Life Drawing Materials: What to Bring

Life drawing punishes fussy materials. Poses are timed, the light is fixed, and there's no space to spread out — so the right kit is small, fast and forgiving. A complete beginner setup costs under £20.

The starter kit

Willow charcoal (a box of assorted sticks) — the classic life-room material: fast, bold, erasable. A putty rubber — lifts charcoal for highlights rather than scrubbing. Soft pencils (2B–6B) for when you want line over tone. A3 cartridge pad— cheap paper in quantity beats good paper you're scared to waste; you'll fill ten sheets of gestures per session. A bulldog clip and boardif the venue doesn't provide boards. Optional but transformative: fixative (or cheap hairspray) so the charcoal survives the journey home.

What to skip at first

Fine liners and hard pencils (too slow, too precious for 1-minute poses), expensive sketchbooks (inhibiting), coloured sets (one value range is enough while you learn), and easel boxes of equipment you'll carry once. Add materials when a specific pose length demands them — pastels and ink wash come into their own at 20 minutes and up.

Matching material to pose length

A useful default: charcoal or a big soft pencil for gestures and 5-minute poses; add an eraser and mid-tones for 10–20 minutes; switch to tonal work — conté, pastel, wash — for the long pose. (New to the pose structure? See what to expect at your first class and the glossary.)

Drawing online

For online sessions the same kit works, with one addition: put your screen at arm's length beside (not behind) your board, roughly where a model would stand relative to your easel — it keeps the head movement between subject and paper natural.