When I was five, I believed in the power of proper tools.

The lady contortionist in the circus had a special tricycle that made her nimble. My Pilates teacher wears tights that hold her plank position. Even accountants wear appropriate glasses which, I can only assume, make numbers comprehensible.

All you need to succeed, are the right tools.

Therefore, I can assure you that you will be able to draw just like me
(and, in cases of at least minor talent, you will draw vastly better than I do)
when you gather my tool list:

1.tools for basic sketching:

you need: sketchbook + pencils

There is only one sketchbook that is perfect in every way - the one that Teja Ideja made for Muzej Novejše Zgodovine - luckily for me, I bought all the stock, but you will have to make do with something else Teja Ideja made.

The best pencils in the world are made by a Japanese company called

Craft design technology.

I bulk buy them at Mumok, Vienna, where I also buy

the red and blue coloring pencils ( one goes a long way)

2. tools for fancy sketching:

you need: sketchbook + ballpoint pen

Even though I love buying pencils, I sketch with a ballpoint pen.

I love the black "V BALL GRIP" from Pilot, with its extravagant price of 2.26 EUR

It's good for you to switch to a ballpoint pen, or another non-erasable tool, from time to time. 

It helps when you are battling with the quest for perfection, for there can be NO perfection with ballpoint pen:

the line is of equal thickness (boooo),

what you draw stays put ( daaaaarn),

it is so thick you can't do any obsessive detailing,

and so thin it's difficult to be bold.

 Nothing like a good impediment to getting your creative juices going.

 3.tools for even fancier sketching

you did your lovely, but faulty, work with a ballpoint pen and now have an hour to kill?

Use: sketchbook + ballpoint pen + markers

I love spending money on Promarkers from Winsor and Newton.

A good tactic for not going bankrupt is to stick to one color scheme:

I need to have all of the WARM GRAYS (sometimes in triple quantity) and I use them for everything, including skin coloring.

I found out that producing realistic pink and beige skin tones is out of my reach. BUT, if I use "warm grays" with my kindergarten skin coloring technique, from line to line, coloring book style, the results are more than adequate.

4. tools for seriously sexy drawing

When you need the work to look spontaneous or impress someone with the original.

use: INK and TRACING PAPER

Tracing paper is such a smart invention.

First, it is super smooth.

Second, you can put a sketch underneath it and do your work in two steps:

1. sketch the proportions and do the composition on ordinary super cheap photocopier paper
2. when you start drawing on tracing paper, you only concentrate on having a beautiful line and getting the details right.

The world’s best ink is made by Sennelier, but as it is super costly and hard to get, I make do with Nan King ink.

You will also need some liquid for cleaning your nibs.

 Well-prepared illustrators keep apothecary alcohol for the task. Those with large drinks cabinets and a more spontaneous work ethic are known to use tequila, schnapps or vodka for the same purpose (and occasionally for other purposes, too). They work just as well and come in prettier packaging.

 5. tools for seriously professional drawing

When I need the work of art to look perfect or impress someone with my drawing skills:

Use WACOM. 

When I grow up and learn how to plug in my new Cintiq,

I will probably use it all the time.

In the meantime, I am happy with my "Intuos five touch L".

Regarding drawing on a tablet, I've got two things to say:

learn your shortcuts

and

burn incense to the gods of hand and eye coordination daily.

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