Reddit reviews Prismacolor Premier Kneaded Rubber Eraser, Large, 1 Pack

If you're looking at learning drawing, I recommend starting with learning perspective. Start with 1-point perspective and you can advance from there up to 3-point or whatever you think is necessary, but they are all basically the same.

This is a fundamental that you will use with almost all your drawing. There are numerous free tutorials online for you to learn from but it is pretty basic so once you understand the concepts the most important thing is practice.

Once you understand perspective you can draw things like buildings, building interiors, landscapes, cities, etc.

When you want to learn to draw people, one of the best things you can do is get books by masters. Andrew Loomis, Burne Hogarth (Dynamic Figure Drawing, Dynamic Anatomy), George Bridgman (complete guide to drawing from life), each of these guys have several books that are very popular and for good reason, I've listed a few but check out all their books if you get the chance. Use these books to understand proportion of the human body, and learn basic anatomy. Draw the pictures in the book as studies and this will help you understand.

Now for materials what I recommend is a sketch book with decent paper (I'll talk a little more about this in a second) like this one here.

Get a pencil set with different hardnesses like this one (hardness range from 8+h on the hard side to HB which is mid hardness to 9+B on the soft side. The softer the graphite, the darker of a mark it's going to leave. You can generally stick to HB and softer, especially for now. It's best to just use traditional pencils opposed to mechanical pencils unless you're just doing line work.

Get a soft kneaded eraser like this or any other one will work fine

Pencil sharpener any one will do.


Now when you've got your supplies and want to do shading, you want to start with your hard graphite (H) first. You want to work with the "tooth" of the paper, so you want to make sure not to apply too much pressure to the paper with the pencils and the eraser. Be gentle because if you press too hard or are too rough you will crush the tooth of the paper and your graphite will become shiny. If you crush the tooth it will also make erasing very difficult. When you want to make the shadows darker you then use the same pressure but with a softer pencil, working your way up the softness scale until you are happy with your value.

The other thing about paper tooth is that it will let you draw different textures. For example if you start with a hard graphite (H), the texture you draw will be very smooth, like a skin texture or other smooth surface like a window or a counter top. If you start with a very soft graphite (B), the texture you draw will be rough looking like the surface of a rock. I hope this makes sense.

There are lots of free tutorials online. For technique a good one I found that talks about a lot of the things I mentioned is the "5 pencil method" youtube channel. If you watch some of those videos you will understand much better. If you start with these materials and all the resources I've mentioned you will be busy for quite a while.

Try to practice every day even if it's only for 10 minutes. Setting aside the time and putting in the effort to practice is often more difficult and important for your progress than the practice itself.

This is the best advice I can give to you so I hope it helps.

I don't think that's blue tack. It's probably a kneaded eraser based on the way its shaped and left out of the package.

If she's into drawing, I highly suggest a kneaded eraser or two (they actually last a really long time unless you lose them or use charcoal), but check your local art store because they're usually less than 2 dollars. A set of tortillons for blending, and maybe some oil pastels or colored pencils. They also make watercolor pencils, which are colored pencils that are water soluble. I found them kind of difficult to work with though, not my favorite medium.

If she does embroidery, you could also get a set of embroidery floss. I'd go to the store though, they're cheaper there.

If she's a knitter or crocheter, a row counter would be perfect. Stitch markers are essential for knitters and they constantly get lost. Honestly if she's a knitter, I would definitely give her some stitch counters, but the best thing is, all they are is an enclosed circle. You could make your own very easiliy, out of any number of materials.

For me though if I win, I'd like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It was my favorite book in elementary school, and I think my kids would get a kick out of it too.

It looks like you are painting in watercolor? If so then I can give you some advice.

1: remember to have your drawing complete before you start painting, I made alot of mistakes thinking that could fix something later and when I started painting I had completely forgotten about the problem and would end up painting wonky anatomy and perspective, it seems like a basic thing to know but it's actually really hard to remember.

2: make sure you have the proper paper for painting, this is really important especially with watercolor I know people say materials don't make the artist but if you don't have the proper materials the paint won't work right moleskin watercolor is my go to sketch book you can even use things like oil and acrylic
Moleskine Art Plus Watercolor Album, A4, Black, Hard Cover (12 x 8.5) (Professional ... https://www.amazon.com/dp/8862931948/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_EbxLxb6SCGGCC

Here's another one that I use strictly for watercolor And inks
Bee Paper Super Deluxe Sketch Pad, 11-Inch by 14-Inch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027A7AKE/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_TqxLxbXHJPFSQ

3: Draw lightly and with a moldeble eraser
Prismacolor Premier Kneaded Rubber Eraser, Large, 1 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IFAJ/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_etxLxbGMBG12H

4: Remember to ALWAYS paint from light to dark, this is something I forget when I've been working in other mediums.

5: learn at least a little bit about the color wheel you'd be surprised at how far a little knowledge could take you, James Gurney has a blog with some great information for traditional media he works in watercolor, oil, and gouache.
http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/?m=1

7: you shouldn't be worried about what brushes you have yet however a brush I would highly recommend picking up a round number 8-10


http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-studio-sable-brushes/

I had been assuming "Gummy Eraser" meant kneaded eraser and I didn't understand why it didn't quite seem to be as awesome as everyone claimed. Then I came across a "Gum Eraser". Perhaps this is the magical eraser everyone is talking about?

Will this do, and how many should I get him? Have no idea how long they last or anything

This: http://www.amazon.com/Sanford-SAN70531-Design-Kneaded-Eraser/dp/B00006IFAJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420674849&sr=8-1&keywords=kneaded+erasers

These soft erasers have been doing wonders for me.

I had the same issue, but with these putty-like erasers you can reach all those hard to reach spots.

https://www.amazon.com/Prismacolor-Premier-Kneaded-Rubber-Eraser/dp/B00006IFAJ

So, first I would like to say that I can see you are using the classics for reference - this is great! I highly recommend looking at Michelangelo. One thing to keep in mind when studying the masters (and when doing it yourself) is shading - think about how the shadows are causing the object to look 3-dimensional. So before we talk about anatomy, think about light source. If you look at your shading on this piece, I can't tell where the light is coming from. Getting your anatomy to appear 3D, even if its off, will greatly improve the overall feeling. So the areas here that appear flat to me especially are the knee, and the left arm (the figures right arm technically). A couple more practical tips- working with colored pencil is great - but its harder to erase, and you don't want to damage the paper. So, try to work light to dark in layers, and use a kneaded eraser . When erasing, do it as gently as you can (try blotting in instead of rubbing across the paper). Anyway, hope that helps. Good effort and keep going!

EDIT: Added some clarification on the kneaded eraser.

Welcome to the club! Great idea to work on your hand drawing. Sooo many people get good at computer graphics, but good hand graphics set you apart from the crowd and is something employers really look for.

You can go really over board with supplies, but i dont use a ton when i draw. Basic mechanical pencil, engineering scale, circle template, large and small triangles, t-square, fine liners (i use these), eraser (i like the gummy ones) and thats about it that i use regularly. You can buy a ton more if you plan on drafting everything by hand, but while its a great skill to have, general drafting is much easier in CAD. The marker standard where i live is chartpak AD markers. Might want to consider getting a set for a christmas present as they can be pricey.

I am learning a lot from doing the /r/ArtFundamentals lessons. Wish those existed a decade ago. Looking forward to hearing what supplies others recommend.

[This] (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IFAJ/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2HTHRVKNRES31&coliid=I42W0U4X7T6T5) is something that I've been wanting since I am getting back into drawing.

Pencils: F pencils. I find these to be the best.

Pens: Nib Holder. Nibs. Any of the nibs will do depending on the lines you want to make. This next tool is a mix of o brush and a pen. A Kuretake fountain brush pen. Also there are pens called Micron Pens that are great for detailing and paneling.

Brush: I use Windsor Newton #4 brushes for everything i do. I use Wisps for a more organic crosshatching.

Markers: Prismacolor are the best, as they work like paint. After you color, you can color over to make a darker shade.

Paints: I use Windsor Newton gauche watercolor paints.

Ink: I use Dr Martins Black Star matte black ink.

Other: Liquid Frisket is used like painters tape except you can make any shape out of it. You let it dry then ink. After Inking you use a Kneaded Eraser to take it off. On the topic of erasers: I use a magic rub eraser.

Ill edit if I think of anything else.