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Pencils:

Pencils have different hardnesses and can be used for various drawing techniques.

Hardness

A pencil is ground graphite mixed with clay and water. With oil or wax is pressed between the timber. If there is more clay in the mix, the pencil is harder. If less clay is used the pencil is less hard and gives off more color.

9B is a very soft pencil, even if you put it lightly on paper, it will quickly leave a dark line.

9H is a very hard pencil and thus you can put very light lines. It will be difficult to get a very dark line, you will have to press really hard on the pencil.

If you are sketching use a medium (HB) or hard pencil (2H – 9H) for technical drawing and small details. The soft pencils (2B – 9B) are used to provide deep darks and shadows.

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Choices

When you start you can go about with a small selection of pencils.

Indispensable to me is anB, 2H and 2B pencil. An optional 4B and 4H pencils are fine for beginners. When starting out, it is not necessary to immediately buy a whole collection. However tempting that may be. My experience with the immediate purchase of large quantities of materials is, you notice quickly what you prefer and then the rest remains idle in the closet.

First get the feel for the pencil and draw before you and purchase a new tool. When you are ready again for a new challenge,  go out shopping for new supplies, then you will also have the joy of the new toy.

Mistake?

Erasers come in different shapes and sizes. White, blue, red, gray, firm, soft, malleable, electrical. Which one should you choose? Do not save too much money on an eraser, though there are also good and affordable erasers, it would be a shame if you would ruin your work after a few hours of drawing with a cheap eraser.

Erasers

The normal eraser that is on the end of your pencil is made of rubber with a little abrasive. These erasers can become black with graphite and look if they are still flexible instead of dried out. Also, they are not so nice for your paper, so you have the chance to damage your paper when you use the eraser a lot in the same spot. The advantage is that the erasers are effective and erase many types of the pencil (including color pencil and sometimes pen). But yeah, they also scrape off a piece of your paper.

In addition to this normal eraser, there are also erase with a combination of natural rubber and plastic, and also vinyl
erasers. Rubber erasers have a lot of residues because the pencil "sticks" to the eraser. These erasers are kind to your paper and so also my favorite. These erasers are often soft and the only drawback that they are quick little when they used a lot. If the eraser becomes dirty with graphite all you have to do is rub it on a crib sheet. Very cheap or old erasers can turn dirty fast and end up leaving nasty marks on the paper.