Drawing Supplies Buying Guide

There's an enormous world of drawing supplies out there, and the team at Spotlight is here to help you make sense of it all! No matter whether you're shopping online or in one of our stores, Spotlight's range of drawing supplies encompasses everything you need to create gorgeous sketches, drawings and lined artworks.

To help you make sense of it all, this buying guide will give you a snapshot of each kind of drawing tool you can enjoy from our range. Click through to the drawing tool you are interested in and follow the links for more in-depth information, projects, creative ideas and inspiration!

Quick Links

• Sketching, Coloured And Watercolour Pencils
• Fine Liner, Gel And Calligraphy Pens
• Chalk, Alcohol And Water-Based Markers
• Soft And Oil Pastels

Sketching, Coloured And Watercolour Pencils

Pencils are the easiest drawing tool to use, as they don't contain any liquid component (usually) and are quick to erase if you make a mistake.

Sketching pencils

Sketching can be used to form the base skeleton of a larger picture, or you may like to create a stunning sketch that is a work of art all on its own! Sketching pencils are designed to help you create fine, detailed sketches, and come in a range of sizes to ensure you can create depth and darkness in your sketch. While sketching pencils are mostly grey, you can also find white and skin-toned coloured sketch pencils available in some sketching pencil sets.

Art sketch pencils are often sold alongside drawing essentials like erasers and sharpeners, so keep an eye out for these if you need brand-new sketching pencil sets for yourself or to give as a gift!

Keep your paintings on track by getting a sketching pencil set to use in any of our painting projects. Or use your sketch pencils in our helpful how to draw a koala tutorial blog.

Charcoal sticks

An alternative to using art sketch pencils to create sketches is charcoal sticks! Charcoal can be used to create dramatic black lines that are smoky and smudgy or hard and defined, depending on the type of charcoal you are using. Willow and vine charcoal are softer and used for more blurred lines, while compressed charcoal is harder and good for line work.

Coloured Pencils

Every child's pencil case should include some coloured pencils - they're so easy to use, and create wonderfully bright lines on many different surfaces. You can find coloured pencil sets for beginners and experienced artists at Spotlight, with coloured pencil packs as large as 72 pieces available. Keep an eye out for coloured pencils with special attributes like jumbo size, tri grip and soft grip to help you draw with your coloured pencil set for longer!

Decorate your favourite coloured pencils with our fun loom band pencil topper project, or keep them safe in this cute pencil case project.

Watercolour pencils

You can use watercolour pencils just like regular coloured pencils if you like, but their real magic is unlocked when water is added to the mix. Adding water to lines created by watercolour pencils will cause the colours to blossom and brighten just like watercolour paints, allowing you to create more precise watercolour art than you could with a brush alone. Look out for gorgeous watercolour pencil sets as gifts for traditional watercolour artists to try!

For more information on watercolour pencils, read our blog on how to use watercolour pencils - why not try making this watercolour school of fish project using them?

Fine Liner, Gel And Calligraphy Pens

Pens are used to create bold, precise lines in art, and often come in packs so you get a good variety of colours or nib sizes all at once.

Fine liner pens

The ink from a fine liner dries very quickly, making fine liner pens ideal for lining sketches. Most fine liners are black, but you can also find fine liner pens in a range of bright colours that are great for creating small, quick details on posters, cards and drawings. At Spotlight you can grab individual fine liners to top up your collection, or choose a fine liner set for a whole new batch of fresh drawing pens!

Gel pens

Gel pens have a creamy and thick ink that is a delight to write with! Gel pen sets often come themed around a trait like neon, pastel or even glow-in-the-dark colours, with a good amount of colours available in every gel drawing pen set.

Gel pens also come in the coveted glitter variety, allowing you to create glittery linework for your art and craft projects. Glitter gel pens are a popular stationery choice in many a pencil case, and are great for bedazzling your school projects with!

Check out our blog on 5 fun school supplies to see what other cool stationery you need to have in your pencil case.

Calligraphy pens

Create beautiful lettering using any of our calligraphy pen sets, available in single nib selections and comprehensive lettering sets. Calligraphy sets often include a pen with a variety of nibs, and may also include a pot of ink as well.

Brush markers used for calligraphy won't make lines that are as defined but have flexible tips that allow you to create letters that are just as beautiful. Some ink drawing pens can be refilled, while other lettering sets may come with guides on how you can form the letters, which is perfect for calligraphy beginners!

Practice your drawing pen skills with this calligraphy card project.

Chalk, Alcohol And Water-Based Markers

Markers are used to create bright, smooth blocks of colours and can be used for both colouring in and to create linework in art.

Chalk markers

Chalk markers are often used in businesses like cafes and restaurants to write on glass boards and windows. Liquid chalk markers create colours that can be wiped away but some varieties are also resistant to weather factors like sun and rain. All create a matte 'chalk' like mark much like traditional chalk on a blackboard. Use white chalk markers on a black-backed glass panel for that old-school blackboard look!

Paint chalk markers are also great fun to use at home - kids will love creating artwork for your glass doors and windows that they can remove and paint over again when they have a new idea!

Use your liquid chalk markers to craft our fun decorative chalkboard and NYE chalkboard projects.

Alcohol-based markers

Markers with alcohol-based ink dry extremely quickly and create bright, permanent colours that can be manipulated using isopropyl alcohol and blenders. Alcohol brush pens often come with a second chisel tip on the opposite end that you can use to create defined, calligraphy-like lines, or use the softer end of brush markers for more flexible paintbrush-like strokes. Alcohol brush marker pens are often refillable - check the brand of your marker to see if they have refills available for purchase.

Try using alcohol brush pens in our fabric marker sneakers project!

Water-based markers

Our water-based drawing markers contain ink that can be activated by water and blended using water pens if needed. Our art drawing markers come in many different sets themed around colour schemes that ensure you get a load of complementing colours in a single purchase.

Want more information on how to draw with markers? Read through our blog which will show you everything you need to know about drawing with markers!

Soft And Oil Pastels

Pastels are bundles of rich pigment bound with an agent like gum arabic, wax or oil. Use them on special toothy pastel paper to ensure your pigments don't come loose from the page.

Soft pastels

Our gorgeous soft pastels come in a huge range of hues, with many different packs available to suit your soft pastel colour needs. Soft pastel colours can be blended with water and create a smoky look on the page, making them ideal for creating dreamy, indulgent pieces of art. You can also find soft pastel pencils, which function like regular coloured pencils but have soft pastels down the centre instead of their usual core.

For more information on soft pastels, check out our guide to soft pastels online.

Oil pastels

Creamy, bright and smooth, our oil pastels are luminous on the page and are much easier to work with than traditional oil paints. Use oil pastel sticks to create gorgeous sweeps of colour, then switch to oil pastel pencils if you need to draw some finer details.

Oil pastels don't create dust like soft pastels, and feel waxy and slick in your hands - opt for oil pastels with a paper sleeve if you'd prefer not to handle them directly.

Get Creative With Quality Drawing Supplies From Spotlight

Ready to start drawing? Choose your drawing supplies online, pay your way and we'll deliver them straight to your front door. Otherwise, visit your nearest Spotlight store and our friendly team will help you choose the best drawing supplies for your project.

For more information on what you need to create all kinds of artwork, read our buying guides on paints and mediums, paintbrushes and paper and cards. And don't forget to read our blogs on mixing paints, how to make a holiday scrapbook and epoxy resin art for more creative inspiration!