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Must have art supplies for beginners starting with sketching

9 items

Mia

If you’ve ever looked at a blank page and felt that mix of excitement and doubt — you’re exactly where every artist begins. The truth is, you don’t need fancy supplies to make something beautiful. You just need tools that feel good in your hands and ...

Sections

Sketch pads

Pencils

Erasers

Blenders

Sharpener

Sketch pads

This is where every idea begins. That satisfying scratch of pencil on paper, the quiet space where thoughts take shape. The right sketch pad makes you want to draw more, not less. These are my go-to picks for beginners because they balance quality an...

Keep a Strathmore 400 pad next to you for warm-ups and studies. It takes graphite beautifully and won’t make you precious about each page.

Strathmore Series 400 Sketch Pads 9x12 - 2 Pack

Canson XL is a go-to when you want a little more heft than a cheap pad. Good for dry media and forgiving for experiments

Canson XL Mixed Media Pad, Side Wire, 5.5x8.5

Pencils

A good pencil feels like an extension of your hand — light, confident, and forgiving. This section is full of pencils that glide easily and help you understand pressure, value, and control without frustration. Whether you like crisp lines or soft sha...

For fine detail and steady line weight I keep a GraphGear handy. It feels solid and the lead feed is reliable.

Pentel GraphGear 1000 Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm

Great control and smooth feel. The 9000s make it easy to get clean lines and subtle shading without battling the wood.

Castell 9000 graphite pencil, Art Set, tin of 12

Archival, waterproof pigment ink that won’t bleed or fade; excellent line consistency. Use Microns when you want crisp ink lines over graphite. They dry fast and don’t feather on sketch paper.

SAKURA Pigma Micron Fineliner Set - 6 Sizes + Brush & PN Pen

Erasers

Erasers aren’t just for fixing mistakes, they’re for sculpting light, revealing form, and refining your vision. These are small tools with big power: the kneaded eraser for soft highlights, and the precision eraser for fine details. Each one gives yo...

Pinpoint erasing, refillable, great for pulling out tiny highlights or cleaning edges.When you need to lift a tiny highlight or tidy a contour, the Mono Zero is the little tool you should reach for.

Tombow Mono Zero 2.3mm Round Tip Eraser

Soft, malleable, lifts graphite without abrasion. Ideal for subtle lightening and creating soft highlights. The kneaded eraser is indispensable — you can shape it to pick out tiny lights or dab broad areas without smudging.

Cretacolor Putty Kneaded Eraser ( Plasticine )

Blenders

Blending tools are where your sketches start to come alive — where lines soften into light, and shadows melt into form. These are simple, affordable essentials that help you explore tone and texture in a way your fingers alone can’t. They teach you p...

Perfect for softening transitions. Cheap sets last longer than you think if you keep them clean.

115- Drawing Blending Tools: Stump and Tortillon

Sharpener

Sharp points make confident lines, and confident lines build confident artists. These sharpeners might seem like small things, but they quietly shape your whole experience — giving your pencils a fresh start each time. A clean, consistent point means...

A small but satisfying tool — gives a consistent point and won’t explode your pencil stubs into dust.

STAEDTLER Metal Double-Hole Pencil Sharpener