Drawing - Tips for a better image

Im not judging anyone, simply offering any help i can.

Pencils - It doesnt matter. people will fill your mind that you have to learn differnt pencils etc...just get drawing. If you can, find a mechcanical pencil, you push the top and more tiny lead comes out, this will save you time and stress, youll always have a point and never need to sharpen again. Youll get better results and you can achive more with it, just lighten your strokes.

Rubbers - these can be the death of you, draw a great piccy, rub something out at teh last moment and it smudges with a great big dirty line....you cry. avoid this by trying many out and avoiding hard rubbers. softer rubbers may run out faster, but they save you greif. Colour rubbers are often untrustworthy too. i use a Big Fat White one i got from woolworths "Staedtler Mars Plastic" and thye last ages.

Rulers - Dont bother lol. if you NEED a straight line or measurement then use one, otherwise try to draw it freehand. it will pay off in no time, watch out for ink on the edge of rulers, it will inevitably stain your image and leave you annoyed.

Paper - Never lined...ok if you have no choice draw on lined, sketch on lined, but as soon as you can move onto scrap or anything with a plain surface. your best bet may be to ask someone who does something near a photocopyer to steal all the old paper. lots of paper is wasted having been photocopied on only one side and then discarded after use....huge amounts of paper all stapled togeather is binned and on the back of each of those peices of paper is a plain often white side waiting to be drawn on. thats how i learnt. recycle and leanr your art at teh same time.

Card - this is when it gets tricky, theres many textures of card, try to choose ones similar to paper, the thicker it is the more it will dent etc and cause you problems.

Ink - fear not, it's a scary concept, a point of no going back....sticky wet ink on your drawing AARRGGHHHHH. But you dont have to be scared, theres many ways to ink your drawings. i use a combination. Once i have finished an illustration, my sketch lines all over the place, i pick up either a black "Fineliner" or a black "Gel pen rollerball". Both of these is readily available at W H Smiths or Woolworths and most normal shops. alternatively nip to a staionary shop, they look scary but you dont have to fear, they are often nice....remember they want your money :love: Remember to choose a fine nib, under 0.7. Put a sheet of scrap under your drawing and simply go over your lines with the ink pen. when your ink has dried after a couple of minutes you can simply rub away all your sketch lines and everything looks really posh.
Alternatively get a little tub of India Ink from a stationary shop, a fine paintbrush and a calligraphy pen with a fine nib and ink that way, it's best to use them all.
Many people will tell you and try to sell you big posh marker pens especially for illustration....these are fine but cost a bundle and you dont need them, wait untill your rich.

Colours - if your a natural then go into them....if your not or still learning, just wait, take your time. Get a good drawing out first, if you ink it and want to colour it, then make photocpys first, likly your inks wont be waterprof and you dont want to risk your image. i Prefer colouring in pencil crayones and Normal Crayons. sounds childlike but there is a wealth of textures you can also get apart from neat colours. Adobe photoshop is a life saver for colouring like comics but scan your images in black and white. Paints, your in the lap of the gods.

I hope this helps anyone, ive drawn all my life and only one thing will get you were you want to be, keep drawing and draw what YOU want to.

-nods sagely- Those are very good tips, indeed. Especially about the inks. India ink was an extreme fear of mine but once I got it under control ( went through many pictures to learn control ) it's gorgeous. That rich color always makes anything stand out beautifully.
My most used medium would have to Ebony Pencil though. I love the different shades you can get just by simply pressing down hard or light.
The only thing different I would say would be mechanical pencils. I hate them. True - you don't have to get up and sharpen it a thousand times but you can't press down hard with them at all or they'll snap. X_X
But I have to whole heartedly agree with you on erasers. Don't settle for the ones on the ends of pencils. They don't work worth anything. I use the big gum erasers. ^_^-

Mech pencils are great, of course you CAN press down (but you dont need to), but you need to control the amount of lead you push out, simply press down on the cap, and then push back in excess lead, when you release the cap the lead will shoot back in leaving you just enough and you can do harder shades. it's better to have a metal nipped Mech pencil, even with a metal body, but those can cost more, im fortunate to have gained a couple thought life. However the ones that are entirely plastic and supposed to be disposable are equally as useful. that said there are a number of differnt brands of leads and you have to find the right one, i dont recall which i use and have used for the last five years but you can get all the shades you need.
Whats more my mothers a jewellry designer and crafts woman and sinc i gave her my Mech she can do much more intricate designs....logical considering Mechs are standard amongst most people who do architextural drawings etc. i can draw very complex images on very small paper, all the drawings ive posted were illustrated on a small part of A4, wood pencils just dont beat it....plus it's more enviromentally freindly and less wasteful. but each to their own.

well i wouldnt ink illustrations with a brush, it's too time consuming, i save my india for mass shading.