This guide covers the best tools for graffiti sketching based on my experiences.
1. Which pencils should be used for sketching graffiti?
Pencils are usually used in the first step of sketching a graffiti. Thus they are your first used drawing tools.
What is important to know about pencils?
The main point of using pencils is to choose the correct hardness of the tip. Below you will find the different pencil hardenings and units:
Pencil units
- H: hard
- B: black
- HB: hard black – means medium hard
- F: firm
All Degrees of hardness
| Degree of hardness | Meaning | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 8B | extra soft and very deep black | Ideal for artistic drawing, sketching, shading |
| 7B | for drawings of the greatest blackness | |
| 6B | Ink-like depth effect | |
| 5B | extra soft and very black | |
| 4B | very soft and very black | |
| 3B | for a painterly sound effect, great depth | |
| 2B | very soft and black | |
| B | soft and black | Ideal for writing and drawing |
| HB | medium soft and medium black | |
| F | firm | |
| H | hard | Ideal for technical drawing |
| 2H | harder | |
| 3H | very hard | |
| 4H | extra hard | |
| 5H | extra extra hard | |
| 6H | hardest |
I usually use HB or 2B for sketching my graffiti
The second most important thing to know about pencils, is to preferably buy quality brands like “Staedtler” and “Faber-Castell“. They don’t break as often when you sharpen your pencil and the release of graphite is more steady.
Do not forget to buy an eraser – Faber-Castell is my recommendation here a well – and a ruler for drawing the 3D blocks.
There’s not much to consider with rulers, other than the length you need for your drawings. If you want to make larger drawings and plan to use a grid for composing your drawing, a rolling ruler can be useful.
2. Which markers should be used for coloring graffiti?
Mainly alcohol-based/water-based markers are suitable for coloring graffiti-sketches. They are needed to achieve gradients in your fill-ins.
I have tested the ones listed below:
- Ohuhu markers
- Copic Ciao markers
- Stylefile brush markers
- New Doer dual brush marker
- Stabilo pen 60 – water based
Ohuhu markers, Copic Ciao markers and Stylefile brush markers are all premium markers, which I have tested and can recommend. Ohuhu markers offer the best value for money.
Gradients and streak-free coloring can be achieved easily with them and the overall look of the graffiti piece is way better.
If you are a beginner you can also go with Stabilo pen 60 markers. They are way cheaper and deliver results which are fairly good.
2.1 Ask yourself the following questions before buying graffiti markers
- How many color-shades are available? How many do I need?
- Are the colors numbered? – The numbering makes it easy to replace single markers. Color charts, which are used to choose colors during the drawing-process, can only be created with numbered colors as well. You can find the Ohuhu color charts for the different marker series here
- Which quality does the brand of the markers provide?
- Do I want to refill markers? – It is only needed if you really draw very often and you have a space available to refill the pens. This process is really messy. I would recommend skipping this unless you plan to start a professional career.
Attention: If you use markers and standard printing paper, you should probably use a cutting mat. Markers otherwise will write through the paper on your desk!
Cutting mat
If you consider buying a cutting mat for using it as a drawing surface on your desk, check for reviews which complain about bad smell of the cutting mat. Avoid those cutting mats, the smell will probably linger!
3. Which markers should be used for highlights and outlines?
Alcohol-based markers cannot be used for drawing highlights and outlines on top of other colors. This is because they don’t fully cover alcohol-based colors. So, you have to switch to acrylic-based markers here.
I use Posca PC-1MR markers most of the time. They have an extra fine tip of 0.7mm. So, if you want to draw detailed highlights or lines & outlines on top of color, I would recommend the Posca PC-1 MR.
For bigger areas the Molotov 127-HS One4all or Posca PC-1M, Posca PC-3M and Posca PC-5M markers are perfectly fine.
For very thin highlights like cracks you can use Stabilo point 88 Fineliner pens with 0.4mm tip or Copic Multiliner marker with 0.5mm tip.
4. Markers for Handstyles
The most important thing to know about choosing the best marker for handstyles is to not buy a marker with a round tip. The Pilot Parallel Pen achieves the best results in my opinion, because I like to draw calligraphic handstyles and graffiti tags. Markers with tri-nib tips achieve achieve god results as well.
For drips and details around the handstyles you can use thin markers like the Posca PC-1MR, Copic Multiliner marker with 0.5mm tip or a Stabilo point 88 Fineliner with 0.4mm tip.
So, if you just want to draw handstyles and graffiti tags you can just buy a Pilot Parallel Pen or a black Ohuhu marker with chisel tip and a black Stabilo point 88 Fineliner for details.
Another advantage of the Pilot Parallel Pen is that it offers ink cartridges with multiple colors. So it can be re-filled and you have one pen with for multiple colors.
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I have tested the following markers for drawing handstyles and tags on paper as well, but decided to did not use them on the long run.
- Edding 500: The pen tip is very hard, causing color-flow being not that steady and thus the lines are torn. But it is refillable
- Grog Cutter 08 XFP: I am also not fully happy with the pumping nib, but it is refillable and results are good.
- Toki Layout markers: have a tri-nib, produce clean lines and are cheap – super if you are just getting started
5. Which kind of paper should I use?
To start out and for basic sketches, it is okay to use multi-purpose paper for printers. Most of you guys will probably have it at home.
If you are advanced already and want to achieve better results – like for instance very smooth gradients, a thicker paper is way better. When the paper is thinner it absorbs more color and it is harder to layer the colors. Thus it is harder to draw gradients. A smooth paper surface is also good for brush markers because it reduces wear on the tips. You could use blackbooks or Bristol paper for example.
6. How do you draw digital graffiti and handstyles?
I currently use the following tools to draw and create digital graffiti:
- Procreate: the best drawing app for iPad. There are also a lot of additional graffiti brush sets available.
- Apple iPad 32GB space gray + Apple Pencil 1. It is good enough to start out
- I used Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator before for post-production. but currently I am using Affinity Photo, as a Photoshop alternative. It is way cheaper and you do not need a subscription to use it.
If you want to create more professional drawings with Procreate with a lot of layers or a big resolution, or for animations you should go for an Applie iPad Pro with Apple Pencil 2.
7. Summary
The following list presents my currently used graffiti drawing supplies:
- Faber-Castell eraser + pencil (HB-, 2B grade)
- Ohuhu brush markers for fill-ins
- Posca PC-1MR 0.7mm & Stabilo Point 88 Fineliner 0.4mm for highlights, outlines and handstyle details
- a Pilot Parallel Pen for handstyles
- Standard multipurpose copy printer paper, Bristol papar or a blackbook (e.g. Montana)
I hope this tutorial helped you on your creative journey! Is there something I forgot to mention? Or do you have further questions? Feel free to drop a comment below.