Reddit reviews Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Smooth Pad, 9"x12" Tape Bound, 20 Sheets
We found 6 Reddit comments about Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Smooth Pad, 9"x12" Tape Bound, 20 Sheets. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Heavy Bristol weight paper for final artworkIdeal for pen, ink, mechanical drawing, air brush, and marker100 lb. / 270 gsm acid free smooth surface perfect for fine detail work9"x12" Tape Bound; 20 Sheets per PadMade in the USA
Hello! If you like the feel of standard wood pencils, you can easily pick up a set that will give you a broad range in blackness, some charcoal and a kneaded eraser, a normal eraser, and a sharpener! This would be everything you need in terms of pencils/drawing equipment you need to get started.
As for paper, your preference may change over time. I know mine did. My current favorite paper to use right now is Bristol board/paper. It is very smooth and I find it quite forgiving as well. Bristol does not "absorb" the graphite/charcoal the way a more grainy or rough paper would. But if you love that texture and what it adds to the drawing, then go for it! Like I said, you may find you develop a taste for a certain type of paper later on.
I personally love mechanical pencils and graphite holders. I love the consistency in point size and they have a range of hardness and blackness just like standard pencils, however, it is not as wide a range. I just find the weight of the pencil paired with the consistency to be exactly what I need. However, they can be expensive and good ones are often sold individually, as is the graphite you want, so you'll end up with a set and many packages of graphite types and sizes. This can be a bit costly. Starting out, I would go with a standard pencil set, as it has everything you need!
One thing you'll need to know about pencils, that you may already know is that H stands for hardness and B stands for blackness (you'd think they'd use softness but whatever) HB is right in the middle, and then up the scale on either side means the graphite is hard or softer. The harder the graphite, the more pressure needed to make a line. This is great for drafting, as you will be making light lines (with light hand pressure) that will guide you and either be erased or worked over. The softer the graphite, the blacker the line you get with less pressure. These are great for adding darks, doing large areas of black, adding dark details, etc etc. One thing to remember about graphite is that it can be polished. If you are overworking an area, the area can become shiny and metallic. This can really take away from the drawing. If you need something to be really black, use a very soft graphite pencil. In the set that I linked you above, that would be the 8b pencil, or the charcoal would also work, though the tone of black may differ from the graphite black (in reference to the shade of black that is seen on the paper) if you use charcoal.
Charcoal is much softer than graphite and does not polish. I do not have a lot of experience with charcoal yet (I only know it's much messier), but would like to transition into it at some point (I like rich blacks, and hate the shine from graphite) but this might be something you want to dabble in early on so you can get a nice set of skills with multiple tools. =)
I hope this helps! Good luck and remember to share what you produce!
https://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-Bristol-Smooth-Bound-Sheets/dp/B00254AU8Q/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Bristol+smooth&qid=1558857022&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-3
I'm no pro by any means but I have a lot of fun drawing after work and certainly I'd love my SO surprised me with something like:
Also you can always include some nice accesories like blending stumps, different types of erasers, a good cutter/blade or sharpener.
Does she like books? Andrew Loomis' books are incredible! Drawing the Head and Hands!
These are (for me) good options for a present. Depending on budget you could increse/decrease the count on the color set but 24/36 is a good starting point.
I hope this helps.
You should buy this Totoro book. It looks like you're into art and Miyazaki is responsible for some of the most beautiful artwork around.
If you're looking for something cheaper you might consider some Bristol Board so you can create some artwork.
swaggybananas
Get her Sakura Micron pens and bristol board paper. Or you can get a Sakura watercolor set which are excellent in my opinion for beginners. I'll provide links.
For the Sakura Microns: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004QHI43S/ref=s9_simh_gw_p201_d0_i5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1R3YWV68A6D24RSY1GAF&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=1970559082&pf_rd_i=desktop
Bristol Board: http://www.amazon.com/Strathmore-Bristol-Smooth-12-Inch-Sheets/dp/B00254AU8Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1418175396&sr=1-1&keywords=smooth+bristol+paper
And for the watercolors: http://www.amazon.com/Sakura-XNCW-24N-24-Piece-Assorted-Colors/dp/B001OVG40E/ref=sr_1_1?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1418175422&sr=1-1&keywords=sakura+watercolor+sets
Oh! Let me get you all of the materials I use. I will link them all on Amazon.com below the explanations.
Those two books will help you get started. I think it mentions in one of them that calligraphers practise their technique by writing, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," because it has all of the letters of the alphabet. That's why font previews have the font written out in that sentence.
Here are all of the links to the ones on Amazon.com. You can also purchase the T-Square, paper, and calligraphy ruler at Hobby Lobby, if you have one near you. I have yet to find a store that carries Pilot Parallel Pens.
Pens: http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Parallel-Calligraphy-Cartridges-90050/dp/B002RJNT46/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412449910&sr=8-2&keywords=pilot+parallel+pen
Pen Cartridges:http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Parallel-Calligraphy-Cartridges-77313/dp/B0058NN55G/ref=pd_sbs_op_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1CXYEPHFD9MM9MQA3K1M
Books:http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=marc+drogin
T-Square:http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Art-18-Inch-Wood-T-Square/dp/B0027A7G8U/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1412450284&sr=8-5&keywords=T-Square
Calligraphy Ruler:http://www.amazon.com/Manuscript-Calligraphy-Ruler/dp/B003D7EV7U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412450452&sr=8-1&keywords=manuscript+ruler
EDIT 1: Pardon me, I forgot the paper.
Paper:http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Art-Strathmore-Bristol-Smooth-12-Inch/dp/B00254AU8Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1412451631&sr=8-2&keywords=bristol+paper
EDIT 2: Pardon me again. Also, Hobby Lobby carries the Bristol paper in plenty of sizes.