Pencil & Drawing
Pencils give you plenty of control and are ideal whether you want to work with bold marks or fine, delicate detail. Our wide range includes graphite and charcoal, classic colour pencils, pastel pencils, and watersoluble pencils.
As well as traditional pencils and drawing media, we offer specialist supplies for professional and beginner artists. This includes clutch and mechanical pencils, pencil cases and storage, as well as a comprehensive selection of pencil and drawing sets.
Made with pigment bound in wax or oil and encased in wood, coloured pencils are a great medium if you like to draw and enjoy working with colour.
Watersoluble pencils are a versatile drawing medium allowing for a wide range of mark making. As well as crisp or broad lines, there's potential for washes and staining.
Pastel pencils are a popular medium in their own right, as well as being used to add intricate, controlled detail to conventional soft pastel paintings.
Drawing sets contain a variety of drawing media from graphite pencils to coloured pencils. More comprehensive sets contain everything required to start a project.
Graphite and charcoal are both traditional drawing mediums and can be used for quick sketches or detailed studies. Available in different degrees of hardness.
Clutch and mechanical pencils offer great control and fine detail. An ideal tool for artists who like to work only with the tip of the pencil.
A range of pencil cases, rolls, and wraps to keep pencils and accessories safe, organised, and protected when on the move.
From pencil blenders to special fixatives, these mediums will help you fine-tune your drawing technique and create interesting effects.
As well as helping to remove graphite, charcoal, and coloured pencil marks, erasers can be used as a drawing implement in their own right.
A sharp point to a pencil is vital for crisp, fresh vibrant lines and marks. Choose from a range of sharpeners to suit all drawing media.
Fixative is a clear liquid usually sprayed onto a dry media artwork to stabilise pigment or graphite on the surface and to preserve it from dust.
A wide range of paper ideal for drawing, including different grains and weights of cartridge paper, layout and tracing paper, and coloured paper.
We’ve put together a wide variety of gift ideas for artists of all levels of experience, and catering for all budgets.
Choose from a range of drawing accessories to aid precision, accuracy, blending or special effects.
A selection of materials for this classic metal point technique, including silverpoint wires and chalk grounds.
What is Drawing?
What do you think of when you think of drawing? Drawings can consist of lines, tone, form, colour, volume, smudges, hatching, or shading. They can possess the crisp accuracy of an architect’s plans in hard graphite or the expressiveness of an energetic life drawing in charcoal. Drawings can map out ideas, or be the idea itself. Because the term ‘drawing’ can encompass so much, it’ll come as no surprise that this department contains a wide variety of different drawing materials. Whether you’re looking for hard graphite drawing pencils that deliver reliability and a strong unbreakable lead, or a vibrant lightfast water-soluble coloured pencil, we’re sure you’ll find the drawing tool you need.
The monochrome drama of the softest graphite and charcoal will never go out of fashion. As versatile as it is beautiful, graphite and charcoal are used by both expressive fine artists and those seeking precision, such as architects and designers. Charcoal sticks are made of specially charred willow or vine. They’re brittle, chalky, and the perfect medium for quickly laying down tone, and blending with your finger. Sharp crisp details can also be achieved. Soft graphite pencils (3B - 9B) are capable of expressive black marks, while harder H pencils are perfect for crisp, neat feint drawn lines.
If you’re looking for colour, you’ll find it in the collections of wax-based coloured pencils, watercolour pencils and pastel pencils we sell. Coloured drawing pencils are used by professional artists, designers and illustrators alike, and are ideal for use in idea development and sketches.
There are different surfaces available to make your work look its best. The finest coloured pencils will glide over cartridge paper, and can be burnished and blended. Textured papers such as Ingres help vibrant pastel pencil colours sing (which is why it’s often used by Animal Portrait artists). Hardcover sketchbooks will help protect your drawings - a visual journal of your creative journey.
For intricate drawing techniques, why not explore silverpoint, favoured by the greatest Renaissance draughtsmen, or the mechanical practicality of a clutch pencil.