Great Inexpensive Pens for Beginners

May 20, 2021

Thrifty Thursday

Ink pens can cost a lot and there are so many different types and brands to choose from. If you are just starting out and need to be thrifty and save on art supplies a ballpoint pen works great for drawing. You can buy them by the pack and pick them up from just about anywhere. No need to try and find an art store, just go to your local big box retailer and they will have a variety of pens to choose from. Bic and Papermate are some of the cheapest ball point pens. If you want to be able to vary your line weight while drawing you can look for some brush pens. Tombow, Zebra and Bimoji are good affordable options for a brush pen. Find a pen that works for you and keep drawing.

Pen Basics:

There are different types of pens that you can use for your drawing: felt tip, ball point, gel, dip pen and brush pens to name a few.

Waterproof Ink = ink when dried is resistant to water and will not bleed (smudge) when water is applied.
Non-waterproof Ink = ink that will smudge when water is applied, even if you let it dry for several days.

Best cheap pencils for beginning artist

May 6, 2021

Thursday Thrift

Graphite pencils are a great tool if you are just getting started with art, as a student, hobbyist or you just feel like sketching. You don’t have to get a ton of pencils with all the different levels of hardness or get the most expensive brand to get started. Start simple and buy a few different pencils with different levels of hardness and you are all set.

sketched with Ticonderoga number 2 pencil

You can go old school with a Ticonderoga Number 2 pencil like when you were in grade school or get a Bic mechanical pencil, they can be found anywhere no need to go find an art store. The sketch above was all done with a Ticonderoga number 2 pencil, the kind you may have used in grade school.