staedtler Mars Lumograph Drawing Pencil Set, 12 Grades Best starter
Staedtler

Staedtler Mars Lumograph Drawing Pencil Set, 12 Grades

$

The Mars Lumograph is the most widely recommended beginning drawing set for good reason — 12 grades spanning 6H to 8B, consistent quality across the range, and a price (~$20) that makes practice feel low-stakes. Staedtler's bonded lead is break-resistant in everyday use. The included sharpener and eraser are functional until you upgrade them.

Watch out for: Most work lands in the HB-6B range; hard H grades are for light guidelines and initial construction. Use them for laying in proportions before committing with softer grades.

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Faber-Castell 9000 Artist Graphite Drawing Set with Bag, 12 Grades Upgrade pick
Faber-Castell

Faber-Castell 9000 Artist Graphite Drawing Set with Bag, 12 Grades

$$

The Faber-Castell 9000 is the gold standard for professional drawing pencils — used in ateliers, art schools, and illustration studios worldwide. The lead is finer-grained and more consistent than most competitors, which shows up in smooth gradients and cleaner lifted marks. The canvas roll bag is a practical bonus. Around $32.

Watch out for: The canvas bag is part of the appeal — keep it. Pencils sorted in the roll make grade selection fast mid-drawing. Sharpen over a waste bin; shavings accumulate in the bag otherwise.

See on Amazon →
brown pencil on white surface

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Sketchbook

The sketchbook is where you spend all your time, and paper quality is felt immediately — in how the pencil glides, how shadows build, and whether the surface survives erasing. The standard 9x12 inch size gives you enough room to work without forcing oversized gestures. Smaller for portable practice; same size for studio work. Buy one you'll open daily — not one that feels too precious to make mistakes in.

Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad, 9x12 inch, 100 Sheets Best starter
Strathmore

Strathmore 400 Series Sketch Pad, 9x12 inch, 100 Sheets

$

The Strathmore 400 Series is what art schools buy in bulk and what art students reach for first. Fine tooth surface accepts graphite evenly and erases without ghosting. Acid-free, so finished drawings don't yellow over time. 100 sheets for ~$15 means 100 chances to practice before you need to buy another. Spiral bound, stays open flat.

Watch out for: The spiral binding catches on desk edges and bags — bend it back against itself when you first open it so it lies flat. The fine tooth is ideal for pencil; very wet media will warp these pages.

See on Amazon →
Soucolor 9x12 Sketch Book, 100 Sheets Budget pick
Soucolor

Soucolor 9x12 Sketch Book, 100 Sheets

$

At $10 with 100 sheets, this is the pure practice pad — open it without hesitation, fill pages aggressively, throw bad drawings away without guilt. The 100gsm paper handles pencil fine and accepts light erasing. When you're warming up or trying a new technique, this is the right thing to be drawing in.

Watch out for: 68lb/100gsm paper is fine for pencil but will feather or warp with wet media. Use this pad for practice and loose sketches; save the Strathmore for drawings you intend to keep.

See on Amazon →
Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook, Large (5x8.25 in), Hard Cover Upgrade pick
Moleskine

Moleskine Art Plus Sketchbook, Large (5x8.25 in), Hard Cover

$$

For portable, daily-carry sketching, the Moleskine Art Plus is the standard choice — hardcover with elastic closure, 165gsm ivory paper, fits in a bag without bending. The paper takes pencil smoothly and erases cleanly. If your practice is primarily observational drawing on-the-go, this is the right format.

Watch out for: The 'Large' is only 5x8.25 inches — smaller than it sounds, and smaller than a standard 9x12 pad. Good for portable sketching and outdoor observation; less room to work than a studio pad.

See on Amazon →
A close up of two pencils on a table

Photo by Mohamed Marey on Unsplash

Erasers

Drawing requires two different types of eraser, not one. A hard plastic eraser lifts graphite cleanly for corrections and hard edges. A kneaded eraser is soft and pliable — you squeeze it to shape, dab or drag to lighten values, lift highlights, and blend without tearing the paper. Both live on your desk at the same time. Beginners typically buy one kind and spend months wondering why erasing is so difficult.

Pentel Hi-Polymer Block Eraser, Large, White, Pack of 4 Best starter
Pentel

Pentel Hi-Polymer Block Eraser, Large, White, Pack of 4

$

The Pentel Hi-Polymer is the eraser that professional illustrators and design students reach for first. It erases graphite completely without smearing, doesn't leave colored residue, and doesn't damage paper surface. The large size gives you control over edge sharpness — work the corner for precise lines, use the face for broad lifting. Around $5 for a 4-pack.

Watch out for: Use one and keep the rest sealed. Exposed erasers oxidize and lose erasing power over time; sealed ones last indefinitely. The sharpest erases come from a clean, freshly exposed edge.

See on Amazon →
Prismacolor Design Kneaded Rubber Eraser, Grey, 3 Pack Specialty pick
Prismacolor

Prismacolor Design Kneaded Rubber Eraser, Grey, 3 Pack

$

The kneaded eraser does things a plastic eraser can't: lighten a shadow by half a stop without fully lifting it, lift a highlight by dabbing (not dragging), and blend a hard pencil mark into the paper tone. Mold it into any shape you need — a point for highlights, a flat edge for broad lightening. Essential for any drawing with tonal gradients. Under $6 for a 3-pack.

Watch out for: Clean by stretching and folding until the graphite is on the inside — the outside should look fresh before reuse. Gets saturated with graphite and stops working if not cleaned regularly.

See on Amazon →
color pencil set on white surface

Photo by iMattSmart on Unsplash

Sharpening & Blending

Two things that separate a drawing that looks labored from one that looks confident: a proper point and smooth tonal transitions. Drawing pencils need a long, exposed graphite tip — not the blunt cone a standard office sharpener makes — so you can work with the side of the tip for broad strokes and the point for details. Blending stumps let you push graphite around on paper to build gradients that no amount of back-and-forth hatching can replicate.

KUM AS2M Long Point Pencil Sharpener Best starter
KUM

KUM AS2M Long Point Pencil Sharpener

$

The KUM AS2M is the sharpener artists use. Two holes work in sequence: the first sharpens the wood casing to expose a longer graphite shaft; the second sharpens just the graphite tip to a fine point. The result is a long, strong point that gives you broad-stroke control with the shaft and precision with the tip. Around $8, comes with two replacement blades. Lasts years.

Watch out for: Use hole 1 first (body sharpener), then hole 2 (tip sharpener only). Reversing the order snaps the exposed lead. Don't apply sideways pressure — let the blade do the work.

See on Amazon →
Staedtler Blending Stump Set, 4 Assorted Sizes Specialty pick
Staedtler

Staedtler Blending Stump Set, 4 Assorted Sizes

$

Blending stumps are tightly wound paper cylinders that smear and blend graphite on the page — the tool for building smooth gradients, softening hard edges, and pushing shadows into even mid-tones. The set of four sizes handles everything from large sky-gradient blending to fine detail work. Around $9. Once a stump is loaded with graphite, use it to build soft shadow areas without adding pencil.

Watch out for: A loaded stump transfers graphite — useful for shadows, bad for clean light areas. Use a fresh stump for light regions, a loaded one for darks. Clean by rubbing on sandpaper or a scrap eraser edge.

See on Amazon →
Save your money

What you don't need yet

Beginners get pressured to buy a lot of stuff that doesn't help them play better. Here's what we'd skip on day one.

  • Charcoal (vine or compressed) — Charcoal is looser, messier, and better for gestural figure drawing than careful observational sketching. It's a genuinely different medium with different techniques. Learn to draw in graphite first — charcoal rewards understanding of tonal value that graphite teaches more directly.
  • A drawing board or easel — Working flat on a table is fine for your first months. A drawing board (clip board-style or angled) becomes useful when you're working large or doing sustained figure drawing sessions. Not needed at a sketchbook scale.
  • Fixative spray — Fixative (like Krylon or Lascaux) sets graphite so it doesn't smudge on finished drawings. Useful when a drawing is complete and you want to archive it safely. Irrelevant until you have drawings worth archiving.
  • A lightbox or tracing paper — Lightboxes are for tracing and transferring — legitimate tools, but not for learning to draw. The skill you're building is observation and translation from eye to hand. Tracing is a bypass, not a ramp.
  • Mechanical pencils for drawing — Mechanical pencils (0.5mm, 0.7mm) are useful for precise technical work and note-taking, but the fixed-width mark limits the tonal range and expressive mark-making that traditional drawing pencils give you. Learn the full range of wood-cased pencils first.
  • Premium sketch paper by the sheet — Individual sheets of Strathmore Bristol, Fabriano, or similar high-end paper are purchased when you have a specific drawing you're committed to making on quality stock. At the learning stage, you want a pad with many pages, not precious individual sheets that discourage experimentation.
First week

Your first seven days

A short, real plan to get from gear-on-doorstep to actually playing.

  1. Do a value scale before drawing anything. Draw a row of nine boxes. Fill box 1 with the lightest mark your softest pencil makes without pressing. Fill box 9 with the darkest mark you can make. Fill the seven boxes between them as an even gradient from light to dark. This single exercise teaches you how your pencil grades map to tonal values — the foundation of everything that follows. · Action
  2. Try blind contour drawing: pick a simple object (a hand, a shoe, a coffee mug). Look only at the object — not your paper — and draw the outline as your eye traces around it. Don't lift the pencil. It will look terrible. That's the point: you're training your eye-hand coordination and breaking the habit of drawing what you think things look like versus what you actually see. · Action
  3. Draw the same object five times in a row. Sphere, coffee mug, a crumpled piece of paper — doesn't matter. Drawing something once is guessing; drawing it five consecutive times forces you to look harder and notice what you got wrong. The fifth drawing in a series is almost always better than the first. · Action
  4. Watch Proko's 'How to Draw — Fundamentals' and Will Kemp's value and shading videos. Both are free on YouTube and cover the same material you'd get in a first-semester drawing class. · Learn
  5. Draw for 20 minutes every day rather than two hours on weekends. Frequency of practice matters more than duration — the neural pathways that control mark-making build through repetition over time, not marathon sessions. Open the sketchbook daily. Draw anything. · Action
FAQ

Common questions

What grade pencil should I start with?

Start with HB or B for your first lines — it's roughly equivalent to a #2, dark enough to see clearly, light enough to correct. For shading, reach for 2B and 4B. For deep shadows, 6B. For light guidelines and construction, 2H or 4H. The key is developing the habit of grade selection: don't draw everything in one grade.

Should I draw from photos or real life?

Real life when possible, photos when necessary. Drawing from life trains you to observe three-dimensional space, light direction, and surface texture in ways a flat photo compresses. Photos are convenient for complex subjects you can't pose indefinitely (people, animals) and for building a reference library. Both are legitimate — real life is better for skill building.

What should I draw first?

Simple objects with interesting shapes: a crumpled piece of paper, a sneaker, a ceramic mug, your own hand. These give you real light and shadow to observe, hold still indefinitely, and are complex enough to be challenging without being overwhelming. Avoid portraits until you can draw basic forms confidently — the face is hard to draw badly without noticing.

How do I get better at shading?

Three techniques to learn in order: hatching (parallel lines that imply tone through density), cross-hatching (two directions of hatching that build richer tone), and blending (using a stump to push graphite into smooth gradients). The key is working from light to dark — always. You can add graphite; you can't easily remove it. Build your darkest shadows last.

How long before I'm any good?

Most beginners who draw daily notice significant improvement within 30-60 days. 'Good' is a moving target — you'll improve faster than you think early on, and the curve flattens as the challenges get more subtle. The honest answer: if you draw for 20 minutes a day and study deliberately, you'll be drawing things you're proud of in two to three months.

Do I need to take a class?

Not necessarily. YouTube (Proko, Ctrl+Paint, Will Kemp) provides the equivalent of first-year drawing instruction for free. A structured class — community college, atelier, or online school like Watts Atelier — accelerates learning through feedback, which YouTube can't provide. If you can get critique on your work regularly, a class is worth it. If not, the free resources cover the fundamentals.

Going further

Where to next

Related hobbies

Browse by category

Authoritative sources

  • Proko (YouTube) — The most widely recommended free drawing instruction channel. His figure drawing, gesture, and anatomy series are the gold standard; his fundamentals playlist is the right starting point for beginners.
  • Ctrl+Paint — Free library of drawing and digital painting fundamentals. The 'Traditional Art Bootcamp' section covers value, form, and line — the same foundations that apply to pencil drawing.
  • Will Kemp Art School — Methodical free instruction on pencil drawing basics — especially good on value and shading. Written tutorials backed by video, well-structured for beginners working through techniques sequentially.
  • r/learnart — Active community with a resource wiki, regular skill-building threads, and critique posts. Post your work here for honest feedback — the community is constructive and good at diagnosing specific weaknesses.
  • Watts Atelier (Online) — Professional-level structured art instruction — figure drawing, anatomy, composition. Paid subscription, but the most rigorous systematic drawing curriculum available online. Worth it when you've outgrown the free resources.