A sharp 2H or HB pencil is all that is required to draw in the lines of the subject you are going to paint. In the studio I use two Pentel Clutch Pencils, one containing 0.3mm (P203) and the other 0.5mm (P205) leads, usually 2H or HB if drawn lightly.

The Pentel P205 Automatic Pencil 0.5mm and P203 Clutch Pencil 0.3mm are suitable for drawing and designing. Each gives precise, clean and accurate lines. Many artists swear by clutch pencils. Timber-cased pencils change their size, weight and balance as they are sharpened, which can be a problem for artists who draw a great deal. Clutch pencils have a constant weight and size and though initially expensive, the refills are competitive (packs of 12 leads).

When I'm sketching outdoors I use normal pencils (less expensive if lost, easy to do in long grass or on the beach and less prone to damage). I sharpen pencils (Venus from Berol are the pencils I have used for many years) with a sharp knife (if you can get used to using a knife for sharpening you will save a lot of wastage compared to a sharpener).

How to sharpen a pencil using a sharp knife.

When required to mask areas of my paintings I use Winsor & Newton Colourless/Colorless Masking Fluid. This is applied with a 'old' Winsor Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable Brush No 6 dedicated to this purpose.

To keep the brush clean and workable the following process needs to done (see below) on every application of the masking fluid. This process has been used on the same brush for almost two years but please do not use 'new' sable brushes (many artists recommend using cheaper brushes and would never use a sable) for making fluid, the one I'm using had done a number of years work before being used for masking fluid.

I cut the brush tuft (from an 'old' No 6 brush) in half, across the diameter (not the length) which provides a nice length of hair, to carry the masking fluid, but also comes to a nice point making it ideal for painting thin lines.

How to keep your brush usable when using masking fluid.

Note: Between applications the brush 'tuft' is covered with soap. Also make sure that the paper is 100% dry before using the masking fluid.

1. To use brush. First clean off all the soap (from last use) in the water pot used just for cleaning the masking fluid brush.
2. Dry access water from the brush, so as not to dilute the first application of masking fluid.
3. Open the jar of masking fluid and working as quickly as possible apply the fluid to the required areas. If a large amount needs to be covered and/or more than about 10-20 minutes passes or the masking fluid is beginning to dry on the brush, stop and clean the brush (see 4 & 5 below) and start again.
4. When finished painting on the masking fluid, close the jar of masking fluid and quickly dip the brush 'tuft' into the pot of water. Some masking fluid may well have started to dry on the brush and this is removed by brushing the tuft of the brush on a bar of soap. A helping hand is usually needed by using your nails and fingers to remove all traces of the drying masking fluid. Apply more soap if needed but all traces must to be removed.
5. When clean, use the tuft of the brush to lather some soap and cover the brush tuft with the lather. Place the brush flat to dry and ready for next time.

Although not used constantly the following are handy items to have around the studio.

Ruler: A metal 1m ruler or straight edge is preferred but a plastic version can be used (being careful when cutting along the edge so as not to damage it). Always cut on he waste side.

Knife: Swan Morton (available in art/craft/graphic shops) are ideal. They have different shaped handles (No. 3 and No.7 handles are the ones I use) and a selection of blade shapes are available. I've found the No. 10A Swan Morton Blade (straight cutting edge) to be the most useful but also use No. 10 (which has a curved cutting edge) while No. 11 is a more tapered version of 10A.

Rubber: Not used very often as drawing another line is the best anyway. If you need to use a rubber its best to wait until the painting is finished and then remove the marks so as not to damage the surface of the paper. As a side note some people like to see the pencil marks or drawings on watercolour/watercolor paintings. I would recommend putty rubbers which are better than harder rubbers.

Cutting Mat: Save the table etc by using a cutting mat. The self healing versions of Cutting Mats, though more expensive, do last longer and over time are better for cutting on, as the non self healing ones with repeated cutting small sections of the surface break away. Price varies with size.

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