Sketchpad/Pencils brand?

[Azure_sea]

I recently acquired some internet money, and I was looking on DickBlick* for some nice sketchpads and pencils. But there's so many! D= And I have absolutely no knowledge of the quality of any of it.
So could anyone help me out with the pros and cons of particular brands and types of sketchpad and pencils?

*Also, just noticed that DickBlick doesn't accept paypal, so does anyone know any other decent art material sites that do?

[Shadowwing]

MisterArt (http://www.misterart.com/index.cfm)
does accept Paypal, so you may want to check that one out.

As for pencils and sketchpads, I don't really know...graphite pencils and sketch pads seem all pretty much alike to me. To me, sketching is for practice, so quality of the materials isn't a priority.

[Mr-Joe]

Its one of those things you have to try differnt ones untill you find what you like, here are some of my favorites and some information:

With pencils depending on what you want to do there are differnt "hardness" or softness to the pencil lines,

They range from something like 8h - 8b , with HB being in the middle, H pencils the higher the number you go, the lighter the pencil stroke is, its almost like a light light line it produces, the higher you go with the B pencils the thicker more charcol like line it produces (not charcol) just an example, its a thicker darker softer line. The normal pencil most people use for sketching is HB or 2b if you like your line a little darker.

Now there is also Mechanical pencils, I like mechanical pencils because they don't have to be sharpened, the lines can be very clean, they ranges from .01mm to .09mm with .09 being the thickest line and .01 being the thinest line, Most people will use a .05mm or .07mm . They also sell colored refils.


For regular pencils, I like Derwent pencils, they are nice,
http://art-supplies.misterart.com/store/browse/001/cat_id/641/Art-Supplies-Pencils--Pastels-Pencils-Drawing--Sketching-Pencils--Derwent.htm


Also Staedtler makes a really great set of pencils called Mars Lumograph, they are great pencils.: http://art-supplies.misterart.com/store/browse/001/cat_id/729/Art-Supplies-Pencils--Pastels-Pencils-Drawing--Sketching-Pencils--Staedtler.htm

It all depends on what you want to do and what you enjoy using, I would try out some differnt ones to see what you like, I would get a HB , 2B, because you might find yourself using these more often, then try out something like a 6h and a 6b to see the extremes.

Some other great pencils are Prismacolor Col-E-rase, they are excellent colored pencils for sketching that can be erased. ( I don't think the misterart.com sells these )

As for paper, I always liked Canson's paper, it seems to be a quality paper that smudges alot less than other papers and they have so many differnt types and colors. They have nice surfaces that the pencils just feel better than crappy paper.

I would suggest just to try out differnt things, see what you like best.

[Azure_sea]

Thank you both! :) Incredibly helpful!

[Qitsune]

I like verithins better than col-erase, for some reason, many shades of col-erase are too hard and scratch the paper rather than draw. Or maybe I'm unlucky and always pick up the bad ones.