Here is a book review for those of you searching for perspective help. Honestly, I think the perspective videos I offer teach you more basics of perspective than this book taught me. But there are some helpful steps in this book, although much of the instruction is condensed.

Hi everyone! Yet another pencil review. I think I'm starting to run out of pencils that are popular in the US, but leave me the brand names of other pencils you would like me to review in the comments! This one is a mixed review- some good things, some bad things about them. To purchase the General Pencil Co. Kimberly Pencils click the link below https://amzn.to/35GjjGw

I liked this line of Faber Castell pencils better than the Faber Castell 9000 pencils, which run much harder and the price on these can't be beat! These pencils are a great price so they are good for beginners or kids who want artist-grade pencils. Check out the full review!

These pencils are not the best quality, but still might be an acceptable quality for an elementary or middle school classroom. They, at least, are inexpensive.

I was super surprised with the results of this pencil trial! I used to use these back in art school but it had been some years since I'd purchased them. A lot of my students arrive to class with the Prismacolor Turquoise Graphite Pencils, so here is my review from 2018.

This is one of the best books I've found on drawing figures. Take a look inside with this video. I think it has so many practical tips, loads of information about anatomy, and so many drawings in it that you can practice from that it makes it a worthwhile investment. I think it is a more instructional book than the cult favorite, Drawing the Head and Hands by Andrew Loomis.

I have a less expensive solution for smudging than using tortillons that you buy at the art supply store: cotton swabs! This brand is very compacted and dense, so you can really smudge detailed areas of your drawings. At only $6 for 490 of them, you really can't beat the price!

Here's another Carbon Pencil review! You might want to compare this review to my review of the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Black carbon pencils, because they are similar and yet so different. I'm still more of a fan of graphite over carbon, but I'm certainly happy to have carbon pencils in place of the way too crumbly charcoal pencils!

This is a really nice long point sharpener that is good for drawing away from your home/studio or in class! It's portable, and gets a really sharp point- unlike most travel or handheld sharpeners. Also, it has replacement blades that you can buy, for when the blades get dull! Thanks so much, Tony, for sharing this tool recommendation with me!

Here is my first review of carbon pencils (different than graphite pencils and also different than charcoal pencils!). I demonstrate the different look/qualities of them and link to purchase is below!

Here is my (totally surprising to me) review of the Staedtler Mars Lumograph Pencils, thanks to one of my viewers, ECurry for the suggestion! I learned from this experiment- awesome! Make sure you check in next week when I review the Staedtler Mars Lumograph BLACK pencils so you can see the differences.

Colored Pencil Painting Bible: Techniques for Achieving Luminous Color and Ultrarealistic Effects by Alyona Nickelsen This book is a great resource for color pencil enthusiasts and I highly recommend it if you're purchasing Prismacolors, Caran D'Ache or Derwent colored pencils. It will give you advice on layering pencil and blending it so you can create custom colors. Put this on your gift list, it's worth the expense!

Here is a helpful pen and ink book, if you're looking for non-video resources for learning different mediums for drawing. Claudia Nice breaks pen and ink techniques down into manageable steps, helping you to develop a method of mark making so that you can communicate different textures and materials. Books like this are also great resources for learning when you're traveling and don't have an internet connection, as well as having paper images you can lay out in front of you while you're working. I like to have some on hand to loan to students. With the holidays around the corner, you might put this on your wish list.

I thought this eraser would be a miracle solution, but it basically is like my other erasers: crumb-producing and mess-making. Although it is a little less messy, overall.

The Daler Rowney Art Sphere Table Easel is the best table top easel I have found after years of searching. I love that it is so flexible and yet so sturdy. And it was a really nice price- about $40 on Blick.com.

Let me know if you try it out, or if you have another table top easel you prefer!

SO you bought a graphite pencil brand that is a little thicker than your regular pencil sharpener? Here is the best adjustable size pencil sharpener I've found. I use this to sharpen my caran d'ache and mitsubishi hi-uni pencils. There are a few challenges with this sharpener though, it isn't perfect. Check it out to see what I like and don't like about this tool. Let me know if you find a better adjustable size manual pencil sharpener, too, please!

SO you bought a graphite pencil brand that is a little thicker than your regular pencil sharpener? Here is the best adjustable size pencil sharpener I've found. I use this to sharpen my caran d'ache and mitsubishi hi-uni pencils. There are a few challenges with this sharpener though, it isn't perfect. Check it out to see what I like and don't like about this tool. Let me know if you find a better adjustable size manual pencil sharpener, too, please!

The luxury brand of pencils: Caran D'Ache! These pencils ARE beautiful, and the gradation value of the paint is SO helpful in identifying what hardness of pencil you are grabbing. But are they worth THREE TIMES the amount of other pencils? Find out in this review!