Starting with Drawing
Drawing
Each of us has our own way of visually interpreting the world. Often the creation of a drawing can be a meditative outlet with the resulting image a map or visual tour of one’s inner landscape. The way one sees and translates shadow, color, form and spatial relationship is an extremely personal and magnificent expression. That is why all artwork is beautiful, no matter the technical skill. Composing original and creative drawings is within everyone’s capabilities. Understanding the behavior of your tools can be the first step to mastering your artwork. Starter sets and “how to” books are great ways to learn about basic materials and build your skills.
Pencils
Most pencils are compressed mixtures of graphite and clay which vary in hardness according to manipulations of the mixture. The softest pencils have little or no clay allowing more graphite particles to adhere to the paper’s surface. Pencils are marked with a number using the H and B systems to indicate the lead’s hardness. Medium to hard pencils are marked with levels of the H system. 10H is the hardest and the lead’s softness increases as the numbers decrease to 2H and H. Within the B system, the leads increase in softness as the numbers increase. For example, a full range a may look like this: 
Colored Pencils
Colored pencils offer the same drawing characteristics as regular pencils but include the bonus of color. They’re produced in many shades because their colors cannot be mixed on a palette to produce different tints. Colored pencil strokes, however, can be overlaid on each other to achieve a myriad of effects. Some colored pencils are water-soluble. These pencils, when used with water, give the subtle effects of watercolor painting.
Charcoal
Charcoal is made from vine, willow or other twigs that have been charred for use as drawing material and it is superb for blending and creating gradations of black. Sold mainly in pencil and stick form, charcoal is available in soft, medium, hard and compressed versions. Soft charcoal is light and easily erasable but does not make a true black. Compressed charcoal makes thick heavy rich blacks. Although charcoal’s main advantage is that it is blendable, this also means it can be smudged easily. The use of a fixative is necessary when work is complete.
Papers
Paper choice heavily impacts the look of any drawing. Many types of paper are applicable surfaces for pencils and colored pencils. Most drawing and sketching papers have a bit of tooth – a subtle texture that allows the pencil marks to hold. Some, however can be quite smooth, allowing you to get nice, sharp details. If you prefer, you can use a very rough paper, like watercolor paper, to emphasize a rugged texture in your drawing.
Markers
Wildly popular with Manga artists, markers have seen a rebirth in the art market. But don’t call it a comeback, they’ve been here for years as a favorite among layout and story board artists, fashion illustrators as well as rubber stampers. Manga originates from the famous Japanese artist Hokusai’s reference for drawing that are whimsical. In western translation, Manga refers to a Japanese style of comic book art. When Manga is animate and turned into a movie it becomes Anime. Some of the styles of Manga include: the action adventure style called Shonen; Seinen, a style that appeals to a more mature audience; and Bishoujo, which translates as beautiful girl but mostly encompasses a style that depicts cute characters and animals.
A marker is essentially a bigger, juicier pen. Most markers have a reservoir of soluble ink that is applied to a drawing though a felt or nylon tip. Markers come in several incarnations: art, studio or layout markers; marking pens; paint markers; calligraphy markers; etc. Most art markers consist of a broad nib on one end (excellent for filling in large areas) and a fine nib on the other (better for more precise work). Many also feature a third ultra-fine nib for tight detail work. Many times nibs are removable and replaceable in various shapes and sizes allowing the artist to create a range of markers.
Markers work a bit like watercolors. It’s best to start light and build up to your colors since it can be tough to lighten a color once you’ve gone too dark. You can use a colorless blender to blend and soften the edges of your work. Depending on the surface, makers tend to dry quickly so don’t plan on making color changes. Markers are appreciated for their immediate and colorful results, but the artwork is not intended to withstand the rigors of time.