I brought, from my walk yesterday,

a purple thistle and a dandelion cluster home with me,

and drew them both in great and loving detail;

I also did a rather bad drawing of a teapot and some chestnuts,

but will improve with practice;

it gives me such a sense of peace to draw;

more than prayer, walks, anything.

I can close myself completely in the line, lose myself in it.

Sylvia Plath

I doubt Virginia Woolfe’s contribution to the visual arts has gone down in history (Mr Google certainly doesn’t seem to find a single drawing of hers despite the lovely quote above, and if he cannot find it…) We will thank her for it anyway because it is so very true and, before proceeding, will also thank her for the essential notion of a room of own’s one… that book of hers giving so many creative women the courage to grant themselves that simple prerequisite

Please click on a title below to go straight to the relevant section

(only underlined sections have content at this stage… sorry!)

 

An introduction

Dry drawing materials

Carbon based drawing materials: Introduction + you can read here the following 3 pages

Charcoal

Graphite

Carbon

Chalk based drawing materials: Introduction

Soft (and semi hard) pastels

Chalk pastels

Hard pastels and Conté crayons

Pastel pencils

Wax based drawing materials: Introduction

Oil pastels

Oil sticks

Crayons

Coloured pencils

Ink based drawing materials: Introduction

Pens: Bamboo, Dip pen, Fountain pen, Technical pen

Ball point, Felt pen, Markers and Gelly pens

Accessories: Introduction

Erasers

Fixatives

Sharpeners

Extenders

Blending tools

Masking tape

Rulers, Protractors, etc.

Supports

Papers and Boards

Primers